Hi hope everyone day is going well....
Does anybody know what our hormones (especially estrogen) do during a single day? I have searched and can't find anything really, I guess I am assuming they follow some kind of pattern that is standard for all women like what they do throughout a month, but maybe I am wrong. The reason I ask is I get hot flashes at specific times during a day, everyday......one in the area of 10:30-11:30 and it lasts about an hour and another episode around 4ish for about an hour. When I went through a spotting faze for 6 weeks awhile ago I would spot everyday between 2:30 and 3:30 so I assumed my hormones were in some kind of cycle/pattern throughout the day. These flashes are so intense and long I just thought maybe I could thwart them off by taking something ( like a shot of soy or black cohosh) before their expected arrival....am I making sense? While I am here writing just another thought or question....I am confused about something.....I got my period a week ago tomorrow, so 6 days ago....I have already ovulated on day 4 and 5 ( I can tell because of the side pain and other things) how can my estrogen and P. be at the lowest point at the start of menstration and rise to the highest point(ovulation) in just 4-5 days.......now that is a wild fluctuation or am I seeing this wrong, maybe it isn't as drastic as it seems, maybe my estrogen is just so low that it's peak is even low......this has been happening closer and closer to the beginning of my period, but this is the closest and I have just been feeling horible lately and thoughts?? Thanks Mikki
Full Version: estrogen levels during a day
I've got a book that says what the daily peak times for estrogen are, but I need to go find it for you to give you an answer. I'll get back to you when I do find out. One bit of info. for you is that exercise will lower estrogen, so that can influence and vary your levels. But once you've entered peri, all sense of orderly cycles and hormone levels are out the door. Estrogen levels can start going all over the place, no matter what time of the month it is. There's still a cycle, but it becomes highly variable in length. The ovaries just start sputtering estrogen as more and more eggs don't mature anymore and FSH rises in response madly trying to keep peak estrogen levels for ovulation.
How do you know what your hormone levels are? Basing it on pain levels may not be accurate. Dysmenorrhea or menstrual pain is caused by prostaglandins manufactured in the lining of the uterus. These chemicals influence inflammation, sensitize the spinal nerves and cause the uterus to contract and restrict blood flow, which then causes the pain. Prostaglandin production peaks during ovulation. Now when we enter peri, we can start having what are called 'anovulatory cycles' in which an egg isn't released from a follicle and thusly no corpus luteum is formed. With no corpus luteum, there is no added progesterone production. So when you have anovulatory periods, you usually don't get cramps. If you've always had cramps and you have a period with no cramps, you've probably had an anovulatory period. This is ONLY cause for concern if you're young, indicating infertility, but it's normal to occur while perimenopausal.
The downside I found about about anovulatory periods is when no progesterone is forthcoming in the latter half of your cycle, the lining of the uterus keeps building up. If you have several of these in a row or a have long time between periods, the lining will build up to the point of outgrowing it's blood supply and you'll get a stupendous period that's heavy and long lasting when ovulation finally does occur. If you're well into peri and also getting clotted periods, it can block the cervix opening and you'll get labor-type contractions by the uterus in order to expel the old lining. VEEEEEEEEEEEEEERY painful and very different from regular cramps!
How do you know what your hormone levels are? Basing it on pain levels may not be accurate. Dysmenorrhea or menstrual pain is caused by prostaglandins manufactured in the lining of the uterus. These chemicals influence inflammation, sensitize the spinal nerves and cause the uterus to contract and restrict blood flow, which then causes the pain. Prostaglandin production peaks during ovulation. Now when we enter peri, we can start having what are called 'anovulatory cycles' in which an egg isn't released from a follicle and thusly no corpus luteum is formed. With no corpus luteum, there is no added progesterone production. So when you have anovulatory periods, you usually don't get cramps. If you've always had cramps and you have a period with no cramps, you've probably had an anovulatory period. This is ONLY cause for concern if you're young, indicating infertility, but it's normal to occur while perimenopausal.
The downside I found about about anovulatory periods is when no progesterone is forthcoming in the latter half of your cycle, the lining of the uterus keeps building up. If you have several of these in a row or a have long time between periods, the lining will build up to the point of outgrowing it's blood supply and you'll get a stupendous period that's heavy and long lasting when ovulation finally does occur. If you're well into peri and also getting clotted periods, it can block the cervix opening and you'll get labor-type contractions by the uterus in order to expel the old lining. VEEEEEEEEEEEEEERY painful and very different from regular cramps!
sehlat,
thanks for the info...yeah if you do find that book just send me a note on what you find I would greatly appreciate it. hugs mikki
ps welcome to PS
thanks for the info...yeah if you do find that book just send me a note on what you find I would greatly appreciate it. hugs mikki
ps welcome to PS
Darn, I still can't find that particular reference. I'm having to plow through 4 different books. It was something about estrogen either being higher in the morning or afternoon, so I'll keep looking. However, in my book perusing, I have found another bit of interesting info..
It seems that body fat makes an enzyme called aromatase. This enzyme converts testosterone into estrogen. So the theory goes, the more body fat you have, the more estrogen gets converted from testosterone in your body. So by gaining weight, the body is trying to make more estrogen. This mechanism is a holdover from puberty and is responsible for the weight gain we get in puberty and perimenopause. In puberty, the body is trying to jump start the signal for the beginning of ovulation and menses with a little extra estrogen and so those late night teenagers are unwittingly gaining weight by staying up late if they don't exercise enough to burn it off. In menopause, the body adding weight is a desperate ploy to make more estrogen from fat because the ovaries are shutting down. This is also why fat men get man breasts, too much estrogen being made in their bodies.
Now another tidbit is that when we don't sleep very well, we don't make as much melatonin and one of melatonin's functions is to block estrogen receptors. So the upside is that when we have good sleep, we make MORE melatonin which blocks more of the estrogen receptors in our cells so that less estrogen is needed for cell use and the body won't try to gain fat. However, when we have little or shortened sleep periods, we make LESS melatonin and so LESS estrogen receptor blocking is occurring and more estrogen is now in demand and thusly the body tries to gain weight. In nature, this apparently has something to do with summer being the mating time and relating to the shorter sleep cycles allowing cells to be more receptive to estrogen for reproduction. Of course the opposite happens in winter with longer sleep cycles and a non-mating time of year. Shortened sleep equals weight gain.
So the idea here is that the more body fat you have, the more estrogen you have as well. Also, the more sleep you get, the more estrogen you have as well. So THAT'S why sleep goes out the door during peri. The body is trying frantically to get our estrogen receptive cells as much of the little remaining estrogen we have left! So estrogen levels can be directly correlated with the amount of sleep you get. In peri, it's a vicious circle! This also begs another question. Do overweight women ever have trouble with osteoporosis if their body fat makes estrogen?
Thanks for the welcome and hugs back!
It seems that body fat makes an enzyme called aromatase. This enzyme converts testosterone into estrogen. So the theory goes, the more body fat you have, the more estrogen gets converted from testosterone in your body. So by gaining weight, the body is trying to make more estrogen. This mechanism is a holdover from puberty and is responsible for the weight gain we get in puberty and perimenopause. In puberty, the body is trying to jump start the signal for the beginning of ovulation and menses with a little extra estrogen and so those late night teenagers are unwittingly gaining weight by staying up late if they don't exercise enough to burn it off. In menopause, the body adding weight is a desperate ploy to make more estrogen from fat because the ovaries are shutting down. This is also why fat men get man breasts, too much estrogen being made in their bodies.
Now another tidbit is that when we don't sleep very well, we don't make as much melatonin and one of melatonin's functions is to block estrogen receptors. So the upside is that when we have good sleep, we make MORE melatonin which blocks more of the estrogen receptors in our cells so that less estrogen is needed for cell use and the body won't try to gain fat. However, when we have little or shortened sleep periods, we make LESS melatonin and so LESS estrogen receptor blocking is occurring and more estrogen is now in demand and thusly the body tries to gain weight. In nature, this apparently has something to do with summer being the mating time and relating to the shorter sleep cycles allowing cells to be more receptive to estrogen for reproduction. Of course the opposite happens in winter with longer sleep cycles and a non-mating time of year. Shortened sleep equals weight gain.
So the idea here is that the more body fat you have, the more estrogen you have as well. Also, the more sleep you get, the more estrogen you have as well. So THAT'S why sleep goes out the door during peri. The body is trying frantically to get our estrogen receptive cells as much of the little remaining estrogen we have left! So estrogen levels can be directly correlated with the amount of sleep you get. In peri, it's a vicious circle! This also begs another question. Do overweight women ever have trouble with osteoporosis if their body fat makes estrogen?
Thanks for the welcome and hugs back!
QUOTE (sehlat @ Nov 13 2009, 01:24 AM) 
Darn, I still can't find that particular reference. I'm having to plow through 4 different books. It was something about estrogen either being higher in the morning or afternoon, so I'll keep looking. However, in my book perusing, I have found another bit of interesting info..
It seems that body fat makes an enzyme called aromatase. This enzyme converts testosterone into estrogen. So the theory goes, the more body fat you have, the more estrogen gets converted from testosterone in your body. So by gaining weight, the body is trying to make more estrogen. This mechanism is a holdover from puberty and is responsible for the weight gain we get in puberty and perimenopause. In puberty, the body is trying to jump start the signal for the beginning of ovulation and menses with a little extra estrogen and so those late night teenagers are unwittingly gaining weight by staying up late if they don't exercise enough to burn it off. In menopause, the body adding weight is a desperate ploy to make more estrogen from fat because the ovaries are shutting down. This is also why fat men get man breasts, too much estrogen being made in their bodies.
Now another tidbit is that when we don't sleep very well, we don't make as much melatonin and one of melatonin's functions is to block estrogen receptors. So the upside is that when we have good sleep, we make MORE melatonin which blocks more of the estrogen receptors in our cells so that less estrogen is needed for cell use and the body won't try to gain fat. However, when we have little or shortened sleep periods, we make LESS melatonin and so LESS estrogen receptor blocking is occurring and more estrogen is now in demand and thusly the body tries to gain weight. In nature, this apparently has something to do with summer being the mating time and relating to the shorter sleep cycles allowing cells to be more receptive to estrogen for reproduction. Of course the opposite happens in winter with longer sleep cycles and a non-mating time of year. Shortened sleep equals weight gain.
So the idea here is that the more body fat you have, the more estrogen you have as well. Also, the more sleep you get, the more estrogen you have as well. So THAT'S why sleep goes out the door during peri. The body is trying frantically to get our estrogen receptive cells as much of the little remaining estrogen we have left! So estrogen levels can be directly correlated with the amount of sleep you get. In peri, it's a vicious circle! This also begs another question. Do overweight women ever have trouble with osteoporosis if their body fat makes estrogen?
Thanks for the welcome and hugs back!
It seems that body fat makes an enzyme called aromatase. This enzyme converts testosterone into estrogen. So the theory goes, the more body fat you have, the more estrogen gets converted from testosterone in your body. So by gaining weight, the body is trying to make more estrogen. This mechanism is a holdover from puberty and is responsible for the weight gain we get in puberty and perimenopause. In puberty, the body is trying to jump start the signal for the beginning of ovulation and menses with a little extra estrogen and so those late night teenagers are unwittingly gaining weight by staying up late if they don't exercise enough to burn it off. In menopause, the body adding weight is a desperate ploy to make more estrogen from fat because the ovaries are shutting down. This is also why fat men get man breasts, too much estrogen being made in their bodies.
Now another tidbit is that when we don't sleep very well, we don't make as much melatonin and one of melatonin's functions is to block estrogen receptors. So the upside is that when we have good sleep, we make MORE melatonin which blocks more of the estrogen receptors in our cells so that less estrogen is needed for cell use and the body won't try to gain fat. However, when we have little or shortened sleep periods, we make LESS melatonin and so LESS estrogen receptor blocking is occurring and more estrogen is now in demand and thusly the body tries to gain weight. In nature, this apparently has something to do with summer being the mating time and relating to the shorter sleep cycles allowing cells to be more receptive to estrogen for reproduction. Of course the opposite happens in winter with longer sleep cycles and a non-mating time of year. Shortened sleep equals weight gain.
So the idea here is that the more body fat you have, the more estrogen you have as well. Also, the more sleep you get, the more estrogen you have as well. So THAT'S why sleep goes out the door during peri. The body is trying frantically to get our estrogen receptive cells as much of the little remaining estrogen we have left! So estrogen levels can be directly correlated with the amount of sleep you get. In peri, it's a vicious circle! This also begs another question. Do overweight women ever have trouble with osteoporosis if their body fat makes estrogen?
Thanks for the welcome and hugs back!
This is a great post - very informative and interesting. I still get cramps every month and I'm 49
Louise
QUOTE (sehlat @ Nov 13 2009, 09:24 AM)
Darn, I still can't find that particular reference. I'm having to plow through 4 different books. It was something about estrogen either being higher in the morning or afternoon, so I'll keep looking. However, in my book perusing, I have found another bit of interesting info..
It seems that body fat makes an enzyme called aromatase. This enzyme converts testosterone into estrogen. So the theory goes, the more body fat you have, the more estrogen gets converted from testosterone in your body. So by gaining weight, the body is trying to make more estrogen. This mechanism is a holdover from puberty and is responsible for the weight gain we get in puberty and perimenopause. In puberty, the body is trying to jump start the signal for the beginning of ovulation and menses with a little extra estrogen and so those late night teenagers are unwittingly gaining weight by staying up late if they don't exercise enough to burn it off. In menopause, the body adding weight is a desperate ploy to make more estrogen from fat because the ovaries are shutting down. This is also why fat men get man breasts, too much estrogen being made in their bodies.
Now another tidbit is that when we don't sleep very well, we don't make as much melatonin and one of melatonin's functions is to block estrogen receptors. So the upside is that when we have good sleep, we make MORE melatonin which blocks more of the estrogen receptors in our cells so that less estrogen is needed for cell use and the body won't try to gain fat. However, when we have little or shortened sleep periods, we make LESS melatonin and so LESS estrogen receptor blocking is occurring and more estrogen is now in demand and thusly the body tries to gain weight. In nature, this apparently has something to do with summer being the mating time and relating to the shorter sleep cycles allowing cells to be more receptive to estrogen for reproduction. Of course the opposite happens in winter with longer sleep cycles and a non-mating time of year. Shortened sleep equals weight gain.
So the idea here is that the more body fat you have, the more estrogen you have as well. Also, the more sleep you get, the more estrogen you have as well. So THAT'S why sleep goes out the door during peri. The body is trying frantically to get our estrogen receptive cells as much of the little remaining estrogen we have left! So estrogen levels can be directly correlated with the amount of sleep you get. In peri, it's a vicious circle! This also begs another question. Do overweight women ever have trouble with osteoporosis if their body fat makes estrogen?
Thanks for the welcome and hugs back!
It seems that body fat makes an enzyme called aromatase. This enzyme converts testosterone into estrogen. So the theory goes, the more body fat you have, the more estrogen gets converted from testosterone in your body. So by gaining weight, the body is trying to make more estrogen. This mechanism is a holdover from puberty and is responsible for the weight gain we get in puberty and perimenopause. In puberty, the body is trying to jump start the signal for the beginning of ovulation and menses with a little extra estrogen and so those late night teenagers are unwittingly gaining weight by staying up late if they don't exercise enough to burn it off. In menopause, the body adding weight is a desperate ploy to make more estrogen from fat because the ovaries are shutting down. This is also why fat men get man breasts, too much estrogen being made in their bodies.
Now another tidbit is that when we don't sleep very well, we don't make as much melatonin and one of melatonin's functions is to block estrogen receptors. So the upside is that when we have good sleep, we make MORE melatonin which blocks more of the estrogen receptors in our cells so that less estrogen is needed for cell use and the body won't try to gain fat. However, when we have little or shortened sleep periods, we make LESS melatonin and so LESS estrogen receptor blocking is occurring and more estrogen is now in demand and thusly the body tries to gain weight. In nature, this apparently has something to do with summer being the mating time and relating to the shorter sleep cycles allowing cells to be more receptive to estrogen for reproduction. Of course the opposite happens in winter with longer sleep cycles and a non-mating time of year. Shortened sleep equals weight gain.
So the idea here is that the more body fat you have, the more estrogen you have as well. Also, the more sleep you get, the more estrogen you have as well. So THAT'S why sleep goes out the door during peri. The body is trying frantically to get our estrogen receptive cells as much of the little remaining estrogen we have left! So estrogen levels can be directly correlated with the amount of sleep you get. In peri, it's a vicious circle! This also begs another question. Do overweight women ever have trouble with osteoporosis if their body fat makes estrogen?
Thanks for the welcome and hugs back!
Dear 'sehlat'
Thanks a lot for the interesting information.
The part about the body fat certainly makes a great deal of sense as ladies I know who are on HRT seem to stay slimmer than those not.Have also noted that the fat gathers more around the waist and tummy area.
As for sleep I always try to aim for at least eight hours but sometimes have to resort to a sleeping pill if it is one of those nights where I am left staring at the ceiling!
I think that even larger ladies can have problem with osteoporosis as the estrogen made is not always sufficient to protect the bones.I know at least two -well covered ladies-that have the Dowager's Hump and some have had hip and knee replacements
So all good food for thought!
Keep Posting
All the Best
Elizabeth
QUOTE (sehlat @ Nov 13 2009, 12:24 AM)
Darn, I still can't find that particular reference. I'm having to plow through 4 different books. It was something about estrogen either being higher in the morning or afternoon, so I'll keep looking. However, in my book perusing, I have found another bit of interesting info..
It seems that body fat makes an enzyme called aromatase. This enzyme converts testosterone into estrogen. So the theory goes, the more body fat you have, the more estrogen gets converted from testosterone in your body. So by gaining weight, the body is trying to make more estrogen. This mechanism is a holdover from puberty and is responsible for the weight gain we get in puberty and perimenopause. In puberty, the body is trying to jump start the signal for the beginning of ovulation and menses with a little extra estrogen and so those late night teenagers are unwittingly gaining weight by staying up late if they don't exercise enough to burn it off. In menopause, the body adding weight is a desperate ploy to make more estrogen from fat because the ovaries are shutting down. This is also why fat men get man breasts, too much estrogen being made in their bodies.
Now another tidbit is that when we don't sleep very well, we don't make as much melatonin and one of melatonin's functions is to block estrogen receptors. So the upside is that when we have good sleep, we make MORE melatonin which blocks more of the estrogen receptors in our cells so that less estrogen is needed for cell use and the body won't try to gain fat. However, when we have little or shortened sleep periods, we make LESS melatonin and so LESS estrogen receptor blocking is occurring and more estrogen is now in demand and thusly the body tries to gain weight. In nature, this apparently has something to do with summer being the mating time and relating to the shorter sleep cycles allowing cells to be more receptive to estrogen for reproduction. Of course the opposite happens in winter with longer sleep cycles and a non-mating time of year. Shortened sleep equals weight gain.
So the idea here is that the more body fat you have, the more estrogen you have as well. Also, the more sleep you get, the more estrogen you have as well. So THAT'S why sleep goes out the door during peri. The body is trying frantically to get our estrogen receptive cells as much of the little remaining estrogen we have left! So estrogen levels can be directly correlated with the amount of sleep you get. In peri, it's a vicious circle! This also begs another question. Do overweight women ever have trouble with osteoporosis if their body fat makes estrogen?
Thanks for the welcome and hugs back!
It seems that body fat makes an enzyme called aromatase. This enzyme converts testosterone into estrogen. So the theory goes, the more body fat you have, the more estrogen gets converted from testosterone in your body. So by gaining weight, the body is trying to make more estrogen. This mechanism is a holdover from puberty and is responsible for the weight gain we get in puberty and perimenopause. In puberty, the body is trying to jump start the signal for the beginning of ovulation and menses with a little extra estrogen and so those late night teenagers are unwittingly gaining weight by staying up late if they don't exercise enough to burn it off. In menopause, the body adding weight is a desperate ploy to make more estrogen from fat because the ovaries are shutting down. This is also why fat men get man breasts, too much estrogen being made in their bodies.
Now another tidbit is that when we don't sleep very well, we don't make as much melatonin and one of melatonin's functions is to block estrogen receptors. So the upside is that when we have good sleep, we make MORE melatonin which blocks more of the estrogen receptors in our cells so that less estrogen is needed for cell use and the body won't try to gain fat. However, when we have little or shortened sleep periods, we make LESS melatonin and so LESS estrogen receptor blocking is occurring and more estrogen is now in demand and thusly the body tries to gain weight. In nature, this apparently has something to do with summer being the mating time and relating to the shorter sleep cycles allowing cells to be more receptive to estrogen for reproduction. Of course the opposite happens in winter with longer sleep cycles and a non-mating time of year. Shortened sleep equals weight gain.
So the idea here is that the more body fat you have, the more estrogen you have as well. Also, the more sleep you get, the more estrogen you have as well. So THAT'S why sleep goes out the door during peri. The body is trying frantically to get our estrogen receptive cells as much of the little remaining estrogen we have left! So estrogen levels can be directly correlated with the amount of sleep you get. In peri, it's a vicious circle! This also begs another question. Do overweight women ever have trouble with osteoporosis if their body fat makes estrogen?
Thanks for the welcome and hugs back!
Thanks for the great info...........I never thought about the gaining wieght that way, it makes perfect sense with me as I was thin and very muscular and when my estro dipped I gained 30lb's and struggle to keep from gaining anymore, never did that in my life and most of it is around the middle, behind and upper legs..............also please don't knock yourself out trying to find this reference on daily peaks and lows of hormones, I just asked because I like to at least pretend for my own mental stability that I have some kind of grasp on what is happening in my body right now, but reality is I won't, not now anyway, but I appreciate your thoughtfulness to look. HUGS Mikki
OK, what I found out is that estrogen levels peak while we sleep. However, it can vary during the day or night quite a bit depending on if you are perimenopausal or having poor sleep cycles. A LITTLE added body fat can smooth some of the most severe estrogen cycling during peri., but the caveat is that if you carry too much fat around, you are at a greater risk for breast and uterine cancer.
Another thing I found reading Dr. Vliet's book on testosterone is that she claims exercise RAISES estrogen levels, whereas I've read other sources that say it LOWERS it. Go figure that no one agrees here. From my experience during peri, if I was very active during the day, I tended to have an estrogen drop because I would develope the resulting headache in the afternoon.
Another thing I found reading Dr. Vliet's book on testosterone is that she claims exercise RAISES estrogen levels, whereas I've read other sources that say it LOWERS it. Go figure that no one agrees here. From my experience during peri, if I was very active during the day, I tended to have an estrogen drop because I would develope the resulting headache in the afternoon.
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