Symptoms of Hormone Imbalance and Hormone Balancing Supplements
The adrenal glands do not get nearly enough limelight when it comes to addressing hormone imbalance symptoms. Dysfunction in the adrenal glands will disrupt hormone balance and cause issues with sleep, periods, mood, energy, and blood sugar levels.
Addressing adrenal health and stress management are the keys to getting better, more predictable periods, and improving mood and energy levels.
But there’s more to it than bubble baths or meditation.
stress management and hormone imbalance
You’re gaining weight, you don’t sleep well, your periods are getting progressively off track, and you are desperately trying to find answers.
You go in for your annual bloodwork and ask your physician to test your hormones, which are all coming back relatively “normal”.
So, why are you experiencing symptoms? And more importantly, how can you stop them?
Hi friends. I’m Hilary Beckwith, ex-dieter and holistic nutrition expert. Clients come to see me with signs of adrenal stress and inflammatory conditions, and my job is to find the root causes so we can address their symptoms more effectively, and fill in the gaps between what their doctor is saying, and what their body is saying.
The adrenal glands do not get nearly enough limelight when it comes to addressing hormone imbalance symptoms. Dysfunction in the adrenal glands will disrupt hormone balance and cause issues with sleep, periods, mood, energy, and blood sugar levels.
Addressing adrenal health and stress management are the keys to getting better, more predictable periods, and improving mood and energy levels.
But there’s more to it than bubble baths or meditation.
In this article, you’ll learn:
how your body responds to stress
health effects of prolonged chronic stress
how to improve hormone imbalance symptoms by addressing chronic stress at the root
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the body’s natural stress response
Stress is a normal part of human existence, and is modulated by the Autonomic Nervous System. It is necessary to keep us alive, and even become stronger!
Most stress is caused by what your brain perceives as a threat, but some stress is necessary for improving health, such as bone remodeling, building muscle, and cold plunging.
The stress your brain perceives as a threat (most stress), your body responds to as if it were a tiger. Evolution has not yet caught up to our modern lifestyles, and your brain cannot yet tell the difference between the threat of a tiger, and stress that comes from running late for a meeting.
When tigers are coming at you from all directions (work deadlines, heated conversations with your partner, toxic load from processed foods or medications, undiagnosed gut infections, people-pleasing behaviors, unaddressed emotional trauma, low blood sugar…), your stress response system will be constantly activated.
That chronic activation of the stress response system interferes with hormone production and balance. This is why effective stress management is essential to addressing hormone imbalance symptoms.
HERE’S HOW IT WORKS:
In response to a stressor, your fight or flight response is activated, and a feedback loop called the HPA axis (or hypothalamus, pituitary, adrenal axis) [1], stimulates your adrenal glands to produce stress hormones to increase energy production and increase blood flow to large muscle groups, heart, and lungs, to help you fight or flee the danger (tigers!).
When the threat has been successfully dealt with, the stress response stops, and your body returns to its rest and digest mode
If the stress becomes chronic, the system stays activated, and the adrenal glands adapt by producing less stress hormones, but more frequently.
TAKE A LOOK:
stressor or danger is sensed, and fight or flight response (a part of the Autonomic Nervous System) activates, signaling a cascade of events
the hypothalamus releases Corticotropin Releasing Hormone (CRH)
the increase in CRH signals the pituitary gland to produce AdrenoCorticoTropic Hormone (ACTH)
ACTH travels to the adrenal glands, signaling them to release stress hormones such as cortisol, adrenaline, and noradrenaline
these hormones begin the processes of energy metabolism (to fight or flee the stressor), and increase blood flow to large muscle groups, heart, and lungs
health effects of chronic cortisol release
The health effects of poor stress management impact more than just hormone imbalance symptoms. Chronic cortisol release has been shown to:
suppress the immune system [2]
cause sex hormone imbalance [3]
increase belly weight by way of insulin resistance [4]
increase inflammation [5] - Cortisol itself is anti-inflammatory, but its presence signals immune cells to react in response to stressors. This is inflammation. Chronic cortisol = chronic inflammation.
decrease thyroid hormone activity at a cellular level, causing elevated TSH levels on bloodwork
increase appetite by reducing leptin (hormone that tells you when you are full), and increasing ghrelin (hormone that tells you when you are hungry)
decrease digestive activity - when fight or flight is active, rest and digest cannot be.
causes poor sleep quality - the ability to fall asleep, stay asleep, and ultimately makes it difficult to get up in the morning.
Regarding hormone imbalance symptoms, the most important thing to remember about chronic stress is its ability to disrupt feedback systems for sex and reproductive hormones.
Take another look at the HPA axis. Components of this feedback system are also components of other important feedback systems, including the HPT (hypothalamus, pituitary, thyroid) axis, and the HPG (hypothalamus, pituitary, gonadal) axis.
When your fight or flight response is chronically activated due to poor stress management, or undiagnosed root-causes of stress, this will prevent hormone feedback systems from communicating properly, leading to hormone imbalance symptoms.
ways to improve stress management
I discuss methods for improving stress management at length in this article. But the best thing you can do for yourself right now, is to get data.
Let’s get curious about your symptoms and find out if there’s even anything to be concerned about.
Take this 3-minute quiz to figure out if your adrenals need support, and what you can do to support them.
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BLOG REFERENCES
Slominski A. (2009). On the role of the corticotropin-releasing hormone signalling system in the aetiology of inflammatory skin disorders. The British journal of dermatology, 160(2), 229–232. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2133.2008.08958.
Segerstrom, S. C., & Miller, G. E. (2004). Psychological stress and the human immune system: a meta-analytic study of 30 years of inquiry. Psychological bulletin, 130(4), 601–630. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.130.4.601
Ranabir, S., & Reetu, K. (2011). Stress and hormones. Indian journal of endocrinology and metabolism, 15(1), 18–22. https://doi.org/10.4103/2230-8210.77573
Kahn, Barbara B., and Jeffrey S. Flier. “Obesity and Insulin Resistance.” The Journal of Clinical Investigation, American Society for Clinical Investigation, 15 Aug. 2000, www.jci.org/articles/view/10842.
Hannibal, Kara E., and Mark D. Bishop. “Chronic Stress, Cortisol Dysfunction, and Pain: A Psychoneuroendocrine Rationale for Stress Management in Pain Rehabilitation.” OUP Academic, Oxford University Press, 1 Dec. 2014, academic.oup.com/ptj/article/94/12/1816/2741907?login=false.