-
Hot Flashes
Hi Bernadette & Team,
I wanted to see if you could share any tips/trick to combat hot flashes especially in the summer. I recently got a dutch test done (not sure if that’d be helpful to see) and have been taking Avmacol Extra Strength for over a month now and have been trying the Gloninum 200c and just does not seem to help! I am 31 years old if that is also helpful to know!
Any tips you can share ? 🙂
-
11 Replies
-
Hey ,
Hot flashes can happen for different reasons. They can be caused by sudden drops in estrogen, too much cortisol, not enough cortisol, low progesterone or not enough serotonin. Only addressing what is at play will help you to reduce hot flashes.
Sharing your DUTCH test can help us understand what might be at play! In addition, it would be helpful to know when in your cycle the DUTCH test was taken.
Since female hormones often play a role I recommend you to read this handout. What I would like you to do is to write down and share other possible symptoms that are mentioned there. This will help us to give you more targeted advice.
If you feel comfortable sharing, it would also be helpful to know what your period looks like. For example:
• Is your period regular?
• When do you experience your hot flashes? During the day? In the night? Or both?
• Do you experience heavy blood loss?
• Are you using contraceptives?
• Are the flushes worse in certain parts of your cycle?Less known is that vitamin D can also influence estrogen receptors and estrogen metabolism. Vitamin D supplementation for example may have a stronger effect as the body gets hit with high one-time doses of a supplement. You might not be supplementing with vitamin D, but if you are magnesium deficient, vitamin D can’t transform into its final form causing a similar effect. When you mention that hot flashes are more common in the summer, checking if you experience symptoms of magnesium deficiency can help.
Signs & Symptoms of magnesium are quite a lot (Here is a more in-depth video). If you are experiencing symptoms like acid reflux, cramps, low energy, poor sleep, headaches, heart palpitations or high blood pressure it would be good to check your RBC magnesium or just use a magnesium supplement.
Other conditions that can play into hot flashes are low blood sugar, hyper- and hypothyroidism and changes in stress. If you have for example seasonal work and experience more stress in the summer because of that, this might be worth mentioning as well.
Quite a lot of reasons, I know! If you share your DUTCH test, we could give you more personalised advise!
-
in addition to Daniel’s excellent reply and questions to help us help you get to the root cause of your hot flashes, I’d also encourage you to read through this Hot Flash protocol posted in the resources to hopefully offer some rapid relief in the meantime while we help you figure out the root cause so you can address it.
-
Thank you both so much – this is incredibly helpful – downloading the attachments today and will read ❤️! I have attached my DUTCH test results!
Daniel, also here are the responses to your questions–
• Is your period regular? — Not really, it comes every 34-39 days
• When do you experience your hot flashes? During the day? In the night? Or both? I experience them mostly during the week before my period and the first week of it – it is constant throughout the day but definitely worse at night. I also notice that when I get anxious, my body temperature goes high and my face starts to flush and I turn red during work meetings.
• Do you experience heavy blood loss? Nope cycle seems regular in terms of flow
• Are you using contraceptives? NopeAdditionally, I have been seed cycling for the last 8 months which seems to have helped with other PMS related symptoms.
I have been taking the following supplements to help and not sure if I should continue/change any:
• Avmacol Extra Strength
• Ultraclear RENEW protein powder for detoxification
• NAC
• Licorice Plus
• Thorne Vitamin D3/K2
• Magnesium (glycinate)
• ProEFA Liquid Lemon (fish oil)[Kriti Dutch.pdf]
-
Hi – thank you for sharing your DUTCH test. Lots of hidden pearls and also lots to discuss!
First things first. What day in your cycle did you take this test? I’m asking because if it’s not between days 19-21 in a typical 28-day menstrual cycle or 5 to 7 days after ovulation, there is a chance that we’re not looking at the luteal phase, and therefore the interpretation of the sex hormones estrogen and progesterone will change. So please let us know! You mentioned above that you have longer cycles so what day in your cycle was it when you tested? Day 1 is your first day of menstruation.
If in fact you did test during days 19-21, this would be considered a classic picture of “estrogen dominance” where estrogens E1 and E2 are clearly much higher relative to progesterone. A normal value would be between the 2 stars on the dial which represent the normal reference ranges, but as you can see, yours fall outside of the stars to the right which is the higher end.
The good news is that your Phase 1 and 2 detox seem to both be effectively metabolizing estrogen. However, your body is converting a lot of the estrogen down the “red” pathway which is more prone to DNA damage. If you read the handout on Estrogen Dominance, this will make more sense to you. DIM is often recommended in these types of situations to help push estrogen down the “green” pathway and lower estrogen.
Now while DIM will be helpful in reducing estrogen dominant symptoms, it’s important to investigate the reason for higher estrogen production, which could be the following factors:
• Obesity
• Peri-menopause with surges of estrogen (typically between 40 to 50 years)
• Diabetes/high insulin
• PCOS
• Estrogen supplements
• Steroid medication
• Poor Phase 1 and/or 2 detox
• Gut dysbiosis
• Over-aromatization (this is where testosterone gets converted to estrogen)
• Environmental estrogens (worsen symptoms but won’t necessarily show up in testing)
• Alcohol
• Ovarian cystsFrom this list, what do you think fits your picture as possible root cause factors?
Now from what you’ve shared, I’d be curious to know if you’ve ever tested your blood sugar levels and insulin before. The reason is because you have a flat-line cortisol and overall low cortisol production. This usually happens as a result of chronic stress!! And stress all by itself can lead to higher blood sugar levels and insulin production, which can cause over-aromatization and higher estrogen. We need to discuss this more as it could be the root cause of everything going on.
Another factor that pushes aromatization is licorice root, and you mentioned supplementing with licorice. Is this something you’ve recently started or been taking for a while? Why are you taking it? It may be contributing to your symptoms.
Another reason for estrogen dominant symptoms is lower progesterone production. Cortisol is made from progesterone, therefore with chronic stress, there will be less progesterone available for sex hormone balance.
Your melatonin seems be on the upper end as well. Did you supplement or by any chance eat bananas, pineapple, citrus fruit, tart sour cherries, walnuts, corn, rice, or peanuts in the 2 days before taking the DUTCH test?
If you can please answer all of the above questions, we can help you out even more. I summarized them below and numbered them so you can answer them 1 by 1:
1. What day in your cycle did you test?
2. What root cause factor(s) for higher estrogen do you suspect are at play?
3. Would you say there’s chronic stress? If so, is it physical stress, mental/emotional stress or suspected bio-chemical stress (toxicity, high blood sugar, overgrowths, etc)?
4. Have you tested blood sugar (fasting glucose, fasting insulin, HbA1C)?
5. Why are you taking licorice? Is it licorice root? How long have you been taking it for?
6. Did you eat any foods that would increase melatonin or do you supplement with melatonin? -
Thank you so so so much for being so helpful in this journey for me and helping me figure things out – I cannot express how amazing you are!!
See my responses below:
1. What day in your cycle did you test? I took the DUTCH test on day 30 of a 37 day cycle. I hope I did it right! I took an ovulation test to confirm timing since my cycle isn’t usually on time – ovulated on April 24th so took the test on April 7 and April 8! My cycle started on March 1st and the next cycle started on April 15th.
2. What root cause factor(s) for higher estrogen do you suspect are at play? I definitely have gut issues but also found out recently that I do have mold as well. I am not sure at what point I can start remediating my home I feel like mold is the root of everything but am trying to do all I can to offset symptoms till I can figure out this mold situation.
3. Would you say there’s chronic stress? If so, is it physical stress, mental/emotional stress or suspected bio-chemical stress (toxicity, high blood sugar, overgrowths, etc)? Yes. I have had chronic stress for around 4 years now where my cortisol levels have been the same but recently started reducing my stress and have been feeling so much better. Definitely emotional/mental stress.
4. Have you tested blood sugar (fasting glucose, fasting insulin, HbA1C)? I have years ago but not recently! I have also been taking glucose bitters from Organic Olivia before any sweet or high carb meals. I have a fairly healthy diet and workout practice – I eat 90% healthy and do pilates 4x a week/ strength train 1x; light cardio 1x a week and do daily walks.
5. Why are you taking licorice? Is it licorice root? How long have you been taking it for? My current doctor recommended this for helping my energy and cortisol levels. I started taking this in Mid June!
6. Did you eat any foods that would increase melatonin or do you supplement with melatonin? Nope!
-
Hey ,
Mold toxins can definitely mess up female hormones! I would recommend you to watch the entire mold course (which you can find here).
Insulin resistance can cause elevated androgens (like DHT or dihydrotestosterone). However less known is that insulin resistance can lower SHBG (Sex Hormone Binding Globulin, which binds sex hormones making them inactive). When SHBG lowers, this can cause elevations in estrogen as well.
Having your fasting insulin measured can help you spot insulin resistance. Even when you work out, it still is a good idea. I once went to a course in Canada for personal trainers where we measured blood sugars. Half of the personal trainers there had elevations in blood sugar showing evidence of insulin resistance!
Liquorice can be a helpful supplement, but compounds found in liquorice root are also estrogenic and can activate estrogen receptors in the body. You can simply experiment with leaving the supplement out of your supplement stack for a while and see if you find some relief.
Your melatonin looks a bit on the higher end. This can be because of several reasons. Having lots of tryptophan in the diet can be a cause. Sometimes higher levels of vitamin B6 can cause melatonin to elevate as well.
Another reason for elevations in melatonin can be caused by the liver, Melatonin is also produced by the liver as an antioxidant to protect against free radicals. If mold is at play, the liver might be working harder.
The liver plays a role in detoxifying estrogen as well. Having liver enzymes tested can help you find clues if your liver is detoxifying well.
-
Thank you so much ! Do you have a recommendation on an alternative supplement for helping with energy levels considering the Licorice impact on estrogen. I am certainly going to try not using this to see if there is a difference!
Also, what are your thoughts on castor oil packs for liver detoxification? I have seen some blogs about wearing one overnight on the liver area can help but not sure how accurate this is!
-
Hey ,
I would first focus on getting in the nutrients that are needed for cortisol production. Vitamin B5 is needed as a cofactor to produce cortisol. Vitamin C is a very important nutrient for the adrenals as well. Nutrients that help the mitochondria like CoQ10, PQQ, folate and B12 and benfotiamine (the lipid-soluble version of vitamin B1) can help, because cortisol is made in the mitochondria.
If you experience constipation, I would address this as well. Estrogen in the gut can be reabsorbed. A noticeable amount of estrogen can be reabsorbed after 24 hours. I know this doesn’t zoom directly into the cortisol question, but if you expect toxicity issues (from mold for example), having a bowel movement at least once per day is important to help you detoxify.
Since we talk about, giving the body support to fight inflammation is important as well. Get your vitamin D in the right range, support with 2-4 grams of fish oil, and curcumin and follow, stimulate glutathione production (NAC will help, but nutrients like vitamin b6 and selenium are necessary too!) and an anti-inflammatory lifestyle/diet as well as you can.
My next tip would be supporting the circadian rhythm. Get sunlight in the morning max 30 minutes after waking up. If possible move/exercise in the morning. Make sure your evening is without too much stimulating activity. I know this part can be difficult for some people, but reducing the bad habits will usually impact a lot and will help the healing choices to make more impact.
If you are searching for a stimulating adaptogen, you could try Siberian ginseng. Rhodiola can be stimulatory as well, but research is mixed in combination with estrogen dominance symptoms.
Castor Oil packs can help with liver detoxification. Just keep in mind that cortisol has an anti-inflammatory function. When it’s low, your ability to fight inflammation is reduced as well. When upregulation detoxification with supplements makes you feel worse, I would reduce these supplements.
Again, a lot of this information you will find in the course called ‘Detoxifying from mold’
-
Thank you so much!!! Incredibly helpful – I am going to work on these suggestions!
-
in addition to Daniel’s reply, I would like to direct you to the Adrenal Balance course where I provide many recommendations for the different stages of HPA axis dysfunction, and explain in detail the different patterns that can be found on the DUTCH test.
With flat line cortisol, I usually find adrenal glandulars to be helpful while addressing the root cause of chronic stress. This remains a priority. Reducing stress! No amount of supplementation will help if lifestyle changes/therapies are not made to help the body feel “safe” on a daily basis. Working on regulating your nervous system is key.
I encourage you to watch the following videos:
• Reasons for Overall Low Cortisol
• Solutions to Increase Overall Low Cortisol
• Reasons for Low CAR + Solutions
• Healing ModalitiesLet us know if you have any questions.
-
Thank you so much!!
Log in to reply.
