What causes Hormonal Imbalance in Women?

There are many facts that can affect a woman's hormones at any age. There are things like menopause, lifestyle, pregnancy and medications.

1. Belly Fat and Loss of Muscle Mass

When your endocrine system is under a lot of stress, whether it is from your lifestyle, medication or pregnancy, it does not produce enough of certain hormones while it over produces others. This will result in your body storing most of the fat for future use thus increasing your belly fat.



2. Constant Fatigue

Throughout the day you feel tired, sluggish, experience a foggy memory and scattered. Even after a nap you feel exhausted and tired. This could be a lack of thyroid hormone (hypothyroidism), which controls the body's metabolism. When this hormone level is low, all the body's systems slow down (digestion, heart rate and mental functions) thus allowing you to feel exhausted and mentally foggy.



3. Persistent Weight Gain

When undergoing hormonal imbalance, it is hard to maintain a health weight. Your adrenal system can become fatigued then it will signal your thyroid that there is a problem and your thyroid will slow down your metabolism. Your pancreas will respond by conserving fat in your mid-section and love handle areas.



4. Vaginal Dryness

This is caused by a reduction of the estrogen levels in the vaginal walls thus making the vaginal feel dry. This can be very uncomfortable during intercourse.

5. Breast Changes

High levels of estrogen can cause your breast to feel tender and sore, which can lead to cysts, fibroids or lumps on the breast. It is importance to have an annual screening mammogram. Keep in mind that not every breast changes is a sign that you have cancer but it is best that you seek a medical professional to be on the safe side.



6. Sleeping Disorders and Changes in Sleeping Patterns

Sleeping disorder or changes in your sleeping patterns can indicate physical stress, an increase in cortisol levels or a sharp drop in your progesterone hormone. The progesterone hormone has relaxing properties to help you relax before sleeping. 
  

7. Acne

It is normal for must women to break out before their periods because of a hormonal shift in their bodies. However it you suffer from cystic acne during your hormonal imbalance, this is due to androgens. The testosterone stimulus excess production of sebum. The sebum, which is oil, can get trapped underneath the skin combine with acnes causing bacteria and dead skin cells, which leads to the clogging of the pores.



8. Cravings

The common signs of cravings and excessive eating are insulin resistance, adrenal fatigue and other hormonal imbalances.



9. Foggy Memory

Foggy memory and fatigue goes hand in hand, which could be related to hormonal issues. If you have been expecting extreme amount of stress, sleeping problems and experiencing fatigue then your body is producing high levels of cortisol (stress hormone).

10. Low Libido

One of the most noticeable signs of hormonal imbalance is a low libido, which begins with sleeping problems. This is due to a reduction of the production a estrogen.



11. Digestive Issues

Stress hormones can not only affects you in your head but in your stomach too. Cortisol production is naturally high in the mornings which helps you wake up but women who chronically stress, their adrenal glands overproduce cortisol which will result in their cortisol production being low in the morning when they wake up.
Slow digestion, bloating and gas can be signs of hormonal problems. When you have problems with digestion your body can be robbed of nutrients during the extraction process.



12. Headaches and Migraines

If you suffer from headaches and migraines, it is good to keep a record of when it happens and why. This will help you to knw what is triggering these episodes.



13. Depression and Mood Swings

Anxiety, irritability and depression are signs that you might have hormonal imbalance, this could be due to stress, work overload, toxicity in the body and some case of mal-nourishment. Must of these signs could be linked to menopause.


14. Night Sweating and Hot Flashes

Many times your emotional state can trigger an increase in your internal temperature, especially during your hormonal issues. Hot flashes and night sweat is due to your body having too much estrogen and too little progesterone.



For 10 Ways on How to Treat Hormonal Imbalance Naturally click here.