Estrogen. Do you think it might have some influence on BPD

I have a theory that one of the reasons why more women are diagnosed with BPD than men is because of this. Most psychiatrists are still men and I do wonder whether BPD pathologises women and is just a modern day version of Hysteria. I'm not saying that it doesn't exist, but I know mentally well women who could look like they have BPD when they are PMT-ing.

CloudShark wrote:I have a theory that one of the reasons why more women are diagnosed with BPD than men is because of this. Most psychiatrists are still men and I do wonder whether BPD pathologises women and is just a modern day version of Hysteria. I'm not saying that it doesn't exist, but I know mentally well women who could look like they have BPD when they are PMT-ing.

Back in the day didnt they say that "its PMT" !
Ive always wondered about the effects of high testosterone hormone in woman after all both men and woman have same hormones as men just we balance out differently, So therefor if "women" are out of balance with more male hormone than our systems will react as we are not used to such "dominate hormone"

kind makes a lot of sense

CloudShark wrote:I have a theory that one of the reasons why more women are diagnosed with BPD than men is because of this. Most psychiatrists are still men and I do wonder whether BPD pathologises women and is just a modern day version of Hysteria. I'm not saying that it doesn't exist, but I know mentally well women who could look like they have BPD when they are PMT-ing.

And that is part of the reason Ive gone down this route. As Ive said because men don't have the fluctuations in their hormones like women do then they will be more even with their BPD.

I too have seen women who can look like they have BPD in their menstrual cycle but definitely don't have it so that was another thing that made me wonder about a connection. For me it is logical that hormones exacerbate the condition but aren't the underlying cause.

I've heard of women in high powered jobs working in male environments taking testosterone to give them that competitive edge. Also, I think it can be prescribed to women with low sex drives sometimes.

I know testosterone has an effect but the problem is that it is very difficult to balance something that is constantly changing plus if a pwBPD is just more sensitive to a particular hormone then tests wont pick up on that as levels will look normal so will be dismissed.

There are a number of articles on BPD and hormones.

Borderline personality is a disorder diagnosed in clinical settings three times more commonly in women than in men (American Psychiatric Association, 2000). Borderline personality traits in women also worsen following oral contraceptive use and during phases of the menstrual cycle marked by increasing estrogen levels (De Soto, Geary, Hoard, Sheldon, & Cooper, 2003).

The above is an extract from the following.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2700629/

Another is about oxytocin

http://www.news-medical.net/news/201409 ... order.aspx

There are many many more but until they can map the effect that every hormone has on another one then I think it will be difficult to come to a positive conclusion as to what does what.

For example cortisol the stress hormone can effect the thyroid and cause thyroid to be less efficient. When thyroid is tested the levels look normal but it isn't working as well as it should. This has been linked to symptoms that match bi polar disorder and sometimes getting the cortisol in balance and the thyroid functioning properly can make the bi polar symptoms disappear.

Testosterone and other androgens stimulate the production of another hormone that creates blood cells so low testosterone can lead to anaemia.

They seem to have a chain effect so its difficult to say what will be the underlying cause of a particular ailment. If thyroid is low then it doesn't seem to be delved into any further than is it a particular disease. The easy medical solution is to prescribe more thyroid but does that really cure the patient or just mask the problem.

Funny you should mention the thyroid. I had thyroid problems as a teenager. An overactive one and it made me really agitated and irritable. It got better with age.

@DT @Shark

I also have thyroid problem so does my mother and my gran mother did.
i always knew the effect that thyroid imbalance cause several hormone fluctuations, i was overactive (hyper) 8 years ago then meds for 18 months and then balanced out, then 2 years ago i was told my thyroid was underactive (hypo) so i was on meds again for 1 year but i wanted to started myself on iodine to, i am thankful balanced again

I just wished the people researched this more than they do its fascinating to find all this out to get us balanced once and for all

Thanks DT for the link and you ongoing research for this

Hi Echiacea

Just out of curiosity did your mum and gran show BPD traits? As I said earlier I think the hormone imbalance is more of a symptom to the underlying cause.

Would be nice if rather than looking at one little bit of the puzzle the experts could combine it into a bigpicture and maybe come up with some answers. I don't think this sort of thing is only to do with BPD. I think most disorders have some hormone imbalance going on. Like with bi polar and the link that has been made to the thyroid causing this behaviour in some people. The ones where it was a faulty thyroid and nothing else have been treated and cured of the bi polar. The other sufferers I think is more to do with something else have an effect on the thyroid which gives the same results.

I am only guessing at all this and Im not in this professional field hence the original question of whether others have estrogen based problems that increase BPD behaviour. Its more to satisfy my curiosity and there is always the hope that a professional in the right field might read it and something click.

DT1095 wrote:Just out of curiosity did your mum and gran show BPD traits? As I said earlier I think the hormone imbalance is more of a symptom to the underlying cause.

Yes both had NPD/BPD traits, i talked to my mother 2 months ago about this and she confirmed that her parenting skills (or the lack of them) was because my mother wasn't shown love as a child from her mother hence why my mother was cold, and no empathy, my mother had no maternal feelings for me and my brother when we were little ..she does now 46 years later.

DT1095 wrote:I am only guessing at all this and Im not in this professional field hence the original question of whether others have estrogen based problems that increase BPD behaviour. Its more to satisfy my curiosity and there is always the hope that a professional in the right field might read it and something click.

Ofc knowledge is very important ..and the knowledge i have from here and my mothers background ofc confirms for me that genetics play i big part definitely, and like i said before both have thyroid problems and me also(gran dead now though)...cant just be a coincidence

Hi Enchinacea

Another question for you. When your thyroid was not functioning properly how was you BPD and did you see a change when you got it balanced?