Understanding Hormone Imbalance
Hormones are your body's chemical messengers.
Produced in the endocrine glands, these powerful chemicals travel around your bloodstream instructing tissues and organs what to do. They help control a number 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 certain hormone. Even small changes can have serious effects throughout your whole body.
Think of hormones like a cake recipe. Too much or too little of any one ingredient affects the end product. While some hormone levels fluctuate throughout your lifetime and may just be the result of natural aging, other changes occur when your endocrine glands get the recipe wrong.
Signs or Symptoms in Females
In females of reproductive age, the most common hormone imbalance is polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS).
Your normal hormone cycle also changes naturally during these stages:
Symptoms of a hormone imbalance specific to women include:
Causes Unique to Women
Many causes of hormonal imbalance in women are related to reproductive hormones. Common causes include:
Treatment Options for a Hormonal Imbalance
Treatment for a hormone imbalance will depend on what's causing it. Some common treatment options are explained below.
Estrogen therapy
If you're experiencing hot flashes or other unpleasant 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 might want to try using an estrogen cream, tablet, or ring.
Using this local therapy treatment helps eliminate many 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:
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 may choose to take medication that blocks the effects of androgens.
These effects include:
Metformin is a type 2 diabetes medication that may assist some women with PCOS symptoms. The FDA hasn't approved it to treat PCOS, but it might 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 sexual desire in premenopausal women. Addyi is a pill, and Vyleesi is a self-administered injectable medication.
These medications may come with 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 reduce new hair growth, but it does not eliminate existing hair.
For further information about Dr. Stengler’s practice and his clinic in San Marcos, California, please visit our website at MarkStengler.com or give us a call at (760) 274-2377
