Hormones confuse the hell out of me.
Before I took any interest, I knew one thing for sure:
Mine go cray, cray when I’m PMS-ing ( GASP! Right? Because whose don’t? ).
The definition of hormones are “important chemical messengers in the body that effectively transfer signals and instructions from one set of cells to another. Most hormones circulate via the blood, thus coming into contact with all kinds of cells throughout the body. Hormones influence and regulate practically every cell, tissue, organ, and function of our bodies, including growth, development, metabolism, maintenance/balance of our internal environment ( “homeostasis” ), and sexual & reproductive function.”
Lately I’ve been asking everyone I know about hormones ( annoying, much?! ). And after searching the Internet, it seems that Ms. Suzanne Somers is real into hormone replacement. She says that thanks to her daily routine ( which includes hormone replacements ), and exercise, she claims to have beaten what she calls “the Seven Dwarfs of Menopause”: Itchy, Bitchy, Sleepy, Sweaty, Bloated, Forgetful and All Dried Up.”
Say what?!
Many experts disagree with her theory.
But…she does look pretty damn good for her age ( << 67 ).
So I guess my questions are to you guys today: have you ever experienced gnarly hormones? If so, what’d you do? What’s your opinion on them? Any insight? Or any tips for the women who are currently experiencing crazy menopause symtoms?
Anyway I’m dying to learn more, so tell, tell. I need all the info I can get!
Oh, & clearly I wasn’t a science major.
x.L
{ To learn more, click here }
I am so FOR hormone therapy, Suzanne Sommers is my inspiration + after reading several of her books I am SO for it! I have not personally had any experience with hormone replacement but when I was unable to get my period for over a year I did hormonal acupuncture and it worked! She stuck needles in areas that would help promote certain hormones and it overall helped me out a ton! Thanks for sharing this information 🙂 Love + Shine CourtStar
Suzanne Sommers is genius with her explanation . As for guys…pay attention and …BACK OFF. I advise to Read Suzanne’s book to survive!!!
Hormones in balance are so essential to the well being and longevity of our bodies. I have a friend who underwent surgery for a hysterectomy at age 30 and bascially went through an early menopause causing significant bone loss bascially like stage one osteoporosis. She tried ” natural” hormone replacement therapy for 2 years and not only were her testosterone levels sky high but her liver enzymes were also elevated. Hormone replacement therapy is a last resort. She now eats a strictly plant based diet getting a majority of her protein from non gmo soy and nuts and her calcium from almond milk and supplements and the difference is amazing. Most of her sympyoms have subsided and with some serious weight training her bone density scores keep going up. Really unless you have a hormone imbalance as diagnosed by an endocrinologist using hormone replacement therapies can be very dangerous. Hormone fluctuations are a natural process but a true diagnosed imbalance can be serious and should be treated by an endocrinologist. Otherwise ,natural ,organic ,non gmo foods and excercise are the answer to happy hormone functions within the body.
Hormones can also be the leading cause of weight gain in women. The difference inbalances (too much testosterone or not enough of something else etc) can show up on certain parts of your body which is why some women struggle with weight gain on the arms or stomach or hips.
I went off the pill 4 months ago after 15 years and my hormones are cra cra!! My skin has exploded into acne and I am taking a herb called Vitex which is helping. It’s also great for PMS so give it a try if your hormones are out of wack!
Maca powder is also good for balancing hormones. Just warning it makes you really horny! lol!! (or maybe thats coming off the pill that is doing that!)
Why hello there loveliness,
As you know I work in the anti-aging field and I am forever fascinated by hormones and their roll. Hormones actually determine so many aspects of our lives. Being a technician of Ondamed I often see programs like adrenals, thyroid, pituitary come up for clients. and So far here is what I have learned: The pituitary is the master hormone gland, it is the air traffic control tower that orchestrates 9 different hormones besides the other hundreds of functions it does. So needless to say it is a super important gland and a sluggish pituitary gland can create the inability to lose weight, heavy periods, headaches, and depression. The answer is for women, particularly menstruating women, is not to be prescribed progesterone creams and such. This approach does not take into account the reason for the deficiency which most often stems form pituitary and factors that lead to poor pituitary function, include addrenal fatigue, taking oral contraceptives (and who would have thought), or even postpartum hormonal changes. For Menopausal women for whom he pitutary fuction may never be rebound biodentical hormones should be taken, so this is when you have to do all that Suzanne Sommer stuff. If she had found out what she knows now when she was your age she could have prevented it. Supporting the integerity of addrenals is importnat for both mensrtating and menopausal women. Thats a whole nother can of worms but basically eat your Veggies:), and lay off the caffine, alcahole, and keep physical and mental body stress to a minimum , I do a pitutary practice, chant, Kundilini yoga has a few. xoxo come see me soon.
Great info!
Dr. Christiane Northrup has an *amazing* book called “Women’s Bodies, Women’s Wisdom”. My friends, acquaintances and myself refer to this book as The Woman’s Handbook. In her discussion of hormones, she talks about vitamins and minerals that help and explains why. A year ago I used her book to put together a set of daily vitamins to take and my PMS symptoms have decreased considerably! The one pill I take that makes the biggest difference is the Magnesium. Take a look at this book and work at a personal answer that your body responds to.
Interesting topic for sure! I whole-heartedly believe hormone imbalances elaffect our bodies in more ways than we realize. I hope you will do follow-up posts on this as you learn more!
I’m going to have to be really boring on this one and say that this is something you should talk to a doctor about. There are all kinds of less direct ways to combat hormone imbalances, and messing with anything that might be dangerous at the wrong dose is, well, dangerous.
Artificial hormones and creams not prescribed by a doctor are also pretty sketchy and can have really bad effects on your pets even if you’re doing something as seemingly benign as petting your dog after using the creams. I’ve seen spayed dogs get cut open again because they looked pregnant, only to find that they had been having hormonal troubles because of human hormone creams.
Totally agree with you Lauren. My husband is in the medical field, but definitely not an endocrinologist. We know enough to not trust all of this random stuff out there about hormones. The best thing to do is talk to a doctor, either gyno for women’s hormone issues, or an endocrinologist for more advanced issues. Hormones and the endocrine system are the probably the least understood in the body. Therefore, doctors even have trouble with diagnosing and treating & they have all those years of training to back it up. However, it doesn’t hurt to cut down on caffeine or alcohol because we know it may affect many other things.
Hormones are very fascinating. They also end up in the liver, so if you’re liver is out of whack, your hormones can keep circulating around and around, which can mess a person up! I have a friend who went to see her naturopath and started taking bioidentical hormones and said they’re amazing! Definitely worth considering if going through menopause or after pregnancy (I’ve heard). I read a great book called The Hormone Diet a few years ago. It helps you get all your hormones back in check through foods!
If you keep watching this video, he talks a lot about hormones and how they work!
In one short word..YES!
I always had a regular period cycle and pretty clear skin. I PMS’s a little but in all honesty I’m kind of just a moody person so PMS isn’t really an excuse when it’s happening all the time for me haha
Anyways, In the past 6 months I’ve gone through a little transformation where I work out every day now and eat very healthy foods – mostly vegi’s, fish, chicken, and fruit. I wasn’t extremely overweight before but I could stand to lose about 30 lbs and in general lead a much more active/healthy lifestyle. Well…thankfully…I’ve accomplished that. Exercising is now a normal daily habit just like eating for me and I eat extremely healthily <–is that a word!? Anyways I haven't gotten my period now for 4 months. For obvious reasons this made me very concerned.
Thankfully, I've gone to my Gyno and had test done etc..and they say it's all good and that it's just because my hormones are probably in shock.
Funny how when I regularly get my period I'm annoyed with it and now that I haven't gotten it, I'm even annoyed at the absence of it because of worry. Dr's assure me it's all good but it's still an annoyance. Oh and no, I'm not pregnant.
My skin on my face has also started to become a little acne prone – thank goodness for apple cider vinegar which I regularly use as a toner or else I'd really be mad at my hormones.
That's my story – Thanks for the article..feels like I may not be the only one with fluctuations!
I’ve had similar issues since I’ve been training for a marathon…all the sudden my period is all out of whack and my skin is terrible! You would think it would be the opposite!? But I’m hoping it’s only temporary and my body is just adjusting to some major changes. Congrats to you though on the healthy lifestyle! 🙂
Google Laminine. I was on bio identicals for years and now only take Laminine. This miracle supplement makes me feel amazing.
I started taking Laminine about 6 weeks ago, along with the bioidentical hormones I have been using for the past 4 years. I wonder if I should go off the hormones as you did. I am a little worried about coming off them cold turkey. Any thoughts?
I’m about to read The Mood Cure, about balancing your hormones and I also started taking Grass Fed Gelatin which helps with removing excesss estrogen from you body which a lot of femals have. I hope to gain some wisdom from the book b/c like you my emotions are all over the place during ‘that time of the month’>> Peace n Love
Mood cure is awesome book!!!
You may consider getting your thyroid checked. A thyroid imbalance can effect you in so many ways!
FWIW, I did notice a difference for me, especially around that time of the month, that I had less mood swings after I had gone off the pill and once I was working out more frequently.
Hahaha Lauryn- this post could not be more perfect for the week I am currently having. I would love to learn more on this topic to help manage the inner b***h that has come out almost every month around this time. It’s exhausting! haha
xoxo
I’ve learned that a lot of what we think are hormone problems are actually lymphatic ones. When I went to Mayo and complained of seemingly hormonal issues – anxiety, hot flashes (I’m 19 – what the hell!), breakouts, bloating, etc. -I found out that my lymphatic system was severely blocked. Super scary. Anyways, my amazing doctor at Mayo told me that many top doctors and researchers are starting to switch their focus to the lymphatic system, as it’s often the most ignored yet also the most important system in our body. Food for thought.
http://lifespa.com/menopause-and-menstrual-cycle-symptoms-it-may-not-be-hormonal/#.UgQOhhbFoTs
oh lawd. sometimes i feel like a complete crazy mess when pms strikes! i am fully aware that my thoughts are atypical from my normal day to day. i am a biologist so i’m constantly aware of the ins/outs of our endocrine system! my best advice is to steer clear of the wine, caffeine and over stimulating foods (spicy, fried, difficult to digest like red meat). instead, focus on whole foods, hydrating veggies like cucumber and sip lemon water.
Love this post! I have PCOS so my hormones are all out of whack… It’s literally the most frustrating/confusing thing ever! When I first went on the Pill my moods would go from zero to mega bitch in 2.7 seconds flat. Oh the joys of being a girl
Check out Dr. Sara Gottfried’s “The Hormone Cure”. She’s a hormone genius!
I disagree with hormone replacement, especially for menopause. Our bodies are naturally supposed to go through it, so we shouldn’t fight it. Plus, if we take care of our hormone glands now, we won’t have those common menopause symptoms. I am 24 and was experiencing menopause-like symptoms including hot flashes. I was extremely tired all the time and could not even function at work. I researched for weeks and found out about adrenal fatigue. My symptoms matched so I decided to try the diet that would get them back into shape…lots of veggies, protein, no carbs. Since what I mostly ate was bread, crackers, cookies, etc. I thought it would be really hard. After 2 days, I was 200 times better. I ate only veggies and protein for another week and when I decided to eat a piece of bread, all my symptoms came back. From one piece of bread. That’s how I found out I was gluten intolerant. The adrenal glands become fatigued from all kinds of stress, mental and physical and that includes food allergies. Most people have fatigued adrenals and that can throw off a lot of hormonal processes in the body. When you go through menopause, your ovaries stop providing hormones and your adrenal glands take over, but if they are not functioning properly, then they can’t really do their job properly….hence awful menopause symptoms.
I believe in fixing the source of the problem, not just treating symptoms.
Hormone Replacement Junkie here!! ( A little Late on this post clearly)
Two years ago I was rushed to the hospital for what they though was an annurism. (At the time I was only 21). After several testings they found a tumor the size of a cherry on my Pituitary Gland. (a gland that is only the size of a Cherry Pit- and also the gland that regulates all of the hormones produced in your body). After my surgery I lost all of my Hormone function and by all i mean ALL!
I no longer produce,
Adrenocorticotrophic hormone (ACTH)
Thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH)
Prolactin (PRL)
Growth hormone (GH)
Melanocyte-stimulating hormone (MSH)
Anti-diuretic hormone (ADH)
Oxytocin
(in normal terms: my thyroid, adreanal, kidney, testosterone, estrogen, Human Growth, and many others are dead) I entered menopause at the ripe age of 21 and have been working to reverse what has happened to my body.
My life depends on Hormone Therapy!
i just went off birth control and my hormones (mostly my SKIN) are going crazy!! would love to see a follow-up post on this!!
The 7 Dwarfs of Menopause sound like a definite problem. As problematic as all of them sound, bloated, sleepy, sweaty, and “all dried up” might top the cake.
Hey,
Great post.
Human growth hormone is a fat burning hormone that is produced in the pituitary gland which is located in the brain.
It is an important complex hormone that is involved in the building of lean muscle, cartilage, and collagen.
The health and strength of joints and muscles are greatly dependent upon growth hormone.
Growth hormone is also involved in helping to regulate blood sugar levels in between meals as it works in concert with the other hormones of metabolism.
Thanks for sharing!
Low testosterone is a hormonal change that affects many men between the ages of 50 and 70 years old. While Low T can occur in men of any age, is most common among this age group due to the naturally declining testosterone levels that come with getting older. here a Blog On Womens Health