Hormone Testing & Q Med Laboratory

 

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 control many of your body’s major processes, including metabolism and reproduction.

When you have a hormonal imbalance, you have too much or too little of a certain Hormone Testing Texas. Even tiny 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 final 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.

Read on to learn more about hormonal imbalances.

Signs or symptoms of a hormonal imbalance

Your hormones play an integral role in your overall health. As a result, there’s a broad range of signs or symptoms that could signal a hormonal imbalance. Your signs or symptoms will depend on which hormones or glands aren’t working properly.

Common hormonal conditions affecting both men and women could cause any of the following signs or symptoms:

• weight gain
• a hump of fat between the shoulders
• unexplained
• and sometimes sudden
• weight loss
• fatigue
• muscle weakness
• muscle aches
• tenderness
• and stiffness
• pain
• stiffness
• or swelling in your joints
• increased or decreased heart rate
• sweating
• increased sensitivity to cold or heat
• constipation or more frequent bowel movements
• frequent urination
• increased thirst
• increased hunger
• decreased sex drive
• depression
• nervousness
• anxiety
• or irritability
• blurred vision
• infertility
• thinning hair or fine
• brittle hair
• dry skin
• puffy face
• rounded face
• purple or pink stretch marks

Keep in mind that these symptoms are nonspecific, and having them doesn’t necessarily mean that you have a hormonal imbalance.

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
• especially along neck creases
• in the groin
• and underneath the breasts
• skin tags
• vaginal dryness
• vaginal atrophy
• pain during sex
• night sweats
• headaches

Signs or symptoms in males

Testosterone plays an important role in male development. If you aren’t producing enough testosterone, it can cause a variety of symptoms.

Symptoms of hormonal imbalance in adult males include:

• gynecomastia
• or the development of breast tissue
• breast tenderness
• erectile dysfunction (ED)
• decrease in beard growth and body hair growth
• loss of muscle mass
• loss of bone mass
• otherwise known as osteoporosis
• difficulty concentrating
• hot flashes

Signs or symptoms in children

Boys and girls start producing sex hormones during puberty. Many children with delayed puberty will go on to experience normal puberty, but some have a condition called hypogonadism.

Boys with hypogonadism may experience:

• lack of development of muscle mass
• a voice that doesn’t deepen
• body hair that grows sparsely
• impaired penis and testicular growth
• excessive growth of the arms and legs in relation to the trunk of the body
• gynecomastia

For girls with hypogonadism:

• menstruation doesn’t begin
• breast tissue doesn’t develop
• the growth rate doesn’t increase

Causes of a hormonal imbalance

There are many possible causes of a hormonal imbalance. Causes differ depending on which hormones or glands are affected. Common causes of hormonal imbalance include:

• hormone therapy
• medications
• cancer treatments such as chemotherapy
• tumors
• whether cancerous or benign
• pituitary tumors
• eating disorders
• stress
• injury or trauma

While the conditions below may be initially caused by hormonal imbalances, having the conditions can also lead to further hormonal imbalances:

• diabetes (type 1 and type 2)
• diabetes insipidus
• hypothyroidism
• or an underactive thyroid
• hyperthyroidism
• or an overactive thyroid
• hyperfunctioning thyroid nodules
• thyroiditis
• hypogonadism
• Cushing syndrome
• or high levels of cortisol
• congenital adrenal hyperplasia
• which causes low levels of cortisol and aldosterone
• Addison’s disease