Hormone Balance and Healthy Menstrual Cycle
As women our inner hormonal balance creates a calm and centred feeling within. When the hormones go cray cray!! All our systems go out of whack and we can feel out of control, overwhelmed, confused and exhausted, like something outside of you is running the show!!
The Wisdom of our Cycle; each month your bleed is a time of shedding and release. This is the lowest ebb of energy within your cycle, a call to honour this time of retreat, inner reflection and release. Culturally, rest is not celebrated as a productive way to spend time and many of us continue to push through and override our natural rhythms and cycles, forcing a more masculine way of being. Coming in to alignment with your natural cycles and rhythms: physical and energetic, can allow you to embody your true feminine power and bring healing and balance to your hormones and menstrual cycle.
A major indicator of underlying hormonal imbalances in the body, show up through our monthly cycle! Including:
Irregular Bleeding: this could be anything from a short cycle, less than 25 days or a long cycle of more than 32 days. It could even be completely irregular with no pattern to the bleed cycle at all or excessively heavy or light bleeding. This can be hormonal imbalance or the sign of an underlying pathology such as PCOS.
Painful Bleeding: The pain could show up prior to menses, indicating pelvic congestion, when the bleed arrives it can often be brown blood before the fresh red blood comes through. Pain with the bleed is more of a spasmodic pain, indicating dysfunction within the uterine muscle fibres or excess prostaglandins. This could also be a sign of underlying pathologies, such as Endometriosis.
Pre-Menstrual tension PMS: This is common and shows up in many ways, from angry to irritable, teary and sensitive. Our boundaries naturally change with our menstruation, being the time of our lowest ebb of energy. PMS is sometimes when we are pushing past this naturally boundary of retreat our body and energy calls for at this time. But can also be a major sign of hormonal imbalance in the body. Other physical signs of PMS include, sore tender breasts, fluid retention, sugar cravings et
I treat numerous women in my clinic with varying hormonal and menstrual issues, some of the key imbalances that show up include:
Oestrogen dominance; usually being a sign of poor detoxification pathways, often methylation and sluggish liver clearance. Methylation, liver and detox support support is essential to aid the body in eliminating excess oestrogen from the body.
Low progesterone levels; often showing up when their is a short menstrual cycle or an anovulatory cycle (no ovulation). the Oestrogen:Progesterone ratio is essential for creating balance in the body and a healthy menstrual cycle. Many herbs can help to support this.
Other hormonal imbalances: Thyroid is the master hormone that creates balance within the other hormones of the body, if thyroid is out of balance, other hormones will be out of balance too. Excess cortisol, anxiety and stress have a major impact on the whole hormonal system and can effect the HPA (Hypothalamus-Pituitary Axis), the major higher centres controlling the hormonal balances of the body
Toxicity and Deficiency; Heavy metals such as high Coper can be common, causing menstrual and thyroid issues. Elevated Copper will blocked Zinc, an essential mineral for hormonal balance. Low Vitamin D, low B vitamins etc are common underlying deficiencies showing up with hormonal imbalances.
Pelvic Congestion, lymphatic overload, Gut dysbiosis, all play a part, as do our diet and lifestyle factors.
Is your cycle trying to tell you something? Do you need support to create healthy balance within your hormones and cycle? Are you ready to step back in to the drivers seat? Natural medicine can have the answers to support your body to come back in to harmony, don't allow your hormones to dominate your sense of wellbeing and moods...Book a call today!