Some of the most common hormone imbalance symptoms in women include:
Fatigue
Unexplained weight gain
Anxiety
Depression
Brain Fog
Constipation
Fluid Retention
Heavy, painful or irregular periods
Infertility
If you experience any of these symptoms, you may have an underlying hormone imbalance - and one of the major reasons that our hormones can become imbalanced is due to ongoing stress.
Stress and cortisol production are designed to protect you - to help you run away or fight - but their design was only intended for short bursts, not the ongoing chronic nature of stress many of us experience today.
PROGESTERONE AND ESTROGEN IMBALANCE
Cortisol is produced by your adrenal glands, which are also one of the ways your body produces progesterone. One of the most important hormones for women is progesterone - it balances the effect of estrogens and also has anti-anxiety, anti-depressant and diuretic properties, along with helping us hold a pregnancy to full term.
If your adrenals are busy producing cortisol they will be unable to produce sufficient levels of progesterone.
You also produce progesterone during ovulation - so if you are not ovulating every month you are missing out on your monthly boost of this vital hormone. Most hormonal birth control medications prevent you ovulating.
If we are not producing enough progesterone this can lead to estrogen dominance. Symptoms of estrogen dominance include
Anxiety
Depression
PMS
Heavy and/or Painful Periods
Irregular Periods
Bloating
Fluid Retention
Infertility
Weight Gain
THYROID IMBALANCE
Ongoing stress has an impact on many other hormones in your body such as thyroid hormones. Symptoms of an underactive thyroid (hypothyroidism) include:
Low Mood
Brain Fog
Trouble losing weight or unexplained weight gain
Constipation
Sensitivity to Cold
High Cholesterol
Many women are told their thyroid is ‘fine’, however most have only been tested for one thyroid hormone (TSH). There are three thyroid hormones (TSH, T3, T4) that need to be tested to assess how well your thyroid is functioning.
Cortisol also impacts the hormones insulin, leptin and grehlin which regulate your appetite and satiety.
Chronic stress has a catabolic effect - meaning it breaks things down such as your lean muscle mass and collagen, while it is also linked to increased abdominal adiposity. Not a great thing for our vanity or health.
OTHER AREAS IMPACTED BY ONGOING STRESS
Cortisol signals to your body that you are in danger or living in famine - basically that you are not safe. This causes some areas of your body to go into overdrive such as your skeletal muscles and blood sugar levels, to help increase energy for you to run or fight the ‘threat’.
However, other areas of your body are shut down or inhibited as they are not seen as critical in a threat situation. These include your digestive, immune and reproductive functions. You can see how ongoing stress will really impact these areas and contribute to digestive, immune and reproductive issues over time.
Stressors can come in many forms such as financial worries, running late, social media, feeling short of time, health concerns, work environment, trying to please everyone and perfectionism.
How you perceive situations can also determine if you allow a situation to cause you stress or not.
Other factors that can increase cortisol include
Poor Sleep
Caffeine
Alcohol
Excessive Exercise
Dieting or inadequate food intake.
HORMONE IMBALANCE TREATMENT
We have a huge influence on how much stress we experience or allow into our lives.
Start by becoming aware of the things that cause you stress.
How can you change your perception or situation to reduce unnecessary stress?
What beliefs do you have that may be contributing to your stress levels?
Other steps you can take include regularly checking in with your breathing - deep slow breathing is one of the most accessible things we have that can help calm our body almost immediately.
Also working on our time management, saying No when needed, gentle exercise, visualisations, guided meditations and making sleep a priority will also help us reduce cortisol and stress.
Whatever you can do to let your body know it is safe will help.
Herbs and nutrients such as Zizyphus, Withania, Lavender, Lemon Balm and Magnesium are also great at helping to calm our stress response. There are more specific treatments that can help depending on which type of hormone imbalance is specific to you.
If you’re ready to learn more about how to improve your Energy, Mood and Hormones - check out my Free Guide here.
To find out more about working together to improve your health - click here.
