Recognizing The Symptoms of Hormonal Imbalance in Women

Hormonal imbalance is caused by shifts in the body’s levels of progesterone and estrogen, two important hormones produced in the ovaries. The main function of these hormones is to regulate the menstrual cycle during a female’s reproductive years. The amount of hormones your body produces can vary from one day to the next and is affected by such factors as stress, nutrition, amount of sleep, exercise, and whether or not your body ovulates. Another major factor of hormonal imbalance includes chemicals found in the environment--encountered through air, food, and water--that mimic estrogen and upset the natural balance of estrogen and progesterone. If these hormones become imbalanced and are not produced in appropriate amounts, unpleasant symptoms are experienced. The symptoms of hormonal imbalance are varied and can become apparent as early as the late 20s and continue through the early 40s. If left untreated, symptoms of hormonal imbalance can increase in severity with age. Some symptoms of hormonal imbalance include:

Low Sex Drive
Joint pain
Stiffness
Fibrocystic Breasts
Endometriosis
Memory loss
Dry skin
Dry hair
Sugar cravings
Breast pain and tenderness
Irregular periods
Feelings of depression and anxiety
Fatigue
Hair loss
Hot Flashes
Growth of facial hair
Urinary tract infections
Incontinence
Weight gain
Bloating and water retention
Fuzzy thinking
Headaches and dizziness
PMS
Mood swings and irritability
Restless sleep
Insomnia
Night sweats
Vaginal dryness
Acne
Difficulty conceiving Osteoporosis (decrease in bone density)

If you're suffering from the above symptoms, then you may want to have your hormones tested to be certain of the cause. Your doctor can do it for you, or you can have it done in the privacy of your home through websites which offer home testing kits, such as this one.

Various symptoms of hormonal imbalance can occur in women, including a deficiency in progesterone, which is the most common type of hormonal imbalance due to excess hormone in our food chain in such foods as meat and dairy products. Hormonal imbalance due to this reason has been linked to cases of girls 3 years old growing pubic hair and having menstrual cycles.

There are many treatments available to treat the causes and relieve the symptoms of hormonal imbalance. Many doctors have been prescribing recommending Hormonal Replacement Therapy (HRT) to women suffering from hormonal imbalance symptoms, however, studies have shown that HRT has had dangerous results on many women.