The Connection Between Hormones & Anxiety
Do you feel anxious?
Has your anxiety escalated as you’ve gotten older?
Over the last decade or so, we have noticed in our practice that as women get into their late thirties, early to mid-forties, and beyond, we start to see a lot more anxiety. In some cases, this can be more pronounced during certain times of their cycle, which correlates to the changes in hormone levels.
In a woman’s late thirties, or early forties is when they can experience more PMS symptoms. The brain must work harder to get ovaries to ovulate, which results in a higher estrogen level. While the estrogen level rises higher, the progesterone will stay the same. When this happens, there is a gap in hormone levels resulting in more PMS symptoms. Women will say they have a short fuse, are anxious, and are irritable.
During this stage in life, women also have a busy lifestyle. We are juggling families and careers, continuously on the go, and possibly caring for aging parents. We have a lot going on that increases our level of cortisol – the stress hormone. This hormone keeps us going, but it can keep us on high alert and make us feel anxious. Cortisol has the same precursor as progesterone, so if excess amounts of cortisol are produced, we might begin to steal those precursors from our progesterone production. This widens the gap between estrogen and progesterone even more.
As we move further into the perimenopausal stages, the hormone gap continues as both estrogen and progesterone begin to decrease. Even if you do not have a lot of estrogen, if the gap is big enough, it will provoke mood symptoms, including anxiety, breast tenderness and sensitivity, brain fog, and lower energy.
Hormones and stress are not the only factors that can increase anxiety. Most people do not realize the connection between gut health and hormone health. The gut makes mood stabilizers which are called neurotransmitters. The majority of our body’s calming hormone, serotonin comes from our gut. If it is inflamed, serotonin production will diminish. At the same time, if we have poor gut health and a poor gut microbiome, hormone metabolism will be disrupted, creating a worsening gap between estrogen and progesterone.
So, how do you know if you have a gap in estrogen and progesterone levels?
At Mana Wellness Medicine, we use a functional medicine approach to evaluate these levels. Through urine and saliva testing, we can look at the neurotransmitter balances and study the gut to see how it functions.
If there is an imbalance in your hormones, stress level, and gut health, this could be the perfect storm that is causing all your symptoms. Without looking deeper with functional-type testing, we can’t get to the root cause of your concerns. Your symptoms will continue or even get worse.
If you are experiencing bothersome symptoms and want more answers for your health, book a free discovery call with us - bit.ly/3tb36Ft. Let’s talk about what is troubling you and see if any of our programs can help you overcome your symptoms and get back to enjoying your life!
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