Female Sex hormones produced by the ovaries

The brain produces the hormones - luteinizing hormone (LH) and follicle stimulating hormones (FSH), which trigger hormone production from the ovaries. When any of the hormones from the brain or the ovaries are imbalanced, symptoms may occur.

Progesterone

The hormone that's associated with many good things, keeping you relaxed and quality sleep to name a couple. After the age of 40, progesterone can plummet in comparison to estrogen's decline, very often leaving estrogen higher than usual, which is known as estrogen dominant.

Estrogen

The estrogen hormones (estrone, estradiol and estriol) contribute to sex drive and play a role in memory, mood and motivation. While estrogen levels must remain consistent to regulate menstruation, as mentioned above, high levels of estrogen in comparison to progesterone results in estrogen dominance.

Synthetic estrogens (aka xenoestrogens) that are found in our environment, including most household and skincare products, will imitate estrogen and therefore contribute to estrogen dominance.

Common issues associated with elevated estrogen include irregular periods, a fall in fertility, increased difficulty handling stress, insomnia, weight gain, mood issues, and structural concerns like endometriosis, ovarian cysts, and uterine polyps.

Testosterone

Although not in the same abundance as men, women also produce the hormone testosterone in their ovaries and a little in their adrenal glands. Women need a certain amount of it as part of the mix of hormones that keep mood, energy levels, sex drive, and bodily functions running smoothly.

Other key hormones

Insulin (produced in the pancreas)

Insulin helps to regulate blood sugar. Its role is to lower glucose levels in the bloodstream and promote the storage of glucose in fat, muscle, liver and other body tissues. When blood sugar is too high or too low, a range of health issues can arise.

Diabetes is a common cause of hormonal imbalance in women and can affect, not just the insulin hormone, but also other blood sugar-related hormones, sex hormones, and DHEA - your natural steroid hormone.

Melatonin (produced in the pineal gland, in the brain)

Melatonin has two primary functions. The first function is to control your internal body clock and therefore it’s directly related to sleep patterns. And the second function is to regulate certain reproductive hormones, which is why melatonin can be a factor in hormonal imbalance in women. Melatonin can affect a woman's menstrual cycle, including the onset of menstruation, the regularity of menstrual cycles and the start of menopause.

Symptoms of hormonal imbalance in women

Hormonal imbalance in women can occur when there is too little or too much of a hormone.

Communication between the endocrine glands secreting the hormones can be disrupted by many things, including a less-than-optimal lifestyle, and factors such as poor diet, nutritional deficiencies, health status, difficult relationships, emotions, and sleep can escalate over a period of time, leading to hormonal imbalance.

Even the smallest imbalance can result in big changes, positive and negative, in the body, which can leave you feeling at the mercy of your hormones.

Because women's hormones interact with so many different parts of the human body, the symptoms of an imbalance can range drastically and be difficult to pinpoint.

Your mood, digestion, and brain can all struggle when you have hormonal imbalances.

As a functional medicine practitioner, female hormonal imbalance issues are some of the most common things that I see. Symptoms can manifest in many ways and include:

• Acne or oily skin
• Anxiety
• Bloating
• Bone loss
• Decreased fertility
• Depression
• Excess facial and body hair
• Fatigue
• Food cravings
• Hair loss (scalp)
• Hot flushes
• Irregular periods (missing, frequent)
• Irritability
• Loss of muscle mass
• Loss of scalp hair
• Low libido
• Memory lapses
• Mood swings
• Nervousness
• Night sweats
• Painful periods
• Panic attacks
• Poor concentration
• Sleep disturbances or insomnia
• Tender or fibrocystic breasts
• Urinary incontinence
• Vaginal dryness
• Weight gain or weight loss

When hormones are out of balance, they will also affect the activity of other organs that are involved in making and metabolising hormones. For example, elevated estrogen increases thyroid-binding globulin (TBG), which binds up active thyroid hormone.

Factor in inherited conditions or genetic mutations that affect estrogen and the metabolism of other hormones, and it quickly becomes an even more complicated picture.

Hormonal imbalance in women - the solution

It can be hard to work out exactly what's happening in your body and what you should do about hormonal imbalance.

Just like you'd overcome any health concern, your goal should always be to identify the root cause and tackle the underlying triggers of the hormonal imbalance rather than simply focusing on symptoms.

I work with clients to assess their overall health by seeking to identify interactions between different bodily systems through detailed health and lifestyle case history, presenting signs and symptoms and on occasion functional lab testing.

If you're experiencing hormonal imbalance symptoms and would like some help to correct this, check out the Healthier You Programme on how I can support you further.