Hormones are the powerful chemical messengers in your body that are produced by the endocrine glands. These travel around the body along with the blood flow to ensure the functioning of organs and tissues. The hormones are responsible for controlling significant bodily processes such as reproduction and metabolism.
When the levels of certain hormones increase or decrease significantly, the condition is known as hormonal imbalance. Even the tiniest change in the hormone levels in the body can cause serious changes throughout your body.
To understand this, we can consider an example of a cake recipe. Even the slightest change in the quantity of the ingredients can cause the whole recipe to change. Similar is the case with the hormones in your body.
Symptoms of hormonal imbalance
The hormones play a vital role in carrying out our body functions effectively. There is a broad range of symptoms that indicate a hormonal imbalance. The symptoms will depend on which gland or hormones are not functioning properly. The symptoms of hormonal imbalance include:
- Obesity
- Fatigue
- Frequent urination
- Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS)
- Vaginal atrophy
- Darkening of skin, especially in areas like groin, neck, and under
- The breasts
- Skin pigmentation
- Pain during sexual intercourse
- Hirsutism: a condition in which hair grows excessively on the
- Face, chin, and other parts of the body.
- Decreased sex desire
- Loss of libido
- Infertility
- Period problems: Heavy and painful periods, missed periods, stopped periods, frequent periods.
- Thinning of hair or hair loss
- Acne on the face, back, shoulders, chest, etc.
- Constipation and diarrhea
- Bowel movement problems
- Loss of weight
- Increased hunger
- Depression or anxiety
- Night sweats
- Pain and swelling in joints and muscles
- Osteoporosis
Causes of hormonal imbalance
Hormonal imbalance usually depends upon what hormones or glands are malfunctioning. Most women are likely to experience hormonal imbalance during:
- Menopause
- Puberty
- Childbirth
- Pregnancy
- Breastfeeding
- Early menopause
- Using hormonal contraception
- Hormone replacement therapy
Other causes of hormonal imbalance in women include:
- Diabetes: type 1 and type 2
- Certain medications
- Certain medical treatments or procedures: chemotherapy
- Thyroid problems; hypothyroidism or hyperthyroidism
- Eating disorders
- Adrenal or ovarian insufficiency
- Stress or fatigue
- Benign tumors
- Malfunctioning of endocrine glands: These include the pancreas, pineal, adrenal, pituitary, hypothalamus, thyroid, parathyroid glands, and the ovaries.
- Hypoglycemia
- Addison’s disease (low cortisol and aldosterone)
- Allergies and infections
- Goiter
- Long term exposure to toxins, pollutants, irritants, chemicals, etc.
- Turner’s syndrome
Diagnosis of hormonal imbalance
You cannot diagnose a hormonal imbalance on your own. For this, you need to make an appointment with your doctor. There is no specific test for the diagnosis of hormonal imbalance. But the doctor can ask for multiple tests in order to help the process of diagnosis. The doctor will examine you physically and might ask you a number of questions regarding the symptoms you experience. The questions may include:
- The symptoms you are experiencing
- The frequency of symptoms you are experiencing
- Things you do to alleviate symptoms
- Your last period
- Your sex life
- Your mental health
There are several tests that the doctor may suggest to you depending upon the symptoms. These may be more than one that includes:
- Blood test: It can be done to check the levels of hormones such as estrogen, testosterone, cortisol, thyroid, etc., in blood.
- Ultrasound: It uses sound waves to look inside the body to get pictures of internal organs.
- Pelvic exam: It can be done to check for any tumors, lumps, or cysts.
- X-ray
- MRI
- Biopsy
- Thyroid test
Treatment of hormonal imbalance in women
The treatment of hormonal imbalance in women depends on what is the cause of it. There are several options available for treating the hormonal imbalances in women that include:
Vaginal estrogen
Women who experience pain during intercourse or vaginal dryness due to hormonal imbalance can use vaginal estrogen in the form of creams, gels, rings, etc. It will help to reduce symptoms of vaginal atrophy due to disturbance in hormone levels.
Hormone replacement therapy
Hormone replacement therapy is available to women who experience extreme symptoms most probably related to menopause. For example, hot flushes, flushes, or night sweats. Hormone replacement therapy further can be of several types such as:
- Estrogen therapy
- Testosterone therapy
Thyroid hormone therapy
Those women who experience hormonal imbalance due to hypothyroidism, are given this treatment to bring thyroid levels back to normal.
Hormonal birth control
Those women who are trying not to conceive can take medications involving hormones like estrogen and progesterone. It helps to ensure the menstruation cycle. Additionally, it helps to reduce excessive body and facial hair and acne. There are several types of hormonal birth control methods that include:
- Vaginal ring
- Intrauterine device (IUD)
- Birth control patch
- Birth control pill
- Birth control shot
Antiandrogen medications
These medications help to treat conditions of acne and excessive hair growth in women. It also helps to reduce hair loss. It must only be used if you have high androgen levels in your as androgen basically is a male hormone. Taking antiandrogens will help to lower down the levels of androgens to bring it to normal.
Metformin
This medication can help to manage the blood sugar levels, hence treating diabetes. Furthermore, it helps to lower down the androgen levels in women.
Harbor Compounding Pharmacy
The harbor compounding pharmacy offers you the best hormone-related therapies. It provides you a wide range of hormones in all forms. Additionally, it sells compounded hormones and medications to those of you who ask for it. You just have to give your prescription to get your compounded medication made.
Visit the website of the harbor compounding pharmacy for more details.