Low Estrogen Symptoms

When your estrogen decreases due to menopause, surgery, or other conditions, low estrogen symptoms can affect your weight, mood, sexual desire, and bone health.

While men’s bodies produce a very small amount of estradiol (a form of estrogen), estrogen is primarily a hormone associated with women and their health.

Estrogen is necessary for the sexual development of girls when they reach adolescence. It controls the growth and shedding of the uterus lining that results in menstruation, too. Estrogen is responsible for breast changes during pregnancy, and the hormone is also involved in bone health and metabolism.       

When levels of estrogen are abnormal, or drop naturally due to menopause, symptoms of low estrogen can appear, ranging from hardly noticeable to unpleasant.

YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE: The Pros and Cons of Hormone Replacement Therapy

What causes low estrogen symptoms?

Menopause is the most common reason estrogen levels become lower. The drop in estrogen usually starts in your late 30s or 40s as ovaries make less estrogen and fertility declines. Finally, your ovaries stop producing eggs, then estrogen levels decrease even more during menopause, which usually occurs around age 52 in the U.S., according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office on Women’s Health.

But there are other causes of low estrogen symptoms. For example, a complete hysterectomy (when both your uterus and ovaries are removed), causes menopause to develop abruptly, resulting in often severe symptoms of low estrogen.

Primary ovarian insufficiency (POI) is another cause of low estrogen. POI, when your ovaries stop working normally before you are 40 years of age, frequently runs in families. Chemotherapy and radiation treatment for cancer can also induce early menopause — causing temporary symptoms of low estrogen, such as hot flashes.

Your ovaries can fail to produce normal amounts of estrogen and other reproductive hormones due to certain autoimmune and genetic conditions such as Turner syndrome, too.

Young women who excessively exercise or have eating disorders like bulimia or anorexia are also at risk for missed or irregular periods and low estrogen.

Low estrogen symptoms vary

Not everyone with low estrogen experiences many symptoms.

Some low estrogen symptoms are common, however, such as the infamous hot flashes of menopause that affect about three out of four women during menopause. A drop in estrogen produces the sudden feeling of heat, which is sometimes accompanied by red blotches on your upper body, a red face, and sweating. Cold chills can follow.

While you likely can’t help but notice hot flashes, you may not be aware you have another potential symptom of low estrogen, weak bones, unless you suffer a fracture or learn from a bone density test that your bones are thinning.

It isn’t just older women who can suffer from the bone weakening effects of low estrogen. Low bone density is reported in up to half of elite female athletes because intense exercise over time can result in missed periods and low estrogen.

You might become forgetful if you are experiencing low estrogen symptoms. As many as two-thirds of women going through perimenopause (the time leading up to menopause) say they have problems with memory or trouble focusing. The Office on Women’s Health notes insomnia and night sweats linked to low estrogen are likely behind those symptoms. Mood swings and even depression may be associated with low estrogen levels, too.

More low estrogen symptoms

• Missed or late menstrual periods during perimenopause are frequent signs of low estrogen.
• Bladder or urinary problems may develop during menopause (including urine leakage when you sneeze, cough, or laugh) due to low estrogen weakening your urethra, the duct that carries urine out of your body from your bladder.
• Painful intercourse can result from low estrogen causing vaginal thinning and drying.
• Gaining weight more easily, especially around the middle of your abdomen, is linked to low estrogen during perimenopause and menopause.

Talk to your doctor about low estrogen symptoms

Don’t assume new symptoms are necessarily due to low estrogen, even if you are hitting middle-age. Talk to your doctor about testing your hormone levels to make sure. If your estrogen is low and symptoms are troublesome, discuss ways to find relief.

Exercise, relaxation techniques, and medication, if appropriate, can often help. Symptoms due to low estrogen during menopause may improve and even resolve over time.

Other self-help strategies to reduce low estrogen-caused hot flashes include avoiding alcohol, spicy foods, and excessive caffeine, the National Institute on Aging advises. Work on maintaining a healthy weight, too. Women who are significantly overweight may experience more severe and frequent hot flashes due to low estrogen.

YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE: Osteoporosis Risk Factors