Understanding Hormonal Imbalance
Hormones are your body's chemical messengers.
Produced in the endocrine glands, these powerful chemicals travel around your bloodstream telling tissues and organs what to do. They help regulate many of your body's major functions, including metabolism and reproduction.
When you have a hormone imbalance, you have too much or too little of a particular hormone. Even small changes can have major effects throughout your whole body.
Think of hormones like a cake recipe. Too much or too little of any one ingredient affects the final product.
While some hormone levels fluctuate throughout your lifetime and might simply be the result of natural aging, other changes happen when your endocrine glands get the recipe wrong.
Signs or Symptoms in Females
In females of reproductive age, the most prevalent hormonal imbalance is polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS).
Your normal hormone cycle also changes naturally during these stages:
Symptoms of a hormone imbalance specific to females include:
Causes Unique to Women
Several causes of hormone imbalance in women are related to reproductive hormones. Common causes include:
Treatment Options for a Hormonal Imbalance
Treatment for a hormonal imbalance will depend on what's causing it. Some common treatment options are described below.
Estrogen therapy
If you're experiencing hot flashes or other uncomfortable symptoms of menopause, your doctor may recommend a low dose of estrogen
Be sure to go over the risks and benefits of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) with your doctor.
Vaginal estrogen
If you're experiencing vaginal dryness or pain during sex, you may want to try using estrogen cream, tablet, or ring.
Using this local therapy treatment helps eliminate a lot of the risks associated with systemic estrogen, or estrogen that travels throughout the bloodstream to the right organ.
Hormonal birth control
Hormonal birth control can help regulate your menstrual cycles. Types of hormonal birth control include the:
It may also help improve acne and reduce extra hair on the face and body.
Anti-androgen medications
Androgens are male sex hormones that exist in both women and men. Women with high androgen levels might choose to take medication that blocks the effects of androgens.
These effects include:
Metformin is a type 2 diabetes medication that may help some women with PCOS symptoms. The FDA hasn't approved it to treat PCOS, but it may help lower androgen levels and promote ovulation.
Flibanserin (Addyi) and bremelanotide (Vyleesi)
Addyi and Vyleesi are the only medications that are FDA approved for the treatment of low libido in premenopausal women. Addyi is a pill, and Vyleesi is a self-administered injectable medication.
These drugs may come with some serious side effects, such as severe nausea and changes in blood pressure. Speak with your doctor to see if either one could be right for you.
Eflornithine (Vaniqa)
This prescription cream is made specifically for excessive facial hair in women. Applied topically to the skin, it helps slow new hair growth, but it doesn't remove existing hair.
