[anyover88]

Ok, I don't know too much about hormones and am often confused when reading threads on this site, so am putting this here to check I have got this right. so after some digging through the web I've found some information about some causes of high prolactin and it's relationship to other hormones and neurotransmitters

Estrogen upregulates prolactin so high estrogen could heighten prolactin

Dopamine downregulates prolactin so low dopamine could heighten prolactin. Low dopamine can occur with some forms of depression (often causing tiredness, low motivation, and low emotional responses)

High prolactin can decrease testosterone

I have suffered from depression in the past, but it was the "normal" form cause by low serotonin, not low dopamine.
The past couple of weeks I've found myself very tired, struggling to get up in the morning and feeling very low motivation to do things (eg search/apply for jobs, go out, or do things I would normally enjoy like knitting, video games etc)
I am wondering if my dopamine might be low.

It has previously been theorised by a few people on these forums that I have gone through an estrogen spike after coming off BC

If high estrogen + low dopamine = high prolactin, would this explain the last few weeks of changes in my breasts?

Prolactin lowers dopamine

Serotonin lowers dopamine

Prolactin upregulates estrogen receptors

High estrogen downregulates estrogen receptors which is why women with estrogen dominance do not respond to estrogenic herbs

This is a lot to keep in mind, but all the hormones should be thought of as a whole as much as possible rather than in isolation. They all work together, some help raise some while others reduce some.

Decreasing testosterone is not inherently good, since testosterone is a precursor to estrogen, although the decrease in testosterone could be due to an increase in estrogen production

I am not sure if estrogen necessarily reduces dopamine, but might be an associated condition. If increased prolactin has temporarily resensitized your E receptors to estrogen activity, that might explain the changes.

You don't necessarily want to lower dopamine simply to raise prolactin since it can have a negative impact on the mood. That's the major side effect of nonselectively increasing prolactin without taking any precautions.

However, if you are dealing with low dopamine in any case, you could take vitamin D3. it should help resume dopamine production regardless of prolactin. It also helps the body utilize its own natural progesterone. a good daily range for vitamin D is 2000-4000 IU, but the latest research says 10,000 IU is best for most adults. It sounds like a crazy high amount but it's actually quite normal and I've taken it at these doses myself for a while. If I remember correctly, the RDI for vitamin D is only 400 IU to prevent rickets, ridiculously low.

From http://www.progesteronetherapy.com/prolactin.html

The rate limiting step in dopamine synthesis is the enzyme tyrosine hydroxylase. Insufficient levels of vitamin D inhibit tyrosine hydroxylase, resulting in a disturbance in the dopamine pathway. Vitamin D increases the release of dopamine.

You may also be dealing with estrogen dominance, most women are. I'm not personally too familiar with your program or what you feel your specific needs are at the moment so I'm just hitting on every point I remember

Making a serious effort to increase prolactin might be best during follicular phase when resensitizing estrogen receptors before progesterone goes back up would be a good idea. Progesterone suppresses prolactin and vice versa. It's my opinion that following the hormone cycle is optimum for growth since it aids the breasts in growing in its natural phases and allows the body to produce and respond to its own hormones at appropriate levels.

Depression also is related to thyroid health. The thyroid processes L-tyrosine and iodine to make thyroid hormone, which facilitates dopamine production and maintains the metabolism. In plenty of women, the thyroid is underactive (hypothyroid). A slow thyroid is not conducive to NBE I think.

It also appears that stress response inhibits the hormones and reduces dopamine. Reducing stress at the hormone level is really important.

Hope this helps!