Are Your Hormones Causing Anxiety?

Anxiety can be such a tough experience and while there are commonly multiple factors that may be involved, your hormones can have a huge influence on anxiety levels!

Low progesterone (in relation to estrogen levels) is a really common hormone imbalance and the main one I see that contributes to anxiety - especially if you have developed anxiety later in life or it seems to be getting worse for reasons that you can’t understand. This imbalance can develop at any time but during perimenopause - usually experienced in women during their 30’s and 40’s - it is especially common.

Hormone imbalances can develop over time especially from ongoing stress, use of contraceptive medication such as the Pill, post pregnancy, and continued exposure and accumulation of hormone disrupting chemicals such as BPA.

Progesterone is one of your most vital hormones - not just for holding pregnancy to term - but for our mood and level of calm!

Progesterone acts as an

• anti-anxiety

• anti-depressant

• diuretic to reduce fluid retention

• supports fat metabolism

• balances estrogen levels to protect against hormonal disease and cancer

• improves libido

• supports thyroid function and

• supports sleep

Is it any wonder we feel terrible when our progesterone levels are low?!

Use of the Pill is most worrying for womens health as it works by preventing you from ovulating. The ONLY way we can make Progesterone is each month when we OVULATE!

The Pill prevents us from making our monthly dose of feel good progesterone - you can see how this will have detrimental effects on how good you feel over time! The synthetic hormones in the Pill are NOT the same as your natural hormones, and the Pill also depletes B vitamins which are essential for energy, metabolism, skin and hormone balance.

While the pill can help with symptoms and is convenient it’s also ideal to look at other contraceptive options or how you can regulate your hormones naturally - the pill ‘regulates’ your hormones by shutting them down! So while this may help in the short term it’s not ideal for your long term health and truly restoring hormone balance.

If you have irregular periods or anovulatory cycles and are not ovulating each month you will also be missing out on progesterone - so working with a practitioner to regulate your cycles is a great idea.

After menopause you can still experience hormonal imbalance and it is even more important to work on stress management and adrenal health, as your adrenals take over the job of producing your sex hormones once your ovaries have retired. High stress can worsen menopausal symptoms by placing extra pressure on your adrenal glands - and they can only do so much! If they are busy producing cortisol during ongoing stress, they will have less reserves to be producing your other sex hormones.

If you are not taking contraceptive medication you can test your hormones - ideally on day 21 or about a week after ovulation - this is when your progesterone is at its highest. Working with a qualified Naturopath can help you test and restore hormone balance and improve the underlying reasons that may be contributing to your anxiety.

You might also find this article or ebook helpful.

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Marion McConnell is a degree qualified Naturopath who helps women balance their hormones, reduce symptoms and get their life back!  Consultations are available online.  You can find out more here.

The Power Of Tracking Your Cycle

Would you like to feel more empowered about your health and hormones?

Tracking your cycle is a great place to start!

The insights you will gain include

• Cycle length and regularity
• Symptoms associated with hormonal changes
• Ovulation and fertile days - essential to know for conception or contraception!
• Duration of period and flow
• Temperature charting (which can also be an indicator of thyroid health)

Knowing this information can give you a great insight into your hormonal and overall health.  

Tracking your cycle is a great option for contraception.  Many women feel the the Pill is their main option for contraception, however tracking and condoms can be effective without the side effects of medication.  

Many women are taking a medication every day to prevent falling pregnant, which is only possible a few days a month.  Using the Pill shuts down your natural ovulation, which is essential for women's health, not just for pregnancy.  While it's great to have contraception options, they shouldn't be to the detriment of women's health.

If you are making changes to your diet and lifestyle, or taking supplements to correct a hormonal imbalance, a period tracking app can be a convenient way to track improvements over time.

Some period tracking apps to check out include

• Period Tracker Lite
• Clue
• Kindara

Another device that has given me a feeling of more freedom is using a menstrual cup!  I love that it reduces waste and is so convenient, and requires less changing than pads or tampons.  You're also not exposing yourself to chemicals found in non-organic sanitary products.  I wish I had known about these cups sooner!  

More on the Pill - 

If you have been prescribed the Pill for a hormonal condition, the underlying issue will not be fixed by the Pill - it will merely be masking symptoms.  There are other effective treatments to help regulate your hormones including herbs and nutrients, depending on the imbalance and your symptoms. Many diet and lifestyle factors can influence our hormones, especially stress and chemicals -particularly those chemicals in plastics and body care products.

If you currently take the Pill, a good quality B vitamin complex and probiotic are essential as the Pill has been shown to deplete B vitamins (essential for energy, mood and hormones) and disrupt gut bacteria (essential for immunity, digestion, mood and hormones).

Our hormones have such a huge influence over our mood and health, so becoming more aware and in-tune with how your body feels each month and tracking your cycle can really help you to take control of your health.  Whether you want to have children or not, ovulation and balanced hormones are essential for optimal health and disease prevention.

If you'd like to learn more about your hormones or would like to restore hormone balance I'd love to help you.

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

Why The Pill Will Not Fix Your Hormone Imbalance

It is a sad fact that women who present to their GP with hormonal symptoms are nearly always prescribed the pill.  The other options offered are the Mirena or in severe cases a partial or full hysterectomy.  It makes me feel sad that many women feel these are their only options!

While the pill may help reduce symptoms it is in no way fixing the underlying hormonal imbalance.  Your hormonal imbalance will continue to exist and when you stop the pill it's likely your symptoms will return or will have worsened.  While the pill is busy masking your symptoms it is also depleting your body of essential nutrients including B vitamins including folate, vitamin C, zinc and magnesium. 

There are many factors which can contribute to hormonal imbalances and having one blanket approach to the problem is unlikely to address womens individual needs.

Your menstrual cycle is an important indicator of your bodies health, so just masking your symptoms or using drugs to skip your period indefinitely is like putting your head in the sand!  However this approach is recommended to women every day by health professionals.

While there is a place for the pill and it's ability to help make womens symptoms bearable, there are many other treatment options that can help restore your hormones to a happy balance without side effects, and which many women are unaware of.  I don't want any woman taking the pill to feel bad, but just to be educated on the other options available to them, so that they can make a more informed choice on treatment options. 

Some hormonal issues such as endometriosis are now being shown to involve an underlying auto-immune issue, which Naturopathic treatment can also help with, but for which the pill will do nothing.

With salivary hormone and other blood tests we can better understand where your hormones are at now, possible contributing factors which led to the imbalance, and how best to restore hormone balance and improve your symptoms for good!

A hormonal imbalance can present with many symptoms and can also have a huge impact on your fertility.  So it's a great idea to work on any hormone issues now, so that in the future if you want to have children you will be much more likely to conceive and carry to term without complications.

Hormonal imbalances also contribute to diseases including fibrocystic breast disease, uterine fibroids, ovarian cysts, polycystic ovary syndrome and breast cancer.  So ensuring your hormones are in balance now, and learning how to keep them in balance, will reduce your risk of hormonal related disease later in life.

If you suffer from any hormonal symptoms such as irregular/heavy/painful periods, acne, PMS, endometriosis or ovarian cysts, please know that there are many effective Naturopathic treatment options available.  I would love to help you restore a happy hormone balance and eliminate your symptoms for good! 

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.