Hormonal Imbalance And Weight Gain
Hormones play an integral role in metabolism and your bodys ability to use energy. Hormone disorders, such as Cushing syndrome, can cause you to become overweight or develop obesity.
People with Cushing syndrome have high levels of cortisol in their blood. This leads to an increase in appetite and fat storage.
Hypothyroidism, if the condition is severe, can also lead to weight gain.
During menopause, many women gain weight because the metabolism slows down. You may find that even though youre eating and exercising like normal, you still gain weight.
The only way to treat weight gain from a hormone disorder is to treat the underlying condition.
During a normal, healthy pregnancy, your body goes through major hormonal changes. This is different than a hormonal imbalance.
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Your Sugar And Insulin Balance
What am I talking about?
- High sugar levels lead to insulin resistance. When the body is exposed to high insulin levels, enzymes that make testosterone get turned ON . And just so you know, alcohol spikes both sugar levels and insulin to make your hormone situation worse. Just sayin. If you drink wine, then enjoy the nightly hot flashes that will come with it.
- Insulin can turn on enzymes that convert testosterone to estrogen leading to estrogen dominance. Estrogen dominance is related to PMS, painful periods, heavy periods, irregular periods, depression, anxiety, insomnia, weight gain, bloating, swelling, breast tenderness, fibrocystic breast changes, fibroids, endometriosis and uterine polyps and just generally being in a bad, bad mood.
- Adrenal gland hormones get turned on by too much insulin. Big fluctuations in insulin will drive massive swings in cortisol levels. Cortisol shifts can damage the healthy conversation between the brain and the ovaries, which messes with the hormones the ovary makes.
- Insulin makes fat and fat makes estrogen. The more sugar you eat, the more fat you create. The more fat you make, the more estrogen the fat cells make. This then leads to estrogen dominance. Lather, rinse, repeat.
Who am I talking about?
You may have a sugar insulin imbalance if you have the following symptoms:
- Carbohydrate and sugar cravings
What You Can Do
Its important to talk to your health care provider so that you can receive appropriate treatment. With that in mind, its a good idea to keep track of your symptoms, when they occur and for how long they occur for so you can give your provider context.
Tracking your symptoms will help you figure out your bodys fluctuations and help your provider determine if treatment options are necessary, Andresen said. If symptoms are PMS-related, they can be treated with oral contraception or antidepressants. If you experience hot flashes, night sweats or vaginal dryness as a result of menopause, those can be treated with hormone replacement therapy, antidepressants and over-the-counter remedies.
While seeking hormone balance through treatments and therapies may be a great option, Andresen noted its also wise to adopt strategies to reduce stress in your life. Doing so can help regulate your bodys natural hormone levels.
Some strategies to help combat stress include:
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What Causes Hormonal Imbalances
Throughout your life and even throughout the day your hormone levels naturally rise and fall.
Certain periods of life cause more dramatic changes and fluctuations in hormones, including:
- Pregnancy.
- Menopause.
However, there are several other reasons why your hormone levels may be irregular at unexpected times. Some of the most common causes of fluctuating or imbalanced hormone levels include:
- Certain medications.
- Steroid use.
These hormonal imbalances are more likely to be temporary or fixable with a change in medication or properly managing stress.
Chronic hormone-related conditions can have several different possible causes. In general, the main conditions or situations that cause medically significant hormone imbalances include:
Tumors, adenomas and growths
Any kind of growth on a gland or organ that produces hormones, such as a tumor, adenoma or nodule, could affect its ability to do so.
Tumors
Rare endocrine tumors form in glands or in cells that produce hormones and can cause hormone imbalances. Some of the rare endocrine tumors include:
Adenomas
An adenoma is a benign tumor. Many adenomas are nonfunctioning, meaning they dont produce hormones. But some can produce excess hormones. These are called functioning adenomas. Adenomas that affect your endocrine system and cause hormone imbalances include:
Other growths
Damage or injury to an endocrine gland
Autoimmune conditions
Parenthood: A Constant State Of Stress
Today, our bodies still have this response mechanism, but although we are not literally being chased by lions or tigers, our perceived threats are all stressors.
The problem is, these stressors are constant and not temporary and our bodies do not have enough time to recover. This is when our HPA- axis system becomes compromised and we experience a rise and overproduction of cortisolour main stress hormonewhich stays at a constant. The brain keeps sending signals to produce more, but the body has been exhausted of its supply and simply cannot keep up with the demand.
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You’re Both Tired And Wired
Exhaustioncoupled with anxiety and insomniacan be an indication of hormonal weirdness. “That has to do with cortisol levels being off,” Vitti says. “That causes the symptoms, but cortisol levels being out of balance will also affect a lot of other things: your fertility, your menstrual cycle, and your sex drive. So you may see these things all coming up at once.”
Are My Hormones Out Of Whack
August 17, 2017 By Melissa Ramos
One of the things I would often hear from friends of mine when something just felt off physically or emotionally was, My hormones must be out of whack. Problem is, they didnt exactly know what was out of balance, which may be the case for you too!So, I figured I would do a video helping you navigate things when youre wondering:
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Warning Signs You May Have A Hormonal Imbalance
No-one wants to be a slave to their hormones but how do you know if they are out of sync and what can you do to restore the balance?
Hormonal imbalances may be to blame for a range of unwanted symptoms from fatigue or weight gain to itchy skin or low mood.
Hormones are chemicals produced by glands in the endocrine system and released into the bloodstream. An imbalance occurs when there is too much or too little of a hormone.
Your hormones are important for regulating many different processes in the body including appetite and metabolism, sleep cycles, reproductive cycles and sexual function, body temperature and mood.
No surprise then that even the slightest imbalance may have a noticeable effect on your overall health and wellbeing.
Levels of hormones naturally fluctuate at various life stages, most noticeably during puberty and in women during the menstrual cycle, pregnancy and the menopause. They can also be affected by lifestyle and certain medical conditions.
What is important is to notice any symptoms and get them checked out by a qualified health professional so that you receive appropriate treatment, whether that involves using medication or complementary therapies, or making lifestyle changes, to restore the balance and your good health.
Here are 10 signs of hormonal imbalance to look out for and what you can do about them:
8. Headaches: Many women suffer headaches due to hormonal changes during the menstrual cycle, pregnancy or menopause.
What Kind Of Doctors Treat Hormonal Imbalances
Primary healthcare providers can diagnose and help you manage many hormonal imbalances, but you may benefit from seeing an endocrinologist.
An endocrinologist is a healthcare provider who specializes in endocrinology, a field of medicine that studies conditions related to your hormones. They can diagnose endocrine conditions, develop treatment and management plans and prescribe medication.
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Trouble With Sleep Digestion Or Focus
These types of symptoms could be a sign that you have higher-than-normal levels of cortisol the stress hormone running through your body. If youve been stressed out lately, you might have noticed stomach issues, difficulty sleeping or muscle weakness. It can also affect your ability to focus, as well as your mood and energy levels.
You May Have Food Cravings
Grehlin is a hunger hormone that can cause you to eat too much when it becomes overactive, Dr. Elliot says. But getting a good night’s rest can help put it back in check. “Studies have shown that if you sleep in pitch black, melatonin gets up-regulated or increases, and your hunger hormone gets down-regulated ,” she says. After a good nights sleep you should wake up feeling a lot less hungry.
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Things That Can Happen To Your Body When Your Hormones Are Out Of Whack
Hormones play a huge role in making sure your body is functioning properly and running smoothly. So when your hormones are out of whack, you’re likely to notice a change whether it’s physical or not. Being aware of the many different affects hormones can have on your body can help you get the necessary treatment you need.
We know hormones are important, but just how important are they? As Dr. Prudence Hall, M.D. author of Radiant Again & Forever, tells Bustle, you should think of hormones as your body’s software. “Hormones perform vital functions, such as beating your heart, allowing the neurons to connect, and maintaining your blood pressure,” Dr. Hall says. In fact, every function in the body is backed by some type of hormone. If we run out of hormones, She says, “we would live less than 24 hours.”
That’s because these chemicals basically act as messengers that carry important information through the blood stream and to the right recipient. It helps certain organs grow and develop, and gives signals to parts of the body to become active or turn off. “Without hormones, your body wouldnt know what to do,”Dr. Tania Elliott, Allergist, Internist, and Chief Medical Officer at EHE, tells Bustle.
When your hormones are out of balance, it can cause a number of different health issues from heart disease to diabetes to depression. So here’s a breakdown of some of the things that can happen to your body when your hormones are out of whack, according to experts.
Are My Hormones Out Of Whack Or Is Something Else Going On
- May 4, 2022
- Dr. Stephanie Coleman, Family Medicine
Hormones play an important role in the way our bodies work. Both women and men are impacted by more than 50 hormones, including insulin, cortisol, melatonin, thyroid hormones, estrogen and testosterone. Hormones are responsible for controlling many of our bodys functions, and when theyre out of balance, youll likely feel the repercussions.
Hormones are chemicals produced by glands in the endocrine system. They travel through the bloodstream to the tissues and organs, delivering messages that tell the organs what to do and when to do it. Hormonal imbalances occur when there is too much or too little of a hormone in the bloodstream and can be the result of many things, from stress to side effects from medications to bigger factors like tumors, injury or trauma.
Because of their essential role in the body, even slight hormonal imbalances can cause side effects throughout the body. For example, if your thyroid hormones arent working right, you may notice muscle aches and elevated cholesterol levels in addition to fatigue and thinning hair. If your testosterone is low, you may notice increased body fat, hair loss and difficulty concentrating.
If you have a hormone imbalance, youll likely experience one or more of these symptoms:
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Hormones What Are They
Hormones are your bodys chemical messengers that help control many different processes, like reproduction and metabolism. Hormones are produced in the endocrine glands and travel through the bloodstream to tell the bodys muscles, tissues, and organs what to do.
When hormones are out of balance, even just a little, it can severely affect the whole body. Although some hormones fluctuate naturally as we age, some fluctuations can result from the endocrine glands not producing the right amounts. Youll often know when this happens as a broad range of symptoms accompany hormone imbalances.
Can You Correct Hormonal Imbalances
Yes. We treat hormone imbalances of all kinds with bioidentical hormone replacement therapy . This treatment works to restore your hormonal profile to the way it looked before a major transition like menopause.
These plant-based hormones are called bioidentical because theyre chemically identical to the estrogen and testosterone your body makes.
When you come to us for treatment to address any type of hormone imbalance, we discuss your medical history and perform blood tests so we can learn as much as possible about whats going on. Armed with this information, we create a customized BHRT treatment plan for you.
When you receive BHRT, we carefully insert hormones into your body via pellets placed under the skin in your hip or buttocks area, after your treatment area is numbed.
This safe treatment takes just 30 minutes or less, and you enjoy results starting anywhere from a few to 10 days post-treatment. The pellets remain in your body for several months and release hormones gradually over that period.
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Hormones Out Of Whack How To Tell + What To Do About It
Feeling a bit out of sorts but cant quite put your finger on it? It could be your hormones.
Hormones are delicate elements that require constant balance to keep us feeling tip top, but when disrupted, can cause a whole host of problems that can leave you feeling less than your best self. A complex topic, we thought wed reach out to Angelique Panagos, a London-based nutritionist specialising in hormonal health to help answer some of our burning questions about hormones. From signs of hormonal imbalance to her golden rules for keeping them in check, hopefully, these will help you on your bid to find balance within.
Do you think its helpful to get a blood test done to get an accurate reading of your hormone health?It can be very helpful, yes! Blood tests can often be an indication of whats going on in the body, but it doesnt provide an answer for everything. However, it is the most common way to test when theres an issue with the thyroid, for example. I also use urine and saliva tests in my clinic.
How does nutrition play a role in regulating hormones?Nutrition plays a huge role in hormonal health! Healthy hormones need a steady stream of nutrients from the food we eat . On the flip side, a diet high in processed foods, junk and sugars can have a detrimental effect on our hormones, sending insulin levels spinning and putting our bodies under stress.
I also suggest making a conscious effort to avoid foods wrapped in plastic and filtering your drinking water.
1) Nourish
Thyroid Tests And Thyroid Optimal Ranges What To Expect At The Doctor
Chances are, youve landed here and youre reading this because youre having a heck of a time navigating thyroid testing and diagnosis. Maybe you know somethings up, but your tests are coming back normal, or you feel like youre not getting the full picture.
Youre not alone. If youre going to a western medicine doctor for thyroid symptoms, you might have some back and forth, even some second or third opinions before you get the information you need.
Functional medicine and naturopathic doctors are simply better at diagnosing and treating the thyroid. The difference lies in the tests ordered and whats considered normal. There are exceptions doctors are out there who fully understand how hormone levels, blood tests, medications, and individual differences between patients all work. But, youll need to do some digging to find Dr. Right, as Bulletproof Radio podcast guest Izabella Wentz calls them.
When theyre licensed in your state, functional medicine and naturopathic doctors can order all of the blood tests and prescriptions you might need, and theyre likely to incorporate non-medical interventions as well.
A lot of docs will use TSH only as in the indicator of your thyroid function. If thats the case, you might want to go doctor shopping.
Here are the thyroid tests that will give you the full picture of how everythings working:
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You May Experience Hair Loss Or Excessive Hair Growth
Women who suffer from PCOS may see an increased production of the male sex hormone androgen. Worst case scenario, it can cause infertility. As Dr. Jennifer Christian, DC, of Alternative Family Medicine & Chiropractic, tells Bustle, dysregulated hormones can also cause hair issues such as hair loss, thinning, or growth in places you may not have had hair previously.
Youre Peeing Way Too Often
When your pancreas isnt working correctly due to diabetes, high levels of blood glucose can cause you to pee more often than usual. In turn, your body is working overtime to get rid of the excess sugar in your body. Diabetes can also affect your insulin hormone, which can cause yeast infections. If you havent been diagnosed with diabetes, but youre peeing way too often or getting frequent yeast infections, its time to see your doctor.
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Irritability Anxiety Or Depression
If youre experiencing mood swings, your hormones could be to blame. Thats because your hormones influence the neurotransmitters in your brain, helping to maintain dopamine, serotonin, and norepinephrine levels for optimal balance.
As hormone levels fluctuate or decrease, its common to experience emotional changes, like anxiety, depression, mood swings, and even panic attacks. Similarly, having too much of a hormone can cause anger, impaired judgment, euphoria, or delusions.