Symptoms of hormonal imbalance

Reviewed by Dr. Mary James, ND

Most women with hormonal imbalance have no idea that many of their symptoms are linked directly to their hormones — even when they have symptoms like these:

• Irregular or absent periods: Increasing irregularities in your period signal a disruption in the hormonal activity that controls menstruation. Often, the cause is an imbalance between estrogen and progesterone due to the strong effects of the stress hormone, cortisol.
• Weight gain: Changes to your weight or body shape are caused by shifting hormones, particularly in menopause, that tell your body to store fat in the abdomen. This can occur even if you’ve never had a weight problem before. High stress and poor sleep increase belly fat that can be difficult to lose.
• Irritability and/or moodiness: Feeling out of control or overwhelmed can be caused by sudden changes in the balance of estrogen, testosterone and progesterone or from adrenal stress imbalances.
• Skin issues: Adult acne is associated with polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS), a hormonal condition that also causes irregular or absent menstrual periods due to ovulation irregularities.
• Hair loss/unusual hair growth: Imbalances in thyroid function or between estrogen and testosterone can cause thinning hair, and high levels of testosterone (such as in PCOS) can lead to unusual hair growth, including on the face.
• Infertility: Women with PCOS often have high amounts of androgens (including testosterone) as well as insulin resistance. Both contribute to increased estrogen, along with lack of ovulation and infertility.
• Fatigue/loss of energy: Fatigue can occur even when you get plenty of sleep, leaving you feeling physically and emotionally drained. Thyroid imbalances and chronic stress are the most likely contributors to this debilitating symptom.

Women with these and similar symptoms may not even consider hormonal imbalance as a cause. Hormonal imbalance symptoms have a wide range that includes more common symptoms like weight gain and fatigue, but also lesser known problems like hair loss, skin issues and heart palpitations.

You can only live with your hormonal imbalance symptoms for so long before the problem begins to jeopardize your health and wellbeing. Understanding the hormonal source of your symptoms, and the confusing array of problems it can generate, can show you the path to feeling better.

When your body’s hormones are balanced, your symptoms will recede and you will enjoy much better health, and a lot more happiness.

You can stop hormonal imbalance from getting worse

At every age, your hormones are fluctuating on a daily basis, in mostly predictable patterns. But sometimes your hormones fluctuate more dramatically: puberty, pregnancy and perimenopause. When the changes become too extreme, or if your hormones can’t return to natural balance, you’ll experience problems.

You may first sense that something is “off” or “not quite right” in your body. As the hormonal imbalance intensifies, you can experience physical and emotional symptoms that could become severe. As an imbalance worsens, symptoms can multiply, or their severity and frequency can increase.

The longer it goes on, the harder it can be to get back to a state of hormonal equilibrium. So it pays to take action sooner rather than later.

It’s good to listen to your symptoms

It can be a “eureka” moment when you first notice symptoms because they’re sending a clear message that your body is trying to juggle too many demands without getting enough support.

Even if PMS isn’t a problem and you’re not yet in menopause, you can still experience symptom-producing imbalances. Imbalances can occur in the ratios between estrogen, progesterone, testosterone and with other hormones in your neuroendocrine system.

For issues like these, many conventional practitioners focus only on estrogen levels. While estrogen is important, so are progesterone and testosterone — especially their ratios to each other. The levels of other hormones, like insulin, cortisol and thyroid, matter too. For example, estrogen levels may appear to be too high, but on closer examination, those can be holding steady while instead, it’s progesterone levels that are dropping.

Answer when your body asks for help

If you know you have hormonal imbalance symptoms, you can provide the targeted support your body needs to naturally rebalance its hormones. Effective natural options can help resolve the root cause of all your symptoms, not just a select few.

You can take our Hormonal Health Quiz to find out more about your symptoms, whether or not you are near menopause. It’s important to know that you can relieve your symptoms and feel better even if you’re frustrated right now.

Eating right and supplementing your nutrition, adding movement to your day and reducing the impact of daily stressors will tell your body that the hormonal emergency is over and that will make all the difference.

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