Female 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 control a lot of your body's major functions, including metabolism and reproduction.

When you have a hormonal imbalance, you have too much or too little of a particular hormone. Even small changes can have serious effects throughout your entire 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 change throughout your lifetime and may just 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 common hormonal imbalance is polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS).

Your normal hormonal cycle also changes naturally during these stages:

• puberty
• pregnancy
• breastfeeding
• menopause

Symptoms of a hormonal imbalance specific to females include:

• heavy or irregular periods, including missed periods, a stopped period, or a frequent period
• hirsutism, or excessive hair on the face, chin, or other parts of the body
• acne on the face, chest, or upper back
• hair loss
• darkening of the skin, particularly along neck creases, in the groin, and beneath the breasts
• skin tags
• vaginal dryness
• vaginal atrophy
• pain during sex
• night sweats
• headaches

Causes Unique to Women

Many causes of hormonal imbalance in women are related to reproductive hormones. Common causes include:

• menopause
• primary ovarian insufficiency, which is also referred to as premature menopause
• pregnancy
• breastfeeding
• PCOS
• hormone medications such as birth control pills

Treatment Options for a Hormonal Imbalance

Treatment for a hormonal imbalance will depend on what's triggering 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 suggest a low dose of estrogen

Be sure to talk about 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 might want to try applying an estrogen cream, tablet, or ring.

Using this local therapy treatment helps eliminate a lot of the risks linked to 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:

• birth control pill
• birth control patch
• birth control shot
• vaginal ring
• intrauterine device (IUD)

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:

• hair loss
• facial hair growth
• acne
• Metformin

Metformin is a type 2 diabetes medication that might help some women with PCOS symptoms. The FDA hasn't approved it to treat PCOS, but it may help lower androgen levels and encourage 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 medications might include some major side effects, such as extreme 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 designed specifically for excessive facial hair in women. Applied topically to the skin, it helps slow down new hair growth, but it doesn't get rid of existing hair.

For further information about Dr. Stengler’s practice and his clinic in Orange County, California, please visit our website at MarkStengler.com or give us a call at (760) 274-2377