Are My Symptoms Caused By a Hormone Imbalance? Yes, and…
It’s not JUST your hormones. Whether you're experiencing symptoms like anxiety, acne, PCOS and irregular periods, PMS and period symptoms or thyroid issues like weight gain or fatigue, you've probably been told that the cause is a hormone imbalance and therefore the treatment should target your hormones. The problem is that women rarely feel better when they are simply given a hormonal solution, like a birth control pill, thyroid medication or any other hormone altering medication. When we talk about hormone imbalance symptoms, we need to go beyond just hormone testing and treatments. The root cause of symptoms often lies much deeper than hormone imbalance- it is usually a combination of gut health and detoxification issues, a dysregulated nervous system and nutrient imbalances. Let's explore these hidden causes in detail.
Understanding Hormone Imbalances
Hormones serve as critical chemical messengers within our bodies that directly impact our overall physical, mental, and emotional well-being. They are responsible for regulating a myriad of functions within the body including metabolism, heart rate, sleep cycles, reproductive cycles, and even mood. So when hormones like thyroid, estrogen, progesterone, insulin, cortisol and others are not functioning optimally, it can result in a cascade of health issues, manifesting with symptoms such as unrelenting fatigue, fluctuating mood, chronic stress, weight gain.
The thing is, hormonal symptoms with measurable disruptions in hormone levels are not necessarily a direct issue with the hormones themselves. For example, acne and PCOS with elevated testosterone indicates an issue that is likely rooted in inflammation and blood sugar dysregulation, not in testosterone activity. The elevated testosterone may be causing the symptom of acne, but only addressing that piece and not what’s causing the elevated testosterone will leave you reliant on a drug or supplement to reduce testosterone indefinitely. The goal should be to remove the underlying cause of the elevated testosterone through lifestyle, gut health and nutrition so that a supplement is not needed for every low or high hormone.
The Role of Gut Health and Toxins in Hormone Imbalances
Our gut, often referred to as our second brain, is intricately linked to our hormonal equilibrium. It is home to a vast community of bacteria known as the gut microbiome, which plays an essential role in the regulation of several hormones, including cortisol, estrogen, and those related to thyroid function. When your gut health is compromised, it affects the optimal production and release of these hormones.
An unhealthy gut can also lead to poor nutrient absorption. This can impact the availability of essential nutrients required for the synthesis of hormones. Additionally, the gut is a major site for detoxification in our bodies. Any dysfunction could lead to an inability to effectively remove hormones from our system, contributing to a hormonal excess (hello estrogen dominance symptoms like heavy periods, breast pain and weight gain).
We know an unhealthy gut impairs detoxification, but being exposed to toxins themselves in excess (endocrine disruptors such as halogens, compounds in plastic, pesticides and heavy metals) can also throw off hormone balance through mimicking the hormone's activity in the body, blocking the hormone from production binding or causing overall inflammation and injury to the gut barrier and microbiome.
Avoiding excess toxin exposure through using clean home and body products, eating organic and drinking reverse osmosis filtered water is essential. So is prioritizing a gut-friendly diet rich in soluble fiber, managing stress, and ensuring regular physical activity can all contribute to nurturing your gut health and, in turn, support healthy hormonal balance. If these bases are covered, and you gut health is still off, it may be time for advanced functional testing.
The Impact of a Dysregulated Nervous System
If you're constantly battling feelings of fatigue, exhaustion, burnout and overwhelm, your nervous system is in a state of dysregulation.
The hypothalamus in your brain sends signals to the pituitary gland to control the release of your stress hormone cortisol when there are inputs of chronic stress, lack of sleep, or trauma playing itself on a loop. Stress hormones then cascade down and affect sex hormones and thyroid hormones.
But cortisol is not the root of the issue. It’s partly the level of stress in your life, but most importantly it’s your response to the stress. Does stress knock you down instantly or can you withstand the storm? There are inevitable stressors in life that we have little control over, but we do have control over cultivating our resiliency to stress, and that involves learning nervous system regulation.
To address this, we work on incorporating practices and lifestyle shifts that support nervous system health though working on both the emotional and physiologic responses to stress. Somatic work like conscious movement and breath work and holistic psychology like parts work are very helpful to train your nervous system to be regulated during stress.
Nutrient Imbalances as a Contributing Factor
Just as your gut and nervous system can play a critical role in hormone regulation, so can the balance of specific nutrients in your body. Vitamins and minerals are essential for the production and regulation of hormones. For instance, the presence of vitamin B6 and zinc are fundamental for the creation of neurotransmitters like serotonin and dopamine that have a significant influence on our moods. Similarly, the mineral magnesium plays an indispensable role in the synthesis of stress hormones. When these nutrients are not adequately present in your diet, or if your body isn't absorbing them efficiently, the consequence could manifest as a hormonal imbalance. Conversely, you can also have an excess of a nutrient that perpetuates hormonal imbalance. For example, copper excess can manifest with high estrogen symptoms and lead to adrenaline surges and systemic brain inflammation, causing anxiety and panic. It’s important to test mineral and vitamins to know your specific needs.
The Importance of Comprehensive Testing
To accurately uncover the cause of your hormone imbalance, an in-depth approach is crucial. Traditional hormone testing merely scrapes the surface and doesn't tell us anything about what is causing the hormonal imbalance. In addition to analyzing hormone levels, it's key to use functional testing that assesses the state of your gut, investigates the condition of your stress response, and checks for nutrient deficiencies. This multi-faceted approach is necessary because of the intricate and interconnected nature of your body. The advantage of comprehensive testing is that it gives you a more holistic view of your health, potentially revealing underlying issues that a simple hormone test might miss. By addressing these areas, you're getting to the root of the problem rather than just treating the symptoms.
Conclusion: Tackling the Root Cause
Hormones are not isolated from the rest of your body's systems but are part of a complex, interconnected whole. If you’ve addressed the basics and are still having thyroid, estrogen, progesterone, testosterone, DHEA or cortisol imbalances, it’s highly advisable to do some functional testing to zoom out and look at the full picture.
If you are experiencing hormonal imbalance symptoms, click on the link below to schedule a free discovery call for Mind Body Freedom, a personalized 1:1 program with comprehensive lab testing to get to the root cause of your symptoms and transform them.