What Happens When Your Hormones Are Out of Balance?

Hormones act as your body’s chemical messengers. They deliver signals throughout the body to regulate processes ranging from your metabolism to growth and development.  For your body to function at its best, your hormones must be in balance. If the levels of a certain hormone are too high or too low, you may start to experience adverse effects. 

Some of the most common effects of a hormonal imbalance include:

Unexplained Weight Gain

If you’ve recently experienced significant weight gain that can’t be explained by other factors, your hormones could be to blame. Hypothyroidism, polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), and menopause all affect your hormones in a way that can lead to weight gain. 

Changes in Mood

Mood swings, as well as depression, anxiety, and irritability, can result from hormonal imbalances. More specifically, changes in mood and other mental health symptoms can be caused by an imbalance in your levels of cortisol, estrogen, insulin, progesterone, or testosterone. 

Low Sex Drive

Hormones play a key role in both men’s and women’s sexual health, including their sex drive (libido). This is particularly common as men and women get older. In older age, women experience menopause, which involves dropping levels of estrogen and progesterone. Men experience “andropause” during this period, which involves dropping testosterone levels. 

As the key sex hormones, estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone largely influence sex drive. People experiencing low libido in older age may benefit from bioidentical hormone therapy to offset this effect of aging. 

Skin Problems

Skin problems like chronic adult acne and itchiness can point to a hormonal imbalance. Specifically, low estrogen and progesterone with high androgen levels are key contributors to chronic adult acne. This is why many women with PCOS experience cystic acne. Additionally, during menopause or pregnancy, women may experience dry, itchy skin due to fluctuating hormones. 

At Mind Body Spirit Care, we offer bioidentical hormone therapy to help our patients overcome the symptoms of hormonal imbalance, contact us today to schedule an appointment!