What Are the Causes of Hormonal Imbalance in Women?

As we age, it can get a little dicey when it comes to hormones. We may end up having too much of this or too little of that. When an imbalance occurs, symptoms will pop up.

The Hormone Shuffle

• During the "change of life" or menopausal time in a woman's life, she may start skipping periods and eventually will stop menstruating altogether. When a woman menstruates she produces estrogen. When she no longer menstruates, her estrogen production drops significantly but not completely. Estrogen, along with progesterone, is considered a reproductive hormone. When estrogen levels drop, a woman may notice thinning hair, dry skin and vaginal dryness, and she becomes a candidate for brittle bone disease, or osteoporosis. Estrogen is beneficial to a woman's hair, skin, bones and heart and when it vanishes, new health concerns arise.

Estrogen and Progesterone

• Even if you continue to menstruate more or less regularly during the peri-menopausal years, which generally occur when a woman is in her 40s but can happen earlier or later, you may not be regularly ovulating. Progesterone is produced when you ovulate. If ovulation doesn't occur, you aren't producing progesterone and one possible outcome of that is estrogen overload, or dominance. When estrogen is no longer tempered by the presence of progesterone, a whole host of things may occur including rampant PMS, bloating, weight gain, thyroid malfunction, water retention, allergies, no sex drive, mood swings, polycystic ovaries, osteoporosis, breast cancer, endometrial cancer and uterine cancer, according to Safemenopausesolutions.com.

Oral Contraceptives

• If you take oral contraceptives, which trick your body into thinking it is pregnant, your hormones may get out of whack because the levels have been altered. The artificial hormones in birth control can cause you to have what is called hormone headaches, although some oral contraceptives effectively eliminate hormone headaches in some women. It all depends on the hormone level of the drug you are taking, according to Triggeroptics.com.

Pregnancy and Menopause

• If you are pregnant, once again your hormones have been altered and this may result in headaches during the first trimester and once again post-partum. Headaches are also commonly associated with menopause when your hormonal level is no longer consistent or balanced because your body is transitioning into the non-menstrual state.

Male Hormones

• Women have male hormones called androgens, which are essential to their health. However, if there is androgen overload the woman may experience hair loss and hair growth on her face and other body parts, according to Womenshealth.med. However, if a woman is deficient in androgens, she can suffer from bone loss, lack of libido, fatigue, muscle weakness and depression. Androgen--testosterone--levels peak and wane just like other hormones. However, testosterone is at its highest in the middle of a woman's menstrual period, which is probably nature's way of making sure that people copulate and reproduce.

Testosterone

• Women who have their ovaries surgically removed may experience a drastic drop in testosterone. Testosterone drops during menopause, as well, which commonly results in loss of sex drive.