What are the uncommon symptoms of low estrogen?
Beyond hot flashes and vaginal dryness, low estrogen can cause symptoms that often get missed: recurring urinary tract infections, anxiety and depression, brain fog and trouble focusing, very light or absent periods, thinning hair and brittle nails, dry skin, and dulled senses of touch, taste, and smell. Because these symptoms are easily attributed to other causes, they're worth discussing with a healthcare provider.
You may know the more common low estrogen symptoms like hot flashes and vaginal dryness.
But there are quite a few uncommon low estrogen symptoms that can even beguile your health care providers.
1. Chronic UTIs
I see this a lot in menopausal and postmenopausal women who have urinary tract infections treated constantly by taking antibiotics. When in reality, what's happening is their estrogen levels are so low that their urethra is inflamed and allowing bacteria to enter into the bladder.
The treatment is to apply topical estrogen vaginally and towards the urethra in the 12 o'clock position to reduce chronic UTIs.
2. Anxiety and Depression
When your hormones have bottomed out in menopause, it affects your brain’s ability to make neurotransmitters.
Without adequate serotonin, dopamine and GABA, you feel depressed and anxious. Estrogen helps you produce serotonin, so when estrogen is low, serotonin drops and you may feel anxious or depressed.
3. Lack of Focus
Brain fog is a low estrogen symptom. Estrogen helps stimulate neuron activity by increasing the electrical impulse in the central nervous system so you can find those words, do that math, and remember those names.
When your estrogen levels are low, you have trouble focusing and concentrating.
4. No Periods or Very Light Periods
Estrogen helps build the endometrial lining.
Light scanty periods are a classic sign that your estrogen levels are low. Without adequate estrogen, you may have no periods at all.
5. Unhealthy Skin, Hair and Nails
Estrogen actually stimulates the growth of skin, hair, and nails as well as the cellular health of those tissues.
When your estrogen is low, your hair may fall out, not grow as quickly, and be dry and brittle. Your skin is thin and dry and even wrinkled. Your nails are thin and brittle.
6. Poor Senses
When your estrogen levels are low, your skin sensitivity is poor. You can't feel touch as well. And your sense of taste and smell can be affected.
One of the classic signs I see in women who have low estrogen is they will complain that their partner stinks. And it's not because their partner has changed their hygiene habits, but that the patient's estradiol levels have fallen to the point where she now finds his smell noxious.
7. You Need Readers
If you're now using reading glasses, that’s a classic sign of low estrogen.
Like all hormones, estrogen affects your eyes. Low estrogen levels cause a change in the shape of the eyeball which causes the image you’re looking at to land on a different place on the macula so that now you cannot see close.
Genesis Gold®
One of the amazing things that I have found by supporting my hypothalamus with Genesis Gold® is unlike most 63-year-old women, I do not need readers. My vision has been unchanged for the last 40 years.
I also had a patient who was using bioidentical hormone replacement therapy with me for osteoporosis. Yet after she had been using Genesis Gold® for about two months, she noticed a big change in her eyes - she was able to wear contacts. Even her optometrist noticed the change in the shape of her lens and vision.
Supporting your hypothalamus can help mitigate low estrogen levels and keep tissues healthy. Genesis Gold® is more than just supporting the Maestro of your hormones, it’s supporting cellular health as well.
If you have questions, please join us in our Hormone Reboot Training.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can low estrogen cause recurring UTIs?
Yes, recurring UTIs are a commonly missed sign of low estrogen, especially in menopausal and postmenopausal women. When estrogen levels drop, the tissue of the urethra can become thin and inflamed, which may allow bacteria to enter the bladder more easily. Women in this situation are sometimes treated with repeated courses of antibiotics when the underlying driver is hormonal. A healthcare provider can evaluate whether low estrogen is contributing.
Does low estrogen cause anxiety and depression?
Low estrogen can contribute to anxiety and depression because estrogen supports the brain's ability to produce neurotransmitters. When estrogen bottoms out in menopause, levels of serotonin, dopamine, and GABA can fall, and these are the chemicals most closely tied to mood regulation. Mood changes during the menopause transition are common and real, and they deserve proper evaluation and support from a healthcare provider.
Can low estrogen cause brain fog?
Yes, brain fog is a recognized low-estrogen symptom. Estrogen helps stimulate neuron activity by supporting electrical signaling in the central nervous system, which affects word recall, mental math, and remembering names. When estrogen is low, many women notice trouble focusing and concentrating. This is a physiological effect of hormonal change, not a personal failing, and it often improves as hormones are addressed.
I am so shocked that I am having quite a few of these symptom and never thought it could be menopause.I am going to make an appointment with my gynecologist. Thank you for Genesis Gold
Balancing your hypothalamus can help with menopause symptoms
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https://genesisgold.com/menopause-lp/