3 Hormone Imbalances That Could Be Ruining Your Relationship

Are you struggling with feeling like you are in "roommate status" or are you too overwhelmed and exhausted to even think about nurturing your love-life? Hormone imbalances are most definitely responsible for more than just our mood swings and metabolism.

As a matter of fact, hormonal fluctuations can have a significant impact on your relationship status and sexual health. These struggles are relevant no matter where you land between puberty, menopause, and beyond! 

Hormones are the most powerful chemical messengers in the body! They are produced in a massive and complex system called the endocrine system. They regulate so many essential body processes including:

• Blood pressure
• Hunger/cravings
• Brain health
• Bone strength
• Heart health
• Sexual desire

In women, sex (or reproductive) hormones are produced by the ovaries, adrenal glands, & fat cells. These include progesterone, estrogen, testosterone, and androgens. 

The level of these hormones in your body fluctuates throughout your entire life. Obviously, hormonal imbalances and fluctuations affect every woman individually. Some women are more sensitive than others. That may explain why one woman experiences severe premenstrual syndrome (PMS) or postpartum depression, while another woman has very mild symptoms or may not even experience these conditions at all.

Stress, depression, and relationship strains are all factors that can impact your sex drive. Investigating the cause of your waning libido is the first step to getting things back on track.

One of the key components to a strong libido is having properly optimized hormones. Women are affected by estrogen excess and insufficiency. Happy hormones aid in the maintenance of sexual attraction and the health of vaginal tissue.

Women's libido is also influenced by androgens (testosterone), which makes a big difference in our interest, arousal, sexual response, lubrication, and orgasm. As a result, anything that lowers testosterone, including too much estrogen, might lead to a lack of libido.

Progesterone, the precursor molecule of testosterone, is converted to cortisol instead of sex hormones during times of stress. This eventually leads to a drop in testosterone and can decrease in libido.

What can be expected from natural hormone optimization? Relief from unwanted symptoms! Hormone optimization can improve libido, more lubrication, fewer night sweats and hot flashes, improved moods which reduces stress and improving orgasms, better memory and sleep, renewed strength and energy, the ability to shed extra pounds more easily, and a belly that goes from fat to flatter, which helps confidence increase.

When we have too much estrogen (without progesterone to balance), this can cause low mood, fatigue, weight gain, anxiety, heavy periods-- these seriously affect your ability to unwind and be present in your relationship. 

Around perimenopause, estrogen levels begin to decline and periods become erratic! This can cause vaginal dryness and thinning of the vaginal wall. This makes natural lubrication very difficult and intimacy can become painful!

Estrogen also is intimately linked to Oxytocin which helps with bonding! I don't know how many perimenopausal time relationships I have seen go up in smoke because a woman (or man) thinks they have "fallen out of love" or that there is something better out there! NOOOOO 

When it comes to sexual growth and function, testosterone is best known as "the hormone of desire." Yes, this helps libido, but it also promotes sexual pleasure by causing the nipples and clitoris to be sensitive to touch.

DHEA is another hormone that is vital for a lasting libido. Chronic stress depletes DHEA levels. Research has linked declining DHEA production in women with a decreasing tendency to think about or initiate sex, as well as a reported decrease in feelings of sexual satisfaction.

Let's be clear..... every relationship is unique! There is not one "miracle" ingredient. It really is a recipe for HEALTH!

• Make sure your nutrition is balanced including micro & macro nutrients
• Address your stress and solidify your sleep
• Reignite your relationship by nurturing your significant other's specific needs
• Optimize your hormones! 

There are SO many things going on for most of us during our lives. A rapidly declining sex drive might seem like the tip of the straw that broke the camel's back– you’re moody and exhausted all the time, you’re gaining weight, making few things less desirable than bedroom time.

I hear a lot of women dismissing so many symptoms that affect their quality of life by saying “it’s just hormonal”. I think a lot of people confuse “hormonal” with “inevitable”! While this is common, it is not "normal".

Yes, it is natural for our hormones and our bodies to change in different stages of our lives, but that doesn’t mean that we have to suffer. So many practitioners dismiss women who are going through hormonal shifts with the same attitude. But I believe that we can learn to understand, work with, and support our hormones and our bodies, and feel amazing.

We, as women, should feel connected to and in control of our bodies. This should include being able to achieve sexual pleasure– at any stage of life.