Perimenopause Help

Question by Yinzer from Sixburgh: Is there anything besides perimenopause that causes hot flashes?
I can’t stand this! The hot flashes. The night sweats. It’s like my body cannot regulate its temperature. I’m almost always too hot at work–even when co-workers are too cold. At night, I will throw off all the blankets because I’m so hot I’m sweating, then I wake because I’m too cold. Then too hot again. Throughout the day I sweat so much my hair is wet. I’ll notice some other co-workers who are too hot also, but at the same time some are too cold. What causes people to tolerate temperature differently? This has been going on for years, but it is noticeably worse lately. What other health conditions besides perimenopause could account for this?

Best answer:

Answer by Dookumz
change your picture it’s creepy

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Question by Daisy Buchanen: Is it the estrogen in birth control pills that causes weight gain?
I know that everyone has different reactions to birth control, but has switching to a pill with a lower dosage of estrogen been shown to have a lesser frequency of causing weight gain? Thanks!

Best answer:

Answer by wah hoo
The weight gain is caused by the fact that birth control pills fool your body into thinking its pregnant, therefore you tend to gain that ” baby weight” regardless of the dose of estrogen.

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Question by K R: What mostly causes estrogen levels to rise in a man?
I seem to have developing breasts and more feminine features…..Mind you, I am not complaining about it, but it seems my inner estrogen level is going up as my testosterone level is going down….what would cause it?

Best answer:

Answer by goingcrazyinpicton
Foods Containing Natural Estrogens
Alfalfa
Animal flesh
Anise seed
Apples
Baker’s yeast
Barley
Beets
Carrots
Cherries
Chickpeas
Clover
Cowpeas (black- eyed peas)
Cucumbers
Dairy Foods
Dates
Eggs
Eggplant
Fennel
Flaxseeds
Garlic
Hops
Licorice
Oats
Olive oil
Olives
Papaya
Parsley
Peas
Peppers
Plums
Pomegranates
Potatoes
Pumpkin
Red beans
Red clover
Rhubarb
Rice
Sage
Sesame seeds
Soybean sprouts
Soybeans
Split peas
Sunflower seeds
Tomatoes
Wheat
Yams

Estrogen Inhibiting Foods

Berries
Broccoli
Buckwheat
Cabbage
Citrus Foods
Corn
Figs
Fruits (except apples, cherries, dates, pomegranates)
Grapes
Green beans
Melons
Millet
Onions
Pears
Pineapples
Squashes
Tapioca
White rice
White flour

a) Adverse effects of estrogen in men

From International Antiaging Systems:
“Along with this decline in testosterone with age and lifestyle, many
men also experience increases in the levels of estrogen. The result is
a testosterone/estrogen imbalance that directly causes many of the
debilitating health problems associated with normal aging. The vast
majority of men are surprised to learn that estrogen (a ‘female’
hormone) is also present in their bodies. It is produced in very small
amounts as a by-product of the testosterone conversion process. In
fact, balanced levels of estrogen in men are essential to encourage a
healthy libido, improved brain function, protect the heart and
strengthen the bones . . . high levels of estrogen can cause reduced
levels of testosterone, fatigue, loss of muscle tone, increased body
fat, loss of libido and sexual function and an enlarged prostate.

Other problems associated with excessive levels of estrogen include

(1) The shut down of normal testicular production of testosterone.
Excess estrogen can saturate testosterone receptors in the
hypothalamus in the brain therefore reducing the signal sent to the
pituitary gland. This in turn reduces the secretion of luteinizing
hormone, which is necessary for the gonads to produce testosterone.

(2) Increasing the body’s production of sex hormone-binding globulin
(SHBG). SHBG binds testosterone therefore reducing the amount of the
clinical important free testosterone in the blood available to cell
receptor sites.

(3) A reduced effectiveness of the testosterone replacement therapy
due to excess aromatization of testosterone medications to estrogen.

(4) Long-term health risks including an increased risk of diabetes,
heart disease, and some cancers.”
http://www.smart-drugs.net/ias-estrogen.htm

From LE Magazine:
“Through a variety of mechanisms, aging men suffer from the dual
effects of having too little testosterone and excess estrogen. The
result is a testosterone/ estrogen imbalance that can severely inhibit
sexual desire and performance. In youth, low amounts of estrogen are
used to turn off the powerful cell-stimulating effects of
testosterone. As estrogen levels increase with age, testosterone cell
stimulation may be locked in the “off” position, thus reducing sexual
arousal and sensation and causing the common loss of libido so common
in aging men . . . Estrogen overload is a serious problem in aging
men. One report showed that estrogen levels of the average 54-year-old
man are higher than those of the average 59-year-old woman. Estrogen
is a necessary hormone for men, but too much causes a wide range of
health problems. High serum levels of estrogen also trick the brain
into thinking that enough testosterone is being produced, thereby
slowing the natural production of testosterone.”
http://www.lef.org/magazine/mag2000/jan00-cover2.html

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Question by Matt R: What is the mechanism by which estrogen causes blood clotting?
What is the specific, detailed, medical mechanism by which estrogen induces thrombosis?

Best answer:

Answer by Sunnyside
This is not well known.

As an endocrinology prof once said, “We don’t understand everything about how hormones work naturally, let alone what happens when we add artificial hormones into the mix”.

“The mechaisms by which oral contaceptives induce a prothrombotic state are incompletely understood” From: http://books.google.ca/books?id=GYLlHmorT4wC&pg=RA1-PA665&lpg=RA1-PA665&dq=mechanism+of+thrombosis+estrogen&source=bl&ots=7vS26jkk24&sig=iyb85utx6BG-rxxl-eD2u2CjibQ&hl=en&ei=zTZWSprMHZGwsgPomJi7Dg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=10

When birth control pills were first available to the public, deep vein thrombosis was one of the most lethal side effects. Present day birth control pills contain lower levels of hormones.

Combined oral contraceptives and combined oral postmenopausal hormone therapy are associated with a weak, but clinically significant risk of arterial and venous thrombosis (VT). The effects are related to dose of estrogen and type of progestin. The main effects are increase in markers of activated coagulation, reduction in coagulation inhibitors, and acquired activated protein C resistance. Reduction in tissue factor pathway inhibitor (TFPI) is probably an important mechanism, which predicts activation of coagulation and acquired resistance to activated protein C. Coagulation markers should be used as intermediate or surrogate markers in early pharmacodynamic studies to evaluate the risk associated with new formulations”. From: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6T1C-4VKNWF7-H&_user=10&_rdoc=1&_fmt=&_orig=search&_sort=d&_docanchor=&view=c&_searchStrId=952967066&_rerunOrigin=google&_acct=C000050221&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=10&md5=8bd49f120d4d05ec116a46c31c85017f

Also see: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6T1C-4BYJ5W0-4&_user=10&_rdoc=1&_fmt=&_orig=search&_sort=d&_docanchor=&view=c&_searchStrId=952962721&_rerunOrigin=google&_acct=C000050221&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=10&md5=1535c0219649a7ecc6fe79027849eaec

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Question by s: What hormone causes the hot flashes during the perimenopause?
Is it the progesteroene levels struggling to rise or is because the estradiol is higher than the progesterone or is it just low progesterone. The information out there is confusing?

Best answer:

Answer by helene
It’s the lack of estrogen. The body gets used to it, and when it goes away, there’s hell to pay.

My mother’s doctor told her that hot flashes are a kind of temper tantrum thrown by the brain, when it calls for estrogen and doesn’t get any.

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