How To Overcome Hormonal Imbalance Naturally
Let’s face it.
In today’s fast-paced lifestyle, hormonal imbalance is becoming increasingly common.
Weve covered how to test for hormone imbalance, but what about getting your hormones back in line?
Thankfully, there are plenty of natural options for overcoming a hormone imbalance, including:
- Saying no to sugar and sugary drinks
- Avoiding refined carbs
- Eating plenty of high-quality protein, such as grass-fed meat
- Engaging in regular exercise
- Learning to manage your stress
- Consuming plenty ofhealthy fats,like avocados, coconut oil, and olive oil
- Avoiding under-eating and overeating
- Making sleep a priority
- Eating lots of fatty fish, such a salmon, and mackerel
Why Do You Usually Recommend The Test To Be Done On Day 3
Hormones varying during menstrual cycle, therefore traditionally advice is to take day the sample on day 3. However, if it is not possible to take your sample at this time, as there are ranges for different phases of cycle, then day 3 sample is not an absolute requirement. If your sample is taken at another point in your cycle your results range will be adjusted accordingly.
Hormone Imbalance: What Are The Symptoms And Treatments
When youre browsing social media or watching TV, you may have come across ads telling you to ask your doctor to check your hormones as the first step toward diagnosing and relieving a troublesome set of symptoms. Its true that hormone imbalances can be associated with many problems, such as period problems, unwanted hair growth, fertility struggles, weight gain, and even difficulty sleeping. You should absolutely talk to your doctor about these things. But you may be surprised when your doctor tells you that they cant just give you a hormone check.
A hormone check sounds simpleafter all, we check cholesterol to get a handle on our heart health. However, your doctor cant just give you a hormone test because a single test to check all your hormones doesnt exist.
So if there isnt a simple hormone test, how does your doctor discover hormone imbalances? And how can you learn what could be causing your symptoms?
Lets look at problems caused by hormone imbalances and how your doctor could potentially determine which hormones may be responsible for your symptoms.
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Should You Look Into Further Testing If Your Doctor Says Thyroid Levels Are Normal Yet Symptoms Are Present
YES! You should. YOU are the expert on youre own body, and if something doesnt feel right, you have the right to investigate it.
Serum testing of thyroid levels by your doctor usually starts with TSH and maybe T4.
The problem with this is that just measuring TSH clues us in on pituitary function rather than thyroid function. It does not evaluate how much active thyroid youre making.
Another caveat to conventional thyroid testing is that the ranges for normal are very large therefore, many women can be experiencing subclinical symptoms of hypo/hyperthyroidism without being notified by their doctor.
If possible, request a full thyroid panel as described earlier in this post and seek a functionally trained health professional to interpret whether your levels are optimal.
Check Your Hormone Levels From The Convenience Of Home
If youâre concerned about your hormone levels, you can use the information here on how to know if you have a hormonal imbalanceâplus speaking with a healthcare providerâto help inform your next steps.If youâre interested in hormone testing at home, consider the following tests :
- Womenâs Hormone Test – Lets you learn your levels for 10 key hormones, including estrogen, progesterone, cortisol, and thyroid hormones.
- Thyroid Test – Check the 3 main thyroid hormones , plus thyroid antibodies.
- Womenâs Fertility Test – Test your levels for 5 hormones that help support ovarian function and pregnancy.
- Men’s Health Test – Check your cortisol, DHEA-S, estradiol, and testosterone.
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How Does A Hormone Balance Test Work
Saliva, urine, and/or blood tests are the most common method for testing a patients hormone levels. Youll usually only need to provide a few small samples. Then, depending on what symptoms you experience, these samples will be evaluated by a lab to measure a variety of hormones, including:
The lab results show a snapshot of your current hormone levels at the time the samples were taken. Many of these hormones fluctuate over the course of a day, or throughout the month, so you may need to fast prior to testing, get tested at certain points in your menstrual cycle, and/or get multiple tests to get an accurate picture of your hormonal health.
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What Are The Causes Of A Hormonal Imbalance
The causes of hormone imbalance also depend on the particular gender of the person and the hormonal imbalance that they are dealing with. Common factors that contribute to hormone imbalance include:
Poor Diet
Diets that are heavy in processed grains, carbs, and sugars increase your bodys need for insulin. Insulin has a significant hormone-disrupting effect. Low intake of vitamins and minerals that are necessary for the healthy function of the reproductive organs also leads to hormone imbalance.
Xenoestrogens
These are chemicals that can act like estrogen. They are found in pesticides, herbicides, and chemical products like plastic. Eating organic food and avoiding having your food and water in contact with plastic can help reduce the intake of these hormone im-balancing chemicals.
Lack of exercise
Exercise has a hormone-balancing effect. It helps reduce stress which can also contribute to hormone imbalance.
Stress
Poor Liver Detoxification
In order to remove chemicals, pollution, and pesticides that may disrupt hormones your liver requires certain vitamins and minerals. These include pyridoxal-5-phosphate, magnesium, vitamin B12, 5-MTHF, indole-3-carbinol, and calcium-d-glucarate. There are genetic mutations, such as the relatively common MTHFR mutation, that will negatively impact your livers ability to remove waste. The same process is used to remove excess hormones such as DHT and estrogen.
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Hormone Imbalance Testing By Balance Hormone Center
There are multiple tests we can do to find hormone imbalances in your body. The most common test is a blood test. Well take a sample of your blood and send it to a lab for testing. You may also require additional testing such as a pelvic exam. A pap smear can ensure there are no unusual cysts or tumors to blame for an imbalance.We may also suggest an ultrasound to check your thyroid, uterus or ovaries for abnormalities. Other testing options include biopsies, MRIs and x-rays.
At your first appointment, well discuss your symptoms and testing options. Once we receive the results of your tests, well then decide together which treatment options are best for you.
Three Categories Of Symptoms Often Caused By Hormonal Imbalances
When we see patients at Madison Womens Health for hormonal imbalances, most of their symptoms and concerns fall into three categories:
Lets first discuss these groups of symptoms. Next, well cover the most common hormones your doctor may check based on your symptoms.
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Spitting Out The Facts: Saliva Testing For Female Hormone Imbalance
Female hormone levels have been measured using blood tests for decades.1 However, blood sampling is costly, invasive, and often logistically difficult, so there is a shift towards the adoption of tests based on more convenient and cost-efficient sample types, such as saliva. Saliva-based tests are considered a reliable and proven method for measuring female hormone levels, as well as being highly accurate and painless for the patient.1 In this blog series, we look at how saliva testing for female hormone imbalance is changing the clinical diagnostics landscape, and positively impacting womens health across the globe.
Saliva testing is a sensitive, cost-effective method to diagnose a hormonal imbalance at any stage of a womans life.
Diagnosis Of Womens Hormonal Imbalance
Since the symptoms of female hormone imbalance are also common signs of a number of other diseases and health conditions, women experiencing them should see a physician for a thorough physical examination. If other underlying medical conditions are ruled out, hormone level testing is the next step. Hormone levels can be measured through saliva testing and/or blood tests. Establishing an accurate diagnosis of hormone imbalance may require several tests, done at intervals, as hormone levels fluctuate throughout a womans menstrual cycle and may change greatly from one day to another.
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Free Thyroxine And Free Triiodothyronine
Thyroid binding globulin is a protein that transports thyroid hormone & makes it so your body cant use it. When thyroid hormone is bound it is measured via blood test as Total T4 & Total T3.
Your cells use Free T4 & Free T3. This is why we measure both of these markers in addition to TSH.
Your T4 is inactive and T3 is active. T3 is involved in your mood, menses, metabolism, and gut motility.
What Is The Most Accurate Way To Test Cortisol Levels
Serum is not found to be a very helpful measure for cortisol levels, and this is because cortisol follows a diurnal pattern.
It rises when you get out of bed, hitting its peak about 30 minutes after waking, and then slowly falls as the day goes on. We arent able to see this pattern by performing a snapshot in time serum cortisol test. This is where salivary testing is thought to be the best option when testing free cortisol, especially when considering the cortisol awakening response .
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How Can I Balance Back My Hormones
If you have been diagnosed with a hormonal imbalance, your doctor can advise you on ways of bringing your body back into proper balance. Typical treatments for improved hormonal balance include hormone replacement therapy and lifestyle changes, such as dietary changes, stress management and exercise. In the case of thyroid dysfunction, medications and/or surgical intervention may be necessary to restore health levels of thyroid hormones.
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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Skin And Hair Changes
Acne. A sudden increase in acne is one easy way to identify a possible hormonal imbalance. One of the few hormones involved is androgens. Androgens, typically referred to as male hormones, but found in both males and females, regulate your skins sebum production. If your body produces androgens in excess, sebum can build up in your pores and cause a pimple to surface.
Hair loss. The quality and vitality of your hair is also directly related to your hormones. Thyroid abnormalities, for example, may cause dry hair or skin, thinning hair, or brittle nails. Hypothyroidism, hyperthyroidism, and parathyroid disorder can also cause hair loss.
Can You Test For Hormone Imbalances
The short answer is yes.
Your first step in testing for ahormonal imbalanceis to make an appointment with your doctor for a physical exam.
At your appointment, be prepared to describe the symptoms you are experiencing, as well as the timeline along which theyve occurred.
And you will need to bring a list of all …
youre currently taking.
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Common Symptoms Of A Hormonal Imbalance
Hormonal imbalances can cause many different symptoms. Some common issues to look out for include:
- A bulge in the neck
Many symptoms of a hormonal imbalance can be misleading. For example, both weight gain and weight loss can be symptomatic of a hormonal imbalance. So, its really difficult to just rely on symptoms to understand which specific hormone is the root of the problem. This is when getting tested becomes handy.
If youre having trouble falling asleep, you may have low progesterone levels that are usually in charge of helping you fall asleep. On the other hand, high progesterone levels could be problematic as well, as these will make you feel sleepy even if youre getting enough rest.
Low melatonin gives your body a signal that its time to rest. Low estrogen can give you night sweats that can be unbearable for many.
If youre struggling with any symptom of a possible hormone imbalance, you need to get tested. Your hormone levels will depict the root cause of the symptoms you are experiencing and, you will be able to target them properly.
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
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Are You Looking For A Natural Way To Check For A Hormone Imbalance Healthieru Can Assess Your Hormones Through A Nutrition Response Testing Assessment
If you’re ready to discover how to test for hormone imbalance naturally, youve come to the right place.
At HealthierU we specialize in all things natural.
We utilize a holistic approach to get to the root of your hormonal problems and deal with them in a way that is:
Get in touch with us today for your free consultation, and get on the path to a healthier you.
How Can I Prevent A Hormonal Imbalance
While many hormonal imbalances arent preventable, there are certain things you can do to optimize your overall health, which could help keep your hormones balanced, including:
- Maintaining a healthy weight.
- Managing your chronic health conditions well .
- Quitting smoking or using tobacco products, if you smoke.
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What Are The Symptoms Of Hormonal Imbalance
Our hormones regulate many of our most important body systems â and play a role in metabolism, sleep, growth and development, mood, and fertility. Because of this, when hormone levels are too high or too low, they can cause some of the following symptoms:
- Irregular or stopped periods
- Excessive hair growth or hair loss
- Indigestion, constipation, or diarrhea
If youâre experiencing any of these symptoms, testing your hormone levels can key you in to possible diagnoses and help you work with your doctor to get in balance.
Is there hormonal imbalance treatment?
Yep! There are medications you can take to regulate hormone levels. Your doctor can help you determine the best course of treatment.
Thatâs why itâs important to stay on top of your hormones â so you can start treatment early and prevent any problems down the line.
Is there a hormonal imbalance test?
A blood test is the simplest way to detect hormonal imbalance. Although hormone tests arenât regularly performed by doctors before symptoms arise, Modern Fertility makes it easy to check in with your levels at home.
Depending on your birth control, you can test up to eight hormones and get customized, physician-reviewed reports based on your results.
Hereâs what else youâll get:
When To See A Hormone Imbalance Specialist
Hormones are often a blanket term used to explain the cause of issues related to fluctuations in estrogen and progesterone in women. Testosterone levels in men are also looked to frequently as the reason for certain symptoms thought to be related to a hormonal imbalance. In truth, there are a vast array of hormones that play a role in numerous bodily functions. While a specific diagnosis requires testing and an in-depth examination, there are some common indicators of when to see our hormone imbalance specialist.
Youre Not Sleeping
If youre not able to fall asleep at night or you find yourself waking up frequently, there could be a few hormonally related causes. You definitely want to see a qualified medical professional about your lack of slumber in order to get down to the bottom of the issue. Sleep deprivation is a very serious problem. You wont feel refreshed, and this lack can lead to additional problems or create a cycle of hormonal imbalance. As such, its important to see our hormone imbalance specialist.
Youre Constantly Tired
If sleep issues arent something you deal with, yet youre still tired all the time, there could be a reason to see our hormone imbalance specialist. Different types of hormonal systems play a role in your energy levels. Your problem may not be hormonally related at all. However, its worth looking into since multiple hormones could cause extreme tiredness.
You Experience Irritability and Mood Swings
You Notice Other Unpleasant Changes
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