How are stress and hormone levels related to the female body?

Stress, together with hormonal imbalance, can create very unpleasant things: increase weight, change behavior, worsen well-being. More on hormonal imbalance and stress.

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How does the hormone cortisol work under severe stress?

Violation of the production of ovarian hormones and stressful circumstances can provoke a condition that a woman may not even suspect. When the level of the hormone estradiol decreases in her body (this occurs before the climax or during it), a state of stress occurs.

When stress increases the level of the hormone cortisol in the blood, and other hormones - serotonin, dopamine, acetylcholine and norepinephrine reduce their useful effect.

Failures in the work of hormones

With increased doses of cortisol in the body, the ratios of other hormones are violated, and the weight becomes very difficult to control. After all, these hormones are responsible for the normalization of weight, the amount of fat deposits on the sides and waist, as well as in the chest and back.

The work of muscles is broken, muscle fibers are destroyed because of hormonal failures, sleep becomes restless, uneven, memory is bad, and libido is reduced.

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Because of stress, food is poorly digested

When we are in a stressful state, the food is very poorly digested, and this contributes to the deposition of fats in the body. Why is this happening?

The hormone cortisol, which in excess is released under stress, slows down the metabolism. In addition, when we are worried, the cells are very poorly saturated with oxygen, they do not contain nutrients, which means that we do not receive vital energy.

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Small stress breeds even more

If we at this time do not pay attention to the hormonal background of our body, the production of the hormone estrogen is suppressed by cortisol, which means that the state of stress is aggravated even more.

And the thyroid gland starts to work badly. All this together constitutes an enchanted circle, from which it is possible to escape only by carrying out hormonal analyzes and consulting an endocrinologist for treatment.

Otherwise, we can consider stress excess weight unrelated things, and therefore, we can not remove the real causes leading to extra kilos and bad health.

How does stress provoke disease?

When hormones are cheated in the body, this does not contribute to our excellent health. On the contrary: stress is capable of producing diseases that would never disturb us in a normal calm environment.

Hormonal failures in themselves - this is an additional stress for the body, which aggravates and supplements psychological stress. To escape from this trap and regain normal health and weight, the organism is as sophisticated as it can, adapting itself to all the changes that are happening to us.

Of course, this requires additional life energy from him. And if this energy is not enough, poor health is only exacerbated. Therefore, with the slightest signs of depression, mood swings, which are accompanied by the accumulation of kilograms, contact the endocrinologist for an examination.

Why is the level of cortisol raised?

One reason we have already found out is stress. What else provokes an increased production of cortisol?

• Failures in the work of the ovaries, which produce less sex hormones
• Problems in the work of the thyroid gland, which also reduces the production of autoimmune hormones
• Taking medications with steroids (most of all concerns athletes working to increase muscle mass)
• Alcohol without any control
• Reduced resistance to infections
• Poor ecological background
• Narcotic substances
• Stress states (physical or psychological stress, including increased workload, anxiety for relatives, lack of sleep)

Reducing the level of cortisol leads to suppression of the production of hormones of the ovaries and thyroid (we remember that). As a consequence, the hormone cycle is hampered, and a woman may suffer because of irregular monthly, too little or too abundant.

Stress and ability to conceive

How does stress affect the ability to conceive? Natural protective mechanisms are such that during severe stress pregnancy is extremely rare. Mom who worries can not give birth to a healthy baby. Nature has foreseen this. And this is true, because in this way a woman is less likely to have a child with deviations.

And why is it because of stress that the ability to conceive and endure a baby is so much reduced? Because estrogen - a female hormone - is suppressed by male hormones. Then the hormone progesterone, the so-called hormone of pregnancy, is almost not released in the female body. And without it you can not get pregnant.

And now a woman who has once experienced stress, risks that her condition without proper treatment will only worsen and as a result may lead to infertility.

As for women who are in a shaky period between the onset of menopause and full-fledged menstrual cycles, they also take risks. An earlier start of menopause.

By what signs can you determine the loss of control over weight?

No matter how weak and imperceptible these signs are, you can determine them. So you can avoid a set of extra pounds, which then will be extremely difficult to get rid of. These are the bad symptoms.

1. You start to love one product and eat it in large doses
2. Your favorite dish is sweets or something fatter
3. At you for no reason there are moments of anxiety, anxiety, which then abruptly give way to a state of fun
4. Before the onset of menstruation, you feel that your heart is beating unevenly, often
5. Your mood changes so quickly that you do not keep track of him. The surrounding - especially
6. You have attacks of a brutal appetite

Be careful and attentive: all these signs can be observed long (even for a couple of months) before you start gaining weight. So do not listen to people who write off your condition for life's circumstances or something else.

Check your hormone levels, in particular, thyroid hormones and ovaries. If there is an imbalance - immediately begin to be treated, so as not to pay off afterwards by the blurred figure and bad state of health.

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Remember or write down!

When you are in a state of stress, and hormonal imbalance is added to this, the medicines can only aggravate the destructive processes in the body and the insidious deposition of fats.

The fact is that with stress and hormonal imbalance, sedatives will simply relieve anxiety for a short period. But if at the same time bouts of brutal hunger and adoration of one single product do not pass through you, sound the alarm: most likely, you have lowered the level of the hormone estradiol, and cortisol is more than normal.

Most likely, this is accompanied by an intolerance of glucose and insulin, and even by the increase of sugars in the blood.

The advice to "calm down with tranquilizers" is bad advice, especially for women after the age of 35. In the first place you should have a hormonal background check, and then everything else.

Other symptoms of stress and hormonal failure

Sleep. What should heal and restore energy, now does not give any pleasure. Do you know the state when you wake up broken, as if unloading a car of coal? Or bricks - it does not matter.

The important thing is that your dream is broken, and it no longer saves you from overwork and bad mood.

This state is explained simply. When cortisol in the body is more than normal, the level of estradiol decreases. This further activates the production of cortisol - a stress hormone. And then you have a nightmare: you always want to eat, you do not sleep normally, your head hurts and you hate others.

Without knowing it, you enter the shaky way of accumulating fats and vile sensations, as you are disgusted to yourself. The picture is not the best. Therefore, do not associate a bad mood only with stress, take care of yourself and do not be lazy to go to the doctor.