Adrenal Fatigue & Female Hormones

Are you struggling with female hormone issues - PMS, hot flushes, painful period, infertility?

There is almost always female hormone imbalances in these cases, either progesterone and/or oestrogen levels are too high or too low, or are not in the correct ratio. Or you could have testosterone issues. 

However, female hormones never go out on their own. There is almost always some other body system causing the female hormones to become imbalanced. I always think first about the adrenal stress hormones - cortisol and DHEA - as they are intricately linked in the production of female hormones (see this graph below).

When cortisol is running too high for too long (because of chronic emotional or physical stress), it can drag pregnenolone (the 'mother' of all hormones) down, which will drag progesterone down. Over time DHEA levels can also deplete, which can also drag down oestrogen and testosterone levels. 

When the stress hormones and female hormones go out of whack, cycling women can experience terrible PMS, painful periods, or they might lose their period or become infertile.

For a menopausal woman, menopausal symptoms may ramp up, such as mood imbalances, brain fog, hot flushes, night sweats and insomnia. In addition, in menopause, the responsibility for female hormone production shifts from the ovaries to the adrenals. Because of this, it is super important to not only test female hormones, but to also test the adrenal stress hormones.  

PMS symptoms, irregular periods, infertility, menopausal symptoms ARE NOT NORMAL. If all your hormones are balanced, you should sail your way through your cycle for menstruating women, and through menopause for older women, without any dramas. I am a HUGE advocate of this!! I struggled with infertility, PCOS, irregular/delayed periods, PMS headaches & mood instabilities, and acne. It was not fun at all. But by balancing my adrenal and female hormones (as well as gut and liver!) I have a happy regular cycle (for the first time in my life!) and rarely notice any PMS symptoms. Yay! This can be you too! (Sorry for all the exclamation marks, just a bit excited, haha!).

Author: Filipa Bellette, Functional Medicine Practitioner & Clinical Nutritionist 

Chris & Filly Functional Medicine

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