Hormones are powerful chemicals that travel around your body, sending different systems and organs signals as to how they should function. As such, if there is a hormonal imbalance, it can have a huge effect on your body.
It is normal for hormones to fluctuate at certain times of your life. For instance, a woman’s hormones fluctuate during pregnancy, when on their period and when going through menopause. But then there are certain health conditions and medications people take that can unbalance their hormones and cause a variety of unpleasant symptoms. Under-active or overactive thyroid, stress, diabetes, adrenal insufficiency and other disorders could be the reason. If you suffer from the symptoms below it is important to get tested by a doctor to see if your hormones are off balance and to find out why. There are plenty of treatments available to help get them back on track so you can start feeling better.
What are the symptoms?
The symptoms you experience depend on exactly which hormones or glands are unbalanced. In any case, common symptoms include:
- Fatigue
- Sleep problems
- Memory fog
- Headaches
- Loss of libido
- Weight gain/increased appetite
- Dry skin
- Hair loss
- Unexplained weight loss
- Muscle aches and pains
- Joint pain
- Depression
- Infertility
- Sweating
- Frequent urination
- Constipation
Women may also experience irregular or heavy periods, acne, vaginal dryness, pain during sex and excessive facial hair. For men, having low testosterone can result in anything from infertility to erectile dysfunction, decreased hair growth, osteoporosis, low libido and loss of muscle mass.
Children can also have a hormone imbalance and boys will experience delayed puberty, little hair growth, development of breast tissue and impaired penis growth. For a girl, her period might not begin or her breasts and growth rate won’t develop.
Since having a hormone imbalance not only affects your life but can also be indicative of a more serious condition, getting checked out is crucial. You can also take an online quiz to get an idea of what the problem could be, but this by no means should be a replacement for speaking to a doctor.
Check out our progesterone deficiency test to determine which of your symptoms might be due to low levels of progesterone, which is common among women going through menopause. Women can also take this low libido test to see if there might be testosterone deficiency. Men can take this testosterone test to see if what you are experiencing is low testosterone levels. Whatever the results are, always make an appointment to discuss your symptoms and concerns with your medical practitioner.
What’s the treatment?
Fortunately, there are many treatment options available depending on the hormone balance and what’s causing it. Doctors will usually, in addition to other medical treatments, advise making lifestyle changes to treat hormonal imbalance such as losing weight and eating a balanced diet. Women suffering from symptoms due to menopause such as bad hot flashes might be prescribed estrogen therapy. Women with low levels of progesterone can use a progesterone cream which works by bringing progesterone back to normal levels and battling estrogen dominance.
Testosterone therapy can be prescribed to both men and women, though the dosage is usually different. Women need a good balance of testosterone, progesterone and estrogen and if testosterone is too low then a cream could be the solution. For men, the dosage is usually much higher as men naturally need more testosterone.
Before starting any treatments, it is a must to get evaluated by a doctor who can perform blood tests and find out the reason for the imbalance. Not everyone can benefit from hormone replacement therapy and it could interact with a pre-existing condition or other medications.
If you are interested in hormone replacement therapy, it is something to seriously consider since it can offer life-changing relief from frustrating and uncomfortable symptoms. You can always write to us with questions at [email protected].