Hormonal imbalances can cause a wide variety of symptoms—largely because the human body produces more than 50 hormones. These chemical messengers govern how all the systems in the body function, including your metabolism and your reproductive system.
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There are so many possibilities: You could have an imbalance of estrogen and progesterone, which are produced by the ovaries. Or your body could be producing too much testosterone and androgens. Or you could be experiencing some other type of hormonal disorder that’s unrelated to the sex hormones. But you need to know for sure. Don’t leave yourself guessing what’s going on with your body and your hormones.
For example, you could have a hormonal imbalance such as polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), which is when the female body produces too many androgens. You might have irregular periods and start noticing excessive amounts of hair on your body and face. However, some people have PCOS without any symptoms and don’t even realize it.
You could have some another sort of hormonal imbalance, like a thyroid disorder, that tends to affect women more often than men. The thyroid gland produces several hormones, and both overproducing and underproducing hormones can affect the reproductive system. Unusually low or high levels of thyroid hormone might cause irregular or absent menstrual periods, for example, or affect ovulation. Your doctor can order blood tests to check your thyroid function, which include checking levels of thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH).
Essentially, you need to get the right diagnosis because the treatment or management of the imbalance will depend on the specific diagnosis.
“Ask, 'How many menopause patients do you take care of?'” she says.
3 More Ways to Manage Unbalanced Hormones
While making time to see your doctor is crucial, you can also start taking a few other steps to manage your health if you suspect you have a hormonal imbalance:
Don’t just track the physical symptoms, though, says Dr. Donna Adams-Pickett, Ph.D., MD, an OB/GYN with Augusta Women’s Health & Wellness Center in Georgia. “Identify physical symptoms, but also stay attuned to psychological and behavioral symptoms,” she advises.
Christian Black, an adult-gerontology nurse practitioner at Novant Health Today’s Adult Primary Care in Winston, Salem, North Carolina, agrees.
Related: If You're Gaining a Lot of Weight In Menopause, These Are the Exact Hormones to Get Tested
Change your thinking about perimenopause and menopause.
Dr. Suzanne Gilberg-Lenz, MD, FACOG, an OB/GYN and the author of Menopause Bootcamp, emphasizes that menopause is not a hormonal imbalance, illness, disorder or a disease—it’s merely a developmental stage of life.
Instead, she suggests that women approach the hormonal changes that lead up to and include menopause as an important time of transition in their lives. Their bodies often do change as a result.
And while menopause isn’t a hormonal imbalance that needs treatment in the way that PCOS does, it can create some unpleasant symptoms for some women.
Thankfully, though, these and other symptoms can be managed. Hormone therapy is typically recommended as the most effective treatment for moderate-to-severe hot flashes and night sweats in women who are under 60.
Look for simple changes to make.
Hormone therapy is not the only strategy that women can try in order to cope with symptoms caused by the hormonal shifts of perimenopause or menopause that bother them. Some women can’t use hormone therapy, while others may just prefer not to.
In fact, experts tend to recommend all of those strategies as part of a healthy lifestyle. But to achieve that, you may need to start by assessing where you are right now. Take some time to look at your current lifestyle and habits and figuring out where you want to start.
That might include getting more exercise, making some simple improvements to your diet like boosting your protein consumption or eating more fruits and vegetables and finding a way to work on that stress that always manages to make an appearance in your life. Pick one area that seems doable for you, and work on that first.
Related: 'I’m an OB/GYN–This Is the Only Menopause Sleep Tip That Actually Works'
Sources:
Dr. Donna Adams-Pickett, Ph.D, MDChristian BlackDr. Suzanne Gilberg-Lenz, MD, FACOGDr. Kathleen Jordan, MDDr. Michele Powers, MDDr. Jennifer Roelands, MDDr. Jessica Vernon, MD"Hormonal imbalance." Cleveland Clinic"Menopausal hot flashes: A concise review." Journal of Midlife Health"Overview of the endocrine system." EPA"Polycystic ovary syndrome." Mayo Clinic"Thyroid disorders in women." Johns Hopkins Medicine"Thyroid tests." NIDDK Read More Details
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