Is It You or Your Hormones?

Ladies, have you ever noticed:

• Anxiety that comes and goes along with your monthly cycle?
• Anxiety that’s manageable throughout the month but gets unmanageable before your period?
• Sudden increase in anxiety at mid-life?
• Anxiety before or during pregnancy?

These anxieties are all very common…and they are no coincidence!  (And no, it’s NOT all in your head!)

Hormones Work Together as a System

When women complain of symptoms that coincide with our cycles, doctors are quick to declare a problem with the sex hormonal balance (estrogen and progesterone).  But our hormonal systems are more complicated than we are led to believe.

Imbalance in our stress hormones (cortisol, adrenaline and others) disrupts and causes imbalance in our sex hormones.

All of our hormones work as a SYSTEM.  Our hormonal system is intricately interrelated and interdependent, much like a symphony, so an imbalance of one causes a cascade effect on the others.

The Big Problem: Imbalanced Stress Hormones

The stress hormone cortisol is a very big culprit in hormonal imbalance.  More and more research is helping us understand how cortisol imbalance can lead to serious health problems such as:

• • • Anxiety
    • Insomnia
    • Sex hormone issues related to mid-life, pregnancy, and PMS
    • Thyroid dysregulation
    • Blood sugar dysregulation
    • Suppression of the immune system

 The Big Solution: Rebalance Stress Hormones

When stress and anxiety get your stress hormones out of balance, your sex hormones get imbalanced too.

The good news is that the reverse is also true: reducing stress and anxiety allows ALL of your hormonal system to rebalance, including stress hormones AND sex hormones. So it’s time to take stress and anxiety reduction seriously.

Do any of these common sources of stress and anxiety apply to you?

• Insufficient or poor quality sleep
• Illness or pain, especially long-lasting or chronic
• Feelings of anxiety, depression or despair
• Deadlines
• Arguments
• Emotional loss: breakups, loss of family, friends, pets
• Financial loss
• Feelings of guilt, shame, unworthiness, or self-hatred
• Moving
• Changing jobs or careers
• Responsibility without control
• Feeling out of control/loss of personal power
• Not enough downtime or “me” time
• Childhood abuse of any kind
• Historical stress from family relationships and childhood experiences

* List adapted from Marcelle Pick, “Is it Me or My Hormones?”

Reducing these sources of stress and anxiety will go a long way toward rebalancing your stress hormones AND your sex hormones.  See if you can identify the root cause(s) that may be contributing to your hormonal issues so you can return back to balance.  And please give me a call if you’d like to see how I might be able to help.  I’d be happy to offer you a free phone consultation to talk about it.