When Should I See My Healthcare Provider About A Hormonal Imbalance
If youre experiencing new, persistent symptoms, its important to talk to your healthcare provider. They can order tests to help determine the cause of your symptoms.
A note from Cleveland Clinic
Hormones are complex and powerful chemicals. If one or more of them goes out of whack, it can cause certain symptoms that make you feel like youre not in control of your body. If you have new and persistent symptoms, its important to talk to your healthcare provider. They can order some tests to see if a hormonal imbalance or another condition is the cause. The sooner you reach out for help and treatment, the sooner youll be able to feel like yourself again.
Last reviewed by a Cleveland Clinic medical professional on 04/04/2022.
References
Will Hormone Therapy Help Prevent Long
The benefits and risks of hormone therapy vary depending on a womans age and her individual history. In general, younger women in their 50s tend to get more benefits from hormone therapy as compared to postmenopausal women in their 60s. Women who undergo premature menopause are often treated with hormone therapy until age 50 to avoid the increased risk that comes from the extra years of estrogen loss.
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Can Menopause Affect My Sex Life
After menopause, your body has less estrogen. This major change in your hormonal balance can affect your sex life. Many menopausal women may notice that theyre not as easily aroused as before. Sometimes, women also may be less sensitive to touch and other physical contact than before menopause.
These feelings, coupled with the other emotional changes you may be experiencing, can all lead to a decreased interest in sex. Keep in mind that your body is going through a lot of change during menopause. Some of the other factors that can play a role in a decreased sex drive can include:
- Having bladder control problems.
- Having trouble sleeping through the night.
- Experiencing stress, anxiety or depression.
- Coping with other medical conditions and medications.
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Its Really Really Hard To Lose Weight
Weight gain or trouble losing weight is maybe the most frustrating symptom of hormone imbalance. No matter how much you exercise, or how long you stick with a healthy dietthe belly bloat wont budge.
Often, weight gain around the middle is linked to either stressed out adrenal glands or insulin resistance with PCOS. Polycystic ovarian syndrome affects nearly 1 in every 10 women, and is also the culprit behind excess body hair , an irregular menstrual cycle, and fertility struggles.
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Switch Caffeine For Matcha Green Tea
A study of over 2,000 women found that those who consumed coffee regularly experienced more hot flashes and night sweats than those who didnt consume caffeine. Matcha green tea has caffeine in it, the better solution would be to cut it out completely, but its a smaller portion in milligrams per serving than coffee ad has L-theanine a compound that keeps you calm.
Our Tip: switch to matcha green tea latte when possible and slowly wean yourself off the daily habit.
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Why My Periods Stopped
Disclaimer: Im not a doctor and for legal reasons I have to say that you should always consult your doctor first before doing anything I recommend in this article. Also, to keep DHH running I participate in affiliate programs which means if you click on some of the products I mention and make a purchase I receive a small commission, at no additional cost to you.
A few years ago, my husband and I made the joyous decision to get off birth control and start having children. After the first month off birth control, I didnt have a period and I was ecstatic that we got pregnant so fast. But a pregnancy test revealed that I wasnt pregnant.
Lesson #1: The Dangers of Birth Control Doctors Never Tell You
The reason for my lack of periods is very simple I was stressed. I come from a high-strung family, prone to anxiety, and I have a pretty stressful job but this never stopped me from having periods before birth control, so why now?
When you are on birth control, your body doesnt fully ovulate , which means the little friend that is released after ovulation that helps calm our heart and nerves in stressful situations doesnt get created.
This was the aw-ha moment for me when I realized just how detrimental birth control was on my body. A few years prior to this I went through a stressful event that was the catalyst for all my health issues: heart burn, palpitations, digestion issues, stomach ulcer, hypothyroid, lack of motivation and more!
What Happens To Your Hormones During Peri
Progesterone and oestrogen start to decrease very slowly over several years. The problem for most women is that progesterone for most of them tends to dip very gently, but oestrogen can go up and down like a yo-yo. Our bodies donât like being without oestrogen. And very often, as it starts to fall, our body can try and compensate. And that can give a big hit of oestrogen some months and then some months, oestrogen starts to fall.
So, youâve got your progesterone falling nice and gently and your oestrogen going up and down quite a lot. When oestrogen falls, that tends to cause missing periods, or your periods get further apart, or they get very lighter, or they get shorter. When you get a sudden hit of oestrogen, that can trigger your periods to come back.
Some women may find that they can go six months or more without a period and then suddenly they come back again. When the oestrogen gets high again, as well as triggering your periods to come back, it can also trigger all the usual PMS symptoms as well, such as breast tenderness, moodiness, bloating. Sometimes, it can raise enough to give you PMS symptoms but it doesnât trigger a period.
So, if youâve got your oestrogen fluctuating like this over several years, it can be very hard on the body and your emotions, because you donât know where youâre coming from every month.
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Engage In Regular Exercise
Physical activity strongly influences hormonal health. Aside from improving blood flow to your muscles, exercise increases hormone receptor sensitivity, meaning that it enhances the delivery of nutrients and hormone signals (
7 ).
Insulin is a hormone that allows cells to take up sugar from your bloodstream to use for energy. However, if you have a condition called insulin resistance, your cells may not effectively react to insulin. This condition is a risk factor for diabetes, obesity, and heart disease .
However, while some researchers still debate whether the improvements come from exercise itself or from losing weight or fat, evidence shows that regular exercise may improve insulin resistance independently of body weight or fat mass reduction .
Many types of physical activity have been found to help prevent insulin resistance, including high intensity interval training, strength training, and cardio .
Being physically active may also help boost levels of muscle-maintaining hormones that decline with age, such as testosterone, IGF-1, DHEA, and human growth hormone .
For people who cannot perform vigorous exercise, even regular walking may increase these hormone levels, potentially improving strength and quality of life .
Summary
Strength training, aerobics, walking, and other forms of exercise may modify hormone levels to reduce your risk of disease and prevent muscle mass decline as you age.
Incorporate Healthy Fats Into Your Diet
The kind of food you eat matters! And the right kinds of fats make a big difference in hormone health and help you regulate your menstrual cycle. You can add more hormone-friendly fats to your diet like:
These all support healthy adrenal glands and provide the raw ingredients necessary to bolster hormone production in the adrenals. Fats are also great to balance blood sugar and promote insulin sensitivity, especially important for women with PCOS, or if youre trying to lose weight.
Learn more about the holistic way to lose weight > >
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Whats The Outlook For A Hormonal Imbalance
If you have a hormone imbalance, there are various treatments to help bring your hormones back to appropriate levels and restore balance.
Depending on the underlying cause of the imbalance, as well as the specific hormones in question, treatments can vary, but there are ways to manage symptoms and bring hormone levels back to normal.
If theres an underlying condition causing the hormone imbalance, long-term management of the condition will help ensure hormonal balance.
Hormone levels change and fluctuate over time they dont remain static. Its important to be aware of your bodys symptoms.
Talk with your health care provider about any changes you might notice, especially after giving birth or while going through perimenopause.
Reasons Your Doctor Cant Give You A Hormone Imbalance Test
You may wonder why your doctor cant give you a quick test to determine if all your hormones are in balance. Testing hormones is very different from testing cholesterol or iron in your blood because your hormone levels are always changing, day by day, even hour by hour. They change based on where you are in your menstrual cycle, when you last ate, what your other hormones are doing, how stressed you are, and many other factors. Thats why a single hormone check cant really tell you if all your hormones are balanced.
Secondly, asking your doctor to check your hormones is a huge request. The human body produces more than 50 hormones! Hormones include melatonin adrenaline , oxytocin , cortisol , and progesterone , just to name a few.
The best way to discover if specific hormones are out of balance is by telling your doctor which symptoms you are experiencing so they can narrow down what should be checked and when. Your symptoms are your doctors first clues about what could be wrong.
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Hormones And Your Menstrual Cycle
Chioma Ndubisi, MD, is a board-certified OB/GYN who specializes in sexual and reproductive health in New York, New York.
Your menstrual cycle is controlled by hormone signals in the brain. Each month, your ovary will release an egg after the egg has matured. The egg enters into the fallopian tube and makes its way down to the uterus with hopes that a sperm will fertilize it. Your monthly menstrual cycle begins on the first day of your period and lasts until the first day of your next period.
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Can Irregular Periods Affect Your Fertility
Although an occasional irregular period is common, a consistently irregular period may make it harder to get pregnant.
The key to getting pregnant is to have sex before and during ovulation, which is your most fertile window. An irregular monthly cycle makes it difficult to determine when you are, or will be, ovulating.
In some cases, an irregular period may be caused by another condition that affects fertility, such as PCOS or a loss of ovary function.
If your periods are irregular and youre looking to conceive, consider setting up a preconception appointment with a doctor.
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Be Wary With Hormone Replacement Therapy
Many women experiencing the negative side effects of menopause are often told to just use hormone replacement to improve symptoms.
Hormone replacement therapy can significantly reduce perimenopausal symptoms. They work by reducing the extremes sometimes experienced with the decline of estrogen, progesterone and testosterone production.
However, HRT can also make symptoms worse in the long run.
This is especially true if the other causes of hormone imbalance are NOT addressed in the first place.
Why Fake Hormones Dont Help
When you take exogenous hormones, the levels of those hormones go up in the bloodstream.
In response, your pituitary gland reduces your own natural production of that hormone.
Now, this may not be much of a problem when youre actually taking that hormone. But another problem begins to develop behind the scenes: Hormone resistance.
When we have chronically higher levels of hormones in our blood , the receptors for our hormones throughout our body get down-regulated.
Thus, the HRT hormones in our blood begin to have a lesser and lesser effect over time because our hormone receptors arent sensitive to that hormone anymore.
Long-term side effects of HRT in our blood are associated with heart disease, stroke, blood clots, breast cancer, and further adrenal imbalances.
How To Balance Your Hormones And Get Regular Periods Naturally
This is my story how I was diagnosed with PCOS, balanced my hormones and got my period naturally. Ive detailed my two year journey of jump starting my bodys periods and healing PCOS naturally and I hope it will help you if youre struggling with infertility and irregular periods.
You would think as a healthy living blogger and having a personal trainer as a husband that we have our wellness in check. Truth is, Ive been struggling with one health issue after another for several years. Even though Ive always tried to be a healthy person.
For so long I thought opening up about my struggles would diminish my authority as a blogger. If I struggle with health, why should you listen to any healthy living tips I have to share. But reality is everyone struggles. When it comes to health, no one goes through life unscathed.
You would think in the 21st century, with modern medicine, that any health issue we encounter would be easily diagnosed and treated. But we are so far, far away from truly understanding our bodies needs and how to treat it effectively.
While I hope you find a treatment for amenorrhea through my experience and how I got my period after not having it for a year, please know that I am not a doctor and our bodies are all different. The reason behind why I had PCOS may not be your reason. Therefore, my home remedy may not work for you. As always, try these remedies at your own risk.
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Hormone Balancing Tip #: Get Off The Sugar Roller Coaster
Eating large amounts of processed sugar and refined carbohydrates can lead to insulin resistance. This is where your body gets tired of receiving the signal that your blood sugar is high, and becomes less responsive to it. Excess insulin production causes inflammation in the body and increased production of testosterone from the ovaries. This can lead to irregular cycles, acne and hair growth on the face.
Enjoy Pineapples And Papayas
Theres some talk that pineapple and papaya may help regulate periods.
- Papaya contains carotene, a nutrient that supports estrogen levels. This tropical fruit may also help the uterus contract.
- Pineapples contain the enzyme bromelain, which may help with blood flow and generation of red and white blood cells.
Both are healthy whole foods that are worth including in your diet regardless of their effects.
Certain supplements may promote menstrual regularity by supporting your hormone levels or addressing nutritional deficiencies.
You should always talk to a healthcare provider before taking any supplement.
Although supplements are available over the counter without a prescription from your doctor, they arent regulated by the Food and Drug Administration . This means they dont have to be proven safe and effective before being sold in stores.
Some supplements can also interact with underlying health conditions, as well as over-the-counter and prescription medications. In addition, some supplements may not be safe to take if youre pregnant or planning to become pregnant.
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Eat Enough Protein At Every Meal
Consuming adequate amounts of protein is extremely important.
Not only does protein provide essential amino acids that your body cant make on its own, but your body also needs it to produce protein-derived hormones also known as peptide hormones .
Your endocrine glands make these hormones from amino acids. Peptide hormones play a crucial role in regulating many physiological processes, such as growth, energy metabolism, appetite, stress, and reproduction .
For example, protein intake influences hormones that control appetite and food intake, communicating information about energy status to your brain .
Research has shown that eating protein decreases the hunger hormone ghrelin and stimulates the production of hormones that help you feel full, including peptide YY and glucagon-like peptide-1 .
One 3-month study in 156 teenagers with obesity associated a high protein breakfast with increased PYY and GLP-1 levels, which resulted in weight loss due to increased feelings of fullness .
Experts recommend eating a minimum of 2030 grams of protein per meal. You can do this by including high protein foods such as eggs, chicken breast, lentils, or fish at each meal .
Summary
Eating sufficient protein triggers the production of peptide hormones, some of which suppress appetite and help you feel full. Aim for a minimum of 2030 grams of protein per meal.
How Do Your Hormones Change During Your Monthly Cycle
After your last period has been and gone, unbeknown to you, oestrogen and progesterone slowly start to rise. Oestrogen rises at a quicker rate and by around the middle of your monthly cycle it peaks, prompting the release of an egg. This process is called ovulation. From then on, oestrogen levels begin to fall.
Meanwhile, after ovulation, progesterone does the opposite of oestrogen and continues to rise this is in order to prepare your womb for the fertilisation of your egg.
However, when in most cases you dont conceive, progesterone joins oestrogen in a rapid decline the sudden fall in these hormones causes your uterus to contract and the lining of your womb to shed, hello period!
Great, it sounds like you have it all under control. Hmm, well, not so fast it seems the fluctuating levels of these hormones and the ratios of one to the other during your monthly cycle have a lot to answer for. These factors are variable and are thought to have a lot do with the symptoms many of you women experience around the time of your period.
Most women are subjected to some degree of symptoms in the lead up to their period not many get off scot-free. However, if your symptoms get to the point where they are really beginning to affect your day-to-day living and quality of life it is possible you could be experiencing pre-menstrual syndrome .
Visit A.Vogel Talks PMS if you think this could be you.
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