Just as the name suggests, estrogen pills come with estrogen that it a natural steroid found in both men and women.
In the majority of the cases it is used in case of hormone therapy when women enter menopause. While it can be used on its own, it is often used along with progestin.
There are different ways through which estrogen can enter the body, such as pills of estrogen, creams and patches.
Although there are numerous advantages of taking estrogen, there are also some downsides, and these need to be taken into consideration when you are thinking about your options.
What are estrogen pills?
Estrogen is a steroid compound and it works as the primary sex hormone in case of women. Usually the hormones make body changes through carrying the information from one cell to the other, through the body.
According to this estrogen is the responsible steroid for the development of the female characteristics and also reproduction.
Don’t forget that hormones have an important role to play in the development of the body, and this is why you should think it over before you start messing with them.
Features
When talking about pills of estrogen you should know that, as it has been mentioned before, the steroid is present in both men and women, but the levels are a lot higher in case of women, especially during their reproductive years. Since it is produced by the ovaries, when women reach menopause the levels drop significantly.
The estrogen found in the estrogen pills is responsible for the development of the female characteristics, like the development of the lining of the uterus, breasts and it also regulates the menstrual cycle. In case of men only low levels of estrogen are present and it is actually a byproduct of the testosterone conversion.
Effects of the pills of estrogen
Besides the sexual characteristics, estrogen also has the job of regulating different kinds of functions of the body. Estrogen has a role to play in the bone development and regulating the level of cholesterol. In case of women it’s not only the breasts and uterus that are affected, but also the brain, liver, bone, heart and different tissues.
In case you are considering estrogen pills you should know that having too much or too little estrogen in the body has negative effects. In case you are thinking about taking pills of this kind to have an effect on the menopausal symptoms or to develop female characteristics, you also have to take into consideration the changes that it makes to your liver, heart, bones and circulatory system.
Advantages of pills containing estrogen
As it has been mentioned before, if we are referring to post-menopausal women, increasing the estrogen levels could make it easier to manage the symptoms.
These include hot flashes, osteoporosis, vaginal dryness, decreasing the chances of contracting urinary tract infections, avoiding mood swings and making the overall health better.
Another effect that the estrogen pills could have is to trigger the onset of puberty. In case of those men who would like to have female characteristics estrogen could soften the skin, enlarge the breasts, lighten the facial hair, and shape the hips and thighs.
Dangers
As it has been mentioned before, the pills of estrogen also have some risks. In case of women, estrogen could increase the chance of contracting different kinds of cancers, such as endometrial and breast cancer, blood clots, heart disease and even stroke.
On the other hand, in case of men the estrogen pills increases the risk of phlebitis, heart disease and blood clots, especially in case of the lungs. Also it has been shown that the steroid could decrease the sperm count and thus lead to infertility.
Besides the common side effects that are known in case of such pills, there are also some complications that could occur, such as dementia, weight gain, nausea, swelling and also abdominal pain. Let’s not forget that the pills are taken orally and so they need to be processed by the liver. This is why it is possible to experience liver diseases.
Since there are so many possible side effects, doctors advise their patients to take low doses and to use the pills for the shortest period possible. If you opt for using the estrogen pills, make sure that you have periodical checkups so that the doctors can act in case the estrogen is causing any side effects. If this is the case he or she might suggest another kind of treatment.
