At fourty-four, after months of struggling with fatigue, hair loss, weight gain, irregular menstrual cycles and anxiety Sarah came in to see me. She had gone to see an array of medical\u00a0doctor’s, from an endocrinologist for her hair loss and weight gain to an ob-gyn for her irregular bleeding. The end result was being told \u201cI can\u2019t find anything wrong.\u00a0You are still cycling so you do not have any hormone problems\u201d.\u00a0 However what most people do not know is that their hormone balance can change as early as thirty and this change or imbalance can create havoc in their lives.<\/p>\n
Hormones are one of the many ways our body\u2019s cells \u201ctalk\u201d with each other.\u00a0 Hormones are substances produced by specialized glands (like ovaries, testes and adrenals) and carry messages to distant parts of the body.\u00a0 You have hundreds of different hormones.\u00a0 Some important ones include estrogen, progesterone, testosterone, DHEA and cortisol.<\/p>\n
Both men and women produce estrogens, progesterone and testosterone but in differing amounts.\u00a0 Women produce more estrogens and progesterone, while men make more testosterone.\u00a0 These hormones cause masculine and feminine characteristics as well as enable fertility.<\/p>\n
Hormones need to be balanced or various health concerns can arise.\u00a0 There are times during a person\u2019s life when hormone levels normally shift and change; this includes puberty for both sexes, during menopause and pregnancy for women, and andropause for men.\u00a0 Many hormone levels also decline as we age.\u00a0 Genetic, environmental and lifestyle factors can all play a role in hormone production and balance as well as determine how well our bodies adapt o naturally changing levels.<\/p>\n
Estrogens (estradiol, estrone and estriol)<\/strong><\/p>\n Progesterone<\/strong><\/p>\n Testosterone<\/strong><\/p>\n Adrenal hormones<\/strong><\/p>\n After testing Sarah\u2019s levels of DHEA, cortisol, estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone we found out that she was deficient in both DHEA and progesterone, while being elevated in cortisol.\u00a0 This explained a lot of Sarah\u2019s symptoms.\u00a0 When a person is under stress the increasing cortisol will cause the body to gain weight around the middle or \u201cbelly\u201d section of the body.\u00a0 In my clinical practice I have found that high levels of cortisol and lower levels of DHEA tend to contribute to anxiety.\u00a0 Sarah was not ovulating regularly and this was resulting in lowered progesterone and irregular cycles.\u00a0 We worked on balancing Sarah through nutrition, herbs, homeopathy as well as natural hormones. Today she feels energetic, has regular cycles, has lost much of her weight and no longer feels anxious. To book an appointment to have your hormones tested please call 403-288-4880 or go to\u00a0www.IHConline.ca<\/a>\u00a0for other locations in\u00a0Calgary.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\n
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