5 Ways to Tell if You Have a Hormonal Imbalance

The abnormal levels of hormones amongst women with adrenal fatigue or thyroid disease can wreak havoc and have a negative impact on the person suffering from such a condition.

In this post I list some of the ways you can listen to your body to determine if you may need deeper testing (with a link to my new plan for recovery at the bottom of the post!)

From monthly period to menopause, it is important to have an understanding of the cause of your hormonal imbalance, including how you should deal with it.

Once you know that your hormones are not at their right levels, it is paramount to seek professional help to avoid it from affecting your daily life in ways more than one.  

I always recommend the ZRT labs adrenal saliva profile kit to my clients who are struggling with possible hormone imbalances.

The results from the test are a great head start…they inform you in a report of where your particular imbalances lay, and what your next steps to healing may be.

Aside from testing, here are five of the ways by which hormonal imbalance can be identified:

Consistent Weight Gain  

Are you engaged in a strict diet and regular exercise routine but you do not seem to see the result?

While there are many reasons for such, if you are persistently gaining weight in spite of your efforts, there is a high likelihood that you are suffering from a hormonal imbalance. 

Your metabolism will dictate how much weight you will lose and when your hormones are imbalanced, it slows the ability of the body to metabolize, and hence, the logical explanation to gaining more weight.

Fat storage is commonly experienced especially in the midsection, which makes it harder to tone your belly.  

Desire to Eat More 

When you have hormonal imbalance, aside from consistently gaining weight, you will also notice that your appetite does not seem to get full.

Even if you have just had a meal, chances are, you would still want to eat more and have an appetite like an anaconda (quite often for sugar and carbs)!

You may find it hard to keep your hands off of food, even if you repeatedly convince yourself that you are on a diet.

This can result from the increase in a hormone that is known as ghrelin, which is basically responsible for the stimulation of your appetite.

Aside from always feeling hungry, you may also tend to have unusual cravings (which can also be due to a nutrient deficiency or malabsorption issues…and this is why healing the gut with an anti-inflammatory diet is paramount to balancing hormones).

Lack of Sex Drive  

Let’s face it. Sex is a normal part of an adult’s life and it is even linked to a wide array of benefits.

When you are suffering from hormonal imbalance, however, you will notice that you lack libido. (Sorry, my dear partner…true story!)

Regardless of whatever your partner does to ignite the fire, you may just not feel any body heat and you do not have the drive for sexual intercourse.

This may be a result of the abnormal levels of estrogen, thyroid, and cortisol, which are all essential hormones in a woman’s body.

In addition, this may also result into the dryness of the vagina, making it result into discomfort or pain when making love.  

Mood Swings  

You can also tell if you have hormonal imbalance if you have mood swings.

At one moment, you are happy then all of a sudden you are sad. You get mad over the smallest things and you are often irritable.

This can also lead into depression. While these changes in mood can just result from your monthly cycle, women with balanced hormones will be less prone to experiencing extreme highs and lows of their emotions.

Fatigue 

Lastly, you can also tell that you have imbalanced hormones if you experience fatigue constantly, even if you feel that you did not do a lot for a day.

Make often than not, you would just like to take a nap and lounge on your bed.

You often feel tired because of cortisol, which is also known as the hormone responsible for the stress that you are feeling.

Your chronic stress can elevate the levels of cortisol, and hence, making you feel tired all the time.

This may also result from the lack of sleep / insomnia that you will most likely experience as a consequence of the fluctuations in your hormones.  

The good news

You CAN recover from adrenal and thyroid hormone imbalances, it just takes time, self-care, proper diet and supplementation.

Most importantly I suggest you begin by taking time for yourself to unwind, unplug, and find calming activities that you enjoy. This supports your holistic wellness and brings hormonal harmony.

Diet & Movement

Making a transition to a Paleo diet that is derived from about 70-% organic / local produce (ie: vegetables) and that is rich in pastured or wild-caught proteins also supports your hormones, as well as your gut health.

Reduce your coffee with an intention to very likely eliminate it. Studies have shown that levels of cortisol after caffeine consumption are similar to those experienced during acute stress. (1)

Modifying your exercise to more a gentle, adrenal-supportive routine (like yoga, pilates, or low-intensity body-weight workouts) is a great way to still get movement in but not overdo it. Over-doing workouts can be a BIG driver for hormone imbalances.

Feel free to reach out to me and leave a comment below if you have any questions!