“Hormonal” is a term that is used commonly if someone is acting moody, feeling blue or overly sexual. If you are wondering how hormones could possibly have an effect on your mood, you need to understand what hormones really are.
Many glands in the human body are responsible for producing hormones. Adrenal gland, ovaries, and testicles, to name a few, produce hormones that are essential for the body to function properly. Hormones are molecules that maintain the mental and physical health by enabling the communication between organs and tissues. They regulate your metabolism, growth, respiration, digestion, and most importantly your stress levels. These tiny molecules control how we react to fear stimuli or your body’s “fight or flight” response when you get into a fight. If it were not for the hormones surging through our veins, we would just be emotionless robots.
Progesterone, Estrogen and Mood Swings
As we hit puberty, the hormones responsible for reproduction and sexual drive, begin their work. Estrogen and progesterone are the two main hormones that control the changes a woman body goes through. Produced by ovaries, estrogen, and progesterone not only affect your menstruation cycle and chances of pregnancy, but they also affect your mood and stress levels. These hormones have a significant effect on the brain chemicals that control your mental state.
Apart from supporting your growth and development, estrogen is also responsible for releasing a chemical in brain that keeps you happy. With its antidepressant properties, a balance of estrogen levels in the body is essential for both your mental and physical health. Your stress levels tend to increase when estrogen production becomes too high or too low.
Progesterone receptors are located in the limbic area of the brain, which is mostly associated with emotions and motivation. Our body requires progesterone to calm the feelings of aggression and increase positivity. A decline in progesterone levels can cause you to feel defeated and angry all the time.
Menopause and Hormones
While we are young, estrogen and progesterone work in harmony to keep your reproductive organs functioning properly and to keep you stress-free. However, with age, the production of these hormones begins to decrease.
By the age 40, your body starts preparing to stop producing eggs. A steady decrease in the hormone levels commences in 40’s or 50’s. The subsequent impact on neurotransmitters leads to increased irritability, mood swings, and anxiety. These common menopause and premenopausal symptoms can put a damper on your life, and make you more likely to fall into depression.
Bioidentical Hormone Replacement Therapy
For women going through menopausal changes, bioidentical hormone replacement therapy (BHRT) is a safe and effective way to replenish low levels of hormones. BHRT assists in regulating estrogen and progesterone levels to make you feel more positive and active.
This therapy involves the intake of hormones to regulate hormonal fluctuations. While the synthetic hormones, created in a laboratory, may be effective in balancing estrogen levels, they can have dangerous side effects including increased risks of stroke, blood clots, and cancer.
On the other hand, BHRT makes use of hormones derived from plants. Their chemical composition is similar to the hormones in your body. This allows your cell receptors to accept these hormones without a hitch. BHRT is a significantly safer method of stabilizing hormonal fluctuations. If you are going through emotional and physical changes that come with age, you can benefit greatly from this therapy.
What Can BHRT Do For You?
For your emotional well being during menopause, you need to maintain the hormonal balance inside your body. As mentioned earlier, during menopause, the production of hormones exponentially decreases over the years. This can disrupt the balance between progesterone and estrogen levels.
According to research, the hormonal imbalance is a major cause of moodiness and angst in women going through menopause or premenopause. High estrogen levels coupled with low progesterone levels often leads to fits of rage, extreme irritability, and stress.
This is where BHRT comes in. This therapy specifically targets hormone levels to rid you of the horrific emotional consequences of menopause. By maintaining the ideal estrogen/progesterone ratio, the bioidentical hormone replacement therapy has the power to enhance your sense of well-being, reduce mood swings and hot flashes.
BHRT can also decrease the risk of diseases common in aging women. Osteoporosis is a painful bone disease that can result from hormonal imbalance. By using BHRT, you can keep your cholesterol levels in check, increase your concentration and memory and reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s. A lot of research being done on the positive outcomes of using natural hormone replacements during menopause.
For women going through the physical and emotional alteration resulting from menopause or premenopause, BHRT might be exactly what you need for a happier, stress-free life.
