How To Detect Hormonal Imbalances
There are many hormones which are produced in our body, all contributing to keeping our body functioning in some way shape or form. It’s highly important that these hormones are balances to allow our body to work properly. When hormones start to become imbalanced, our body can react in many different ways through certain signs and symptoms.
The main hormones I’m going to cover here are; cortisol, progesterone, oestrogen, androgens and thyroid. Ideally, you want all these hormones to work together in harmony to allow for your body function optimally, but that’s not always the case.
Let’s start by talking about what actually makes your hormones become imbalanced.
Poor diet - inflammatory foods, refined sugar, trans fats.
Poor lifestyle choices - sedentary lifestyle and minimal movement
Smoking, alcohol and drug use
Lack of sleep
These are our main 4 areas which will put your hormones out, but are 4 areas that we can take control of which making a few changes.
I’m going to go through a series of signs and symptoms, which you may be experiencing, and tell you exactly what hormone may be affected.
If you’re experiencing high cortisol your symptoms will be:
Wired but tired
Energy before bedtime, difficulty falling asleep or interrupted sleep
Feeling of anxiety or nervousness
Quick to anger
Memory lapses or feeling distracted
Sugar cravings - needing a little something after each meal
Put on weight around the belly
Eczema, thin skin or unexplained stretch marks
Irregular menstrual cycle
Difficulty recovering from injury
Indigestion, GERD, ulcers, reflux
If you’re experiencing any of the following symptoms your progesterone is probably too low:
Agitation or PMS
Pain or swollen breasts
Irregular menstrual cycles or becoming too frequent
Ovarian cysts
Easily disrupted sleep
Itchy or restless legs
Increased clumsiness or poor coordination
Bloating and fluid retention around the ankles and abdomen
If you have excess oestrogen you may have the following:
Bloating, puffiness or water retention
Abnormal pap smears
Gall bladder issues
Rapid weight gain, particularly in the hips and bottom
Increased bra-cup size or breast tenderness
Fibroids, endometriosis, heavy or painful periods
Mood swings, PMS, depression or just irritability
Emotional, sometimes over the most ridiculous things
Mini breakdowns and anxiety
Migraines, headaches and brain fog
Insomnia
If you’re oestrogen is too low, you may experience the following symptoms:
Poor memory
Emotional fatigue
Depression and anxiety
Wrinkles
Night sweats or hot flashes
Trouble sleeping and waking up in the middle of the night
A leaky, overactive bladder and sometimes bladder infections
Low libido and painful sex
Achy joints and bone loss
Dry eyes and dry skin
Excess androgens (testosterone) may cause the following symptoms:
Excess hair on your chest
Acne
Greasy skin
Thinning head hair
Discolouration of your armpits
Skin tags on your neck and upper torso
Unstable blood sugar
Depression, anxiety, fatigue, lethargy, moodiness
PCOS and low sex drive
If you’re experience any of the following symptoms, it could be a under active thyroid function:
Hair loss, including outer third of eyebrows
Dry skin, dry straw-like hair that tangles easily
Thin, brittle fingernails
An additional few pounds that you just can’t seem to loose
Fluid retention or swollen ankles
High cholesterol
Bowel movement less often than once a day
Recurrent headaches
Decreased sweating and sensitivity to cold
Muscle or joint aches or poor muscle tone
Tingling in your hands or feet, or cold hands or feet
It’s important to recognise these symptoms to be able to allow to figure out what hormone is out of place, and what the root cause of it it is.
After finding the root cause, it’s good to follow a 6 step approach when looking to balance your hormones. These steps are as follows;
Promote liver health and detoxification
Address digestion and gut health
Support thyroid health
Reduce stress
Improve diet and lifestyle
Add in key nutrients from supplements and herbs
All of these steps can be done by making changes to the 4 key elements I mentioned at the start; diet choices, lifestyle choices, removal of toxins and improving your sleep.
To find more out about these specific hormones, and exactly how the 6 steps approach works, keep your eyes peeled for the blog post.
I strongly advice you get your bloods taken if you’re experiencing any of these symptoms, then it’s time to take action. If you need any guidance on this, please email thehmethod@gmail.co.uk.
