I’m sure you’ve already suspected it, but yes – there’s a reason why you’re experiencing all these symptoms together. It’s not just bad luck, or because you’re getting older. It’s because of your hormones. Believe it or not, fluctuations in estrogen and progesterone levels during menstruation can cause changes in mood, energy levels, and even body temperature. So if you’re feeling extra anxious, moody, and sweaty lately – there’s a good chance it’s related to your cycle. Don’t worry though – there are ways to deal with it. Keep reading to find out more.
A woman’s beautiful journey
Are you feeling more anxious and jittery? Are your moods all over the place? Are you feeling like you’re not sleeping as well? You might sometimes wake up in the middle of the night sweating. Now you begin to wonder why your sleep is so light and why you’re getting so hot at night.
Do you also feel like, within this period, you’re retaining fluid and gaining weight?
All these are coming up for you never used to happen before and are starting to influence and impact your life. You may also feel like you don’t ever control over it, and wondering what is going on and what can I do about it.
As you get older, you may start to have some of these symptoms. This is common, especially if you are still cycling as a woman.
Harmony of Hormones
Part of the reason for this has to do with the lowering of the female sex hormones, estrogen and progesterone. What happens is both of these hormones are lowering significantly enough to get you to the transition into menopause. The average age for this is around 52 but you could be younger or older in this transition.
Progesterone levels decrease more quicker than estrogen. As a result, it creates an estrogen imbalance relative to progesterone, or some people will call it an “Estrogen Dominant Situation”. Typically, this dominance is what’s giving you the symptoms.
There is something you can do about this. You don’t necessarily have to just put up with it because this is a time in life when the hormones are shifting and changing. You don’t have to feel like every month your cycle comes around, you know the symptoms are coming and you have to just deal with it and put up with it.
I’m sure this is not just influencing you and how you feel. It’s probably influencing others around you as well. If the mood swings are severe and you’re having changes affecting your physical health, it’s probably affecting your mental well-being too. There is something you can do about it.
Under Significant Stress
For some women, they find these changes are more extreme causing their symptoms to be more intense. This can happen when the progesterone levels are faster than they should be relative to estrogen. This in turn creates a bigger hormone imbalance than the one coming along with this natural transition.
One reason you might feel stressed is your stress levels are too high. When we feel stressed, our body sends a signal to our brain. The brain then produces cortisol, which helps us to regulate our stress levels. If we are under significant stress most of the day until our head hits the pillow, we might not even be sleeping well because we’re under stress. Over time, we start to get an imbalance in the production of our cortisol. Consequently, our body and our brain can’t keep up with the production levels we’re asking for if we’re always busy or we’re always under chronic stress.
The body is quite clever in making sure it can maintain what it needs to do so it can fend off constant stress. Therefore, it produces more cortisol. Then, the body will need to utilize some of the female sex hormones, stealing them, to make cortisol.
The problem is, if this happens for long enough, the progesterone levels lower too much relative to estrogen, more so than they already are. This is where the symptoms start to come around. If you are noticing these symptoms being quite severe, especially as you get closer to your period, stress is probably one of the driving factors.
Lower the stress down
The solution, although it may sound simple, is to understand what’s happening with your stress and to know where it’s coming from. Just acknowledging it could be a factor for you and how high it is, is a great starting point. Then, you can begin looking for strategies to help you both lower your stress and develop more resilience around your stress.
We live in a stressful world. It’s hard for us to eliminate stress no matter how hard we try. We need to find resilience.
A few techniques
- Note down the things causing you stress on a daily
How busy are you? How many things are you doing? Consider emotional stress too. Stress may also root from relationships at work, at home, or might be a combination. List down as well if there is something you can take off your plate.
- Meditate to gain some resilience.
This way you can manage the stress so it will not have a big impact on your body. A great technique for this which is backed by research is to meditate every day. I work with some women who say they find this challenging to wrap their brains around. They just don’t think it’s for them. But trust me, meditation is helpful for everyone, even people who don’t think it can help them.
I recommend you do this by starting once a day for 5 to 10 minutes. Then once you get the hang of it, do it twice a day. Really commit to doing it and you will find it gets easier. This is something that can have a profound positive impact on your female sex hormone balance and the symptoms going along with it, especially leading up to your period.
- I find most women will benefit from working with a functional medicine practitioner.
In my practice, we do some proper lab testing to understand what is the balance of your female sex hormones and what is your body doing with these hormones once they are produced. We dig deep to find out if your body is processing these hormones properly. It can be a little bit more complex than just looking at just your hormone levels.
We can use lab testing to figure out the root cause of your health problems, and then we’ll design an optimal lifestyle that gets you back in balance.
If you’re under significant stress, take some time for yourself to relax and lower your stress levels. Consider scheduling a regular massage or taking up yoga or meditation. Next, make sure you’re eating a balanced diet with plenty of fruits and vegetables. Avoid processed foods as much as possible, and don’t forget to drink plenty of water. Finally, if you feel like your symptoms are really impacting your quality of life, it might be worth talking to someone about options for balancing your hormones.
Get rid of the stress in your life. Easier said than done, we know! But there are things you can do to make it happen. Start by scheduling a discovery call with us. During this call, we will work with you to create a plan that reduces the stress in your life and helps restore balance to your hormones. We’ll also provide tips on how to live a healthier lifestyle overall – something that will benefit you now and well into your future.
You don’t have to live in discomfort. You’re not alone in this. I’d love to help you talk about your symptoms so we can find out what is causing them and make it easier for you. I’d be happy to schedule a discovery call with you. During this call, we can discuss your symptoms in more detail and come up with a plan tailored specifically for you.
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DISCLAIMER: The information in this email is not intended nor implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. All content is for general informational purposes only and does not replace a consultation with your own doctor/health professional
