The link between hormonal imbalance and anxiety

Anxiety is one of the most common symptoms of perimenopause and menopause. The anxiety may take the form of anxiety attacks (also called panic attacks), nervousness, unnatural fear, or anxiety combined with depression.

We see many women at our clinic and in the Personal Program who ask, “Why is this happening to me?” because they never experienced an anxiety disorder before. They’re also concerned about taking antidepressants or anxiety medication.

Medications can be helpful for people with severe anxiety disorders. For the larger number of women with chronic, subclinical anxiety or mild anxiety disorders, there are gentle alternative approaches that can provide relief. Natural treatments for anxiety target both the physical causes of anxiety — hormonal imbalance — and the emotional wellsprings. It’s especially important to deal with the physical first. And when you understand anxiety from a hormonal perspective, you will see how natural methods can succeed in solving it — even when other methods have failed.

Let’s start by looking at the root cause of anxiety — the destructive effect of stress on hormone balance.

It now seems the norm for women to be “maxed out” in all directions. Most of us work, and the workplace has gotten more demanding. Most of us raise children and help care for aging parents. We often have relationship issues that create stress too. And we are conditioned to put ourselves in last place on the list of priorities.

The type of stress is just as important as the amount. So much of the stress we experience is constant — it never goes away. The human body simply isn’t designed for constant stress. When that occurs, our ability to cope with stress can be overwhelmed. If you inventory the stress in your life you may realize that much of it is unremitting. This can give rise to a serious condition known as adrenal fatigue. It is also a cause of chronic anxiety that is often diagnosed as an anxiety disorder.

The estrogen dominance common to perimenopause probably adds to this “anxiety response.” In a normal menstrual cycle, estrogen dominates at the beginning of the cycle, and progesterone rises in the second half. The progesterone has a calming, relaxing effect. But in perimenopause we have more cycles in which we don’t ovulate, so the progesterone level stays low. (Also see our article on irregular periods.) For some women, anxiety attacks are their major symptom of perimenopause.

There are also many less recognizable forms of stress that have a cumulative effect on the body. The list is long — yo-yo dieting…skipping regular meals and replacing them with stimulants such as sugar and caffeine…reducing sleep time to 4–6 hours each night instead 8–9 hours…living at a frantic pace to get it all done — all of these are very hard on your body and can trigger elevations in your stress hormones.

Natural relief for hormone-related anxiety

The natural approach is to give your body more support while trying to reduce the demands you place on it. In our Personal Program we provide you with pharmaceutical-grade nutritional supplements, phytotherapy, and an enriched eating plan to promote healthy hormonal balance. This approach can help reverse adrenal fatigue, heal estrogen dominance and limit the effects of stress on your body, solving the major physical causes of your anxiety symptoms. We’ve seen it work for thousands of women.

Our Personal Program is a great place to start

The Personal Program promotes natural hormonal balance with nutritional supplements, our exclusive endocrine support formula, dietary and lifestyle guidance, and optional phone consultations with our Nurse–Educators. It is a convenient, at-home version of what we recommend to all our patients at the clinic.

Start by assessing your symptoms with our on-line Hormonal Health Profile. It’s easy, informative, and free.
To learn more about the Program, go to How the Personal Program Works.
For further reading about your symptoms and other health topics, go to Explore Our Knowledge.
If you have questions, don’t hesitate to call us toll-free at 1-800-798-7902. We’re here to listen and help.

Click here to return to the Symptoms page.

Last Modified: 07/15/2008