Hormonal imbalances occur when there is too much or too little of a hormone in the bloodstream. Hormones are your body’s chemical messengers. They help control many of your body’s major processes, including metabolism and reproduction. Produced in the endocrine glands, these powerful chemicals travel around your bloodstream telling tissues and organs what to do. It’s normal for your levels to shift at different times of your life, such as before and during your period or a pregnancy, or during menopause. But some medications and health issues can cause them to go up or down, too.
Symptoms of Hormonal Imbalance:
Digestive problems: Sex hormones affect the microflora in the gut as well as GI tract functioning in general. This may be the reason why you may experience abdomen pain bowel discomfort, bloating, constipation or diarrhoea and nausea before or during menses.
Mood swings: The female sex hormone estrogen has an effect on neurotransmitters in the brain including serotonin, is a chemical that boosts mood. Estrogen fluctuations can cause premenstrual syndrome (PMS) or depressed mood during the phase before periods stop completely (perimenopause) and the menopause.
Low libido: Low libido is very common in women going through the perimenopause or menopause due to low levels of estrogen and testosterone. Other symptoms of menopause like night sweats, fatigue, low mood and anxiety can also have an impact on your sex life.
Excessive weight gain: Imbalances in hormone levels are associated with weight gain and difficulties with losing weight, high estrogen levels, cortisol, and insulin and low levels of thyroxin can put on extra belly fat.
Hair loss: It’s normal to lose some hair every day. But, when you’re starting to lose a lot of hair, its a warning sign. The biggest root cause is hormones. There are many hormones involved in hair loss. Among then the biggest is a thyroid hormone. If you have low thyroid function that’s one of the main reasons for people losing hair.
Other symptoms and signs of hormonal imbalance are:
- Skin tags
- Vaginal dryness
- Pain during sex
- Vaginal atrophy
- Night sweats
- Fatigue
- Swelling, pain, or stiffness on the joints
- Increased hunger
- Pink or purple stretch marks
Causes of Hormone Imbalance:
Some of the most common causes of hormonal imbalance are the followings:
- Diabetes
- Menopause
- Pregnancy
- Breastfeeding
- Premature menopause
- Primary ovarian insufficiency
- PCOS
- Hyperthyroidism
- Hypothyroidism
- Hypogonadism
- Cushing syndrome
- Benign or cancerous tumors
- Eating disorders
- Stress
- Hormone therapy
- Thyroiditis
- Congenital adrenal hyperplasia
- Medications
- Cancer treatments
Treatment:
Hormone control or birth control: Who are not trying to get pregnant, medications containing forms of estrogen and progesterone can help regulate irregular menstrual cycles and symptoms.
Estrogen Therapy: If you are going through certain symptoms of menopause, your doctor might suggest you take a lesser dosage of estrogen. And ask your doctor about the benefits and the risks of this therapy.
Vaginal Estrogen: People experiencing vaginal dryness associated with changes in estrogen levels can apply creams containing estrogen directly to vaginal tissues to reduce symptoms.
Eflornithine (Vaniqa): Its a cream that is specifically designed to remove the excessively grown facial hair in women. When you apply it over your skin, it reduces the time of growth of new hair, though the existing hair is unaffected.
Home Remedies for Hormonal Imbalance includes:
- You can replace the missing hormones in your body by taking bio identical hormones that are safe. The hormones the makes body and bio identical hormones are molecularity identical. However, they are specifically designed for each person.
- Start having a healthy diet planned to balance your hormones. It is somewhat necessary to avoid processed foods as it might contain chemicals that affect the hormones, like dyes and preservatives. Make sure you are well hydrated too.
- Very less exercise can cause problems, but excessive exercise is also bad as it interferes with hormonal levels. Try to exercise for at least 30 minutes about four days a week.
- Try to get enough sleep to balance the levels of hormones. Most adults need seven or eight hours of sleep every night.
- Stress can change the production of hormones, causing major imbalances. Try to control your stress levels and look for healthy ways to deal with it, like breathing exercises, meditation, and yoga.