Timing is crucial! As your hormones – particularly progesterone and estrogen – fluctuate during your cycle, you need to know what day of your cycle they are tested.

Many women have had hormone tests done with their GP, but where they were in their cycle was never discussed.

Salivary hormone testing is a great way to get an overview of your hormone levels and is completed around day 20 of your cycle. This is so it can be compared to what the ideal hormone levels should be at that stage of your cycle. It is very common for women to have hormone imbalances such as low progesterone or high estrogen.

Both hormones are essential for different reasons and neither are bad – they just need to be in a happy balance for us to feel our best!

Another group of hormones I test regularly are the three thyroid hormones. Due to Medicare limitations, GPs only test thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) – however we need T3 (your active thyroid hormone) and T4 (thyroxine) hormone levels as well to get a clear picture of how the thyroid is functioning. This is an inexpensive test which a qualified Naturopath can send you for.

Adrenal fatigue and cortisol levels are another hormone imbalance which we can test for. This hormone test is performed over one whole day, with 4-6 samples taken. We can then see your cortisol pattern over the day – you should have high cortisol in the morning and low at night, but sometimes this can be totally reversed in chronic stress. If you feel wired but tired at night this could be a hormone imbalance relevant to you! If GPs test for cortisol it is commonly just one sample which again doesn’t give us a clear picture of how your hormones are functioning over the day.

Fortunately there are many Naturopathic therapies which can help balance hormone levels and testing is a great first step in finding out which treatment is best for you!

Marion McConnell is a degree qualified Naturopath who helps women with stress, hormone imbalances and thyroid issues. The clinic is located in New Farm Brisbane, and consultations are also available via Skype. You can contact Marion here.