The Menstrual Cycle?
Women have what they call the Menstrual Cycle.
As you can see from the graph above, in a healthy Menstrual Cycle (also referred to as the Ovarian or Uterine Cycle) Estrogen levels come up and then decreases in the second part of the cycle. Immediately followed by the hormone Progesterone, which increases in the second part of the cycle.
Stress and it's effect on a woman's Hormone Levels?
These two hormones are important in preparing the uterus for an eventual pregnancy. Most of the time women will lose progesterone which is the second part and whenever you have a decrease in progesterone then that means you don't have the cycle. When women are under large amounts of stress, due to huge life changes or high-stress jobs, they will often skip cycles due to increased levels of Cortisol. Cortisol, often referred to as the "Stress Hormone" often increases when a woman is handling large amounts of stress, which will in-turn block your Progesterone levels as if you didn't have Progesterone.
That is why it's key to maintain the stress in your life so that you will have a normal Menstrual Cycle.
So when women are having to deal with a lot of stress, and large amounts of Cortisol might be blocking a woman's Progesterone. If there's a deficiency in your Progesterone levels, we'll often give you Progesterone to supplement the decrease in Progesterone.
What does age have to do with a woman's Hormone Levels?
Now, it might be that you also have Estrogen problems, because when women age, both Estrogen and Progesterone levels tend to go down. If you are showing symptoms of deficiencies in your hormone levels, your doctor will run some labs using a blood or saliva test to see where your hormones levels are. Once your doctor gets back your results they'll know if you need Estrogen, Progesterone, Testosterone for libido, or a combination of the three and that's how you solve that problem.
Women have a lot more hormones that have to be adjusted compared to men. Men for the most part just have the one, which is Testosterone, whereas women have Testosterone, Progesterone, Estrogen and sometimes DHDA. A woman's body is more complex, which is why they need more analysis to stabilize their hormone levels and reach a healthy Menstrual Cycle.
Here at Lindberg's Pharmacy, we make capsules, creams, vaginal creams, troches along with a whole bunch of other applicators, including a pellet that can be inserted under the skin (via a minor procedure) with Estrogen, Progesterone, Testosterone or whatever is needed for their specific body, and they won't have to worry about a hormone deficiency fo a long period of time. Pellets have been a very popular choice for busy women due to the fact that pellets last for about 90 days.
Author: Gilbert Tovar
Lindberg's Pharmacy in Edinburg, TX
We hope you enjoy these posts and are glad you're being proactive in your own health maintenance. To schedule an appointment please call us at 956-581-2168 or visit WellnessHealthGroup.com for more information.