Hormonal failure in women and girls: symptoms and treatment after childbirth, the main causes
However, in the adult body, hormones play a very important role. Thus, the presence of a greater amount of the hormone estrogen than androgens indicates belonging to the female sex and determines the presence of corresponding sexual characteristics. Not only health, but also the mental state of a woman, her attractiveness and resistance to stress can depend on a lack or excess of one or another hormone. Mastopathy, various fibroids and cysts in the mammary glands, uterus and ovaries may indicate a serious hormonal imbalance in a woman. At the same time, the balance between the main female hormones – estrogen and progesterone – shifts in favor of one of them.
Symptoms of hormonal failure in women
The appearance of severe headaches for no apparent reason, insomnia, a sharp increase or decrease in pressure, frequent dizziness should alert any woman, because they may indicate a hormonal imbalance in the body. Hormone problems are also indicated by fatigue, excessive sweating, a jump in weight towards weight loss or fullness. Other signs of hormonal failure in women can be irritability, nervousness, or vice versa, indifference to everything and even depression. Serious problems with hair growth also speak of this problem. With a hormonal failure, both in girls and in mature women, such extremes as excess hair on the body or excessive hair loss on the head up to the formation of bald spots can occur.
Each hormone has its own distinct role in the female body. So, a decrease in estrogen production is manifested in general wilting and the onset of menopause. Symptoms of a hormonal failure in the form of its lack will be memory impairment, a sharp increase or loss in weight, loss of skin elasticity, the appearance of acne, inflammation, stretch marks, as well as swelling on the legs, body and face, painful periods. In addition, estrogen prepares a woman for becoming a mother in the future, influencing the proper development of the female genital organs. Under its action, already in adolescence, such sexual characteristics appear as armpit and groin hair, a wide shape of the pelvis, an increase in the size of the mammary glands, and a change in the size of the uterus. At the same time, fat cells are distributed according to the female type in the chest, thighs and buttocks, which generally gives the figure a rounded shape. A sufficient amount of estrogen in women is manifested in regular periods, and one of the signs of a lack of this hormone can be infertility. In girls, start
starting from adolescence, its deficiency can cause a slow development of the mammary glands, genital organs, even the skeleton, a prolonged absence of menstruation.
Signs of hormonal failure in girls and women
Another important hormone for women is called progesterone. Often it can be called the hormone of pregnancy, because it is he who contributes to the good fixation of the egg in the uterus after fertilization and the successful bearing of the fetus. At other times in a woman's life, this hormone is responsible for maintaining psychological and emotional balance throughout the monthly cycle. Symptoms of hormonal failure in girls in the form of a lack or excess of progesterone can be sudden mood swings and inexplicable nervousness in her behavior. An imbalance of progesterone also manifests itself in excessive soreness of the breast during menstruation, mood swings, various menstrual irregularities, as well as vaginal bleeding, and during pregnancy it can be reflected in complications of its normal course and even lead to a breakdown.
Hormonal imbalance after childbirth
A special role is played by estrogen and progesterone in the body of a pregnant woman and after childbirth. Pregnancy and childbirth are a big hormonal “shake-up" for the entire female body. At the same time, the level of both hormones seriously increases, and with it the mammary glands increase in size, the likelihood of frequent mood changes in a pregnant woman and various “whims” increases. In addition, a high level of progesterone also stimulates appetite and helps to accumulate fat and muscle mass. Interestingly, every woman feels a similar effect of progesterone not only during pregnancy. In the second phase of the menstrual cycle, when there is an increase in the amount of progesterone compared to estrogen, many notice an increase in appetite and some weight gain, although not as significant as during pregnancy. Immediately after conception and during the next almost 10 months of bearing a child, a lot changes in the body of the expectant mother. If conception has occurred, and there is a lack of progesterone in the body, the woman's body, figuratively speaking, does not understand that it is necessary to prepare for pregnancy, then the egg will not be able to properly gain a foothold in the uterus, and after the onset of a new monthly cycle, the body will reject it.
For some time after childbirth, progesterone and estrogen continue to remain in an increased amount, in addition, the action of the hormones oxytocin, which is responsible for contraction of the uterus and returning it to normal, also increases, and also contributes to the normal course of breastfeeding, and prolactin, which is actually responsible for the production of breast milk. milk. These female hormones will regulate milk production until the end of breastfeeding. Hormonal disruption after childbirth, even with the right diet, can lead to serious weight problems, which manifests itself in severe weight loss or excessive weight gain. It is also worth thinking about hormonal problems if breastfeeding has already stopped, and the menstruation that has begun is too plentiful and painful or lasts more than 7 days.
Causes of hormonal failure
Since the female body works in a cyclic mode for a significant part of her life, during each such monthly cycle, estrogen and progesterone increase and decrease in their amount alternately every two weeks. Both an excessive amount and a lack of one of these hormones instantly manifest themselves externally and internally.
Hormonal disruptions often accompany the onset of menopause, when the formation of eggs in the body of women over 40 almost stops and estrogen production decreases. However, today there is the occurrence of hormonal disruptions in girls. An imbalance of hormones can occur due to the peculiarities of the ovaries, with a short interval (less than 10 days) between ovulation and the onset of menstruation. Chronic inflammatory processes of the genitourinary system, improper medication can also cause hormonal failure. The most unpredictable consequences for the hormonal background can result in an abortion. Subsequently, it can turn into a mass of gynecological diseases, and they will not always appear immediately after the intervention. Sometimes hormonal disruptions begin several years after the abortion.
In modern society, hormonal failure is often preceded by some kind of stressful situations and strong experiences, but in fact everything is interconnected in the body, and disturbances in the functioning of the nervous system can also lead to disruption in the production of hormones. A stressful lifestyle, chronic fatigue syndrome, and poor nutrition, such as overeating or gaining too much weight, all combine to cause severe hormonal imbalances.
Treatment of hormonal failure in women
In the treatment of mastopathy, uterine myomas and fibroids, endometriosis, polycystic ovaries, one of the most important components is systemic diagnostics, including hormone analysis. Often, surgery will not be able to guarantee that these diseases will be cured completely if they are caused by disruptions in the balance of estrogen and progesterone. In such cases, the only way out will be complex treatment, when the root cause of the disease is eliminated.
For the prevention and treatment of hormonal failure, a variety of drugs are used that contain phytoestrogens (plant estrogens, the structure of which is similar to human ones), or those that have a progesterone base, including some means of preventing pregnancy. However, it is recommended to take them only on the advice of a doctor. If some of the signs of a lack or excess of hormones have become noticeable, you should consult a doctor who will select an individual treatment regimen and tell you in detail how to treat such a hormonal failure. If the imbalance is not too significant, the doctor will most often suggest taking a course of vitamins E and A. As you know, vitamin E is not much similar in action to estrogen and can to some extent relieve such symptoms of estrogen deficiency as dry mucous membranes, depression and apathy, tides, increased sweating and mood swings characteristic of menopause. In addition, vitamins E and A prevent the occurrence of dry skin and improve the condition of hair and nails, play an important role in the nutrition of the skin and mucous membranes. Certain oral contraceptives, which will contain estrogen and progesterone in the right ratio, may also be prescribed in the treatment of hormonal imbalance. It must be remembered that the abuse or misuse of such contraceptives can manifest itself in a serious hormonal imbalance. For example, self-administration of contraceptives containing a large amount of progesterone and its analogues for therapeutic or contraceptive purposes will contribute to weight gain. vitamins E and A prevent the occurrence of dry skin and improve the condition of hair and nails, play an important role in the nutrition of the skin and mucous membranes. Certain oral contraceptives, which will contain estrogen and progesterone in the right ratio, may also be prescribed in the treatment of hormonal imbalance. It must be remembered that the abuse or misuse of such contraceptives can manifest itself in a serious hormonal imbalance. For example, self-administration of contraceptives containing a large amount of progesterone and its analogues for therapeutic or contraceptive purposes will contribute to weight gain. vitamins E and A prevent the occurrence of dry skin and improve the condition of hair and nails, play an important role in the nutrition of the skin and mucous membranes. Certain oral contraceptives, which will contain estrogen and progesterone in the right ratio, may also be prescribed in the treatment of hormonal imbalance. It must be remembered that the abuse or misuse of such contraceptives can manifest itself in a serious hormonal imbalance. For example, self-administration of contraceptives containing a large amount of progesterone and its analogues for therapeutic or contraceptive purposes will contribute to weight gain. which will contain estrogen and progesterone in the right ratio, can also be prescribed in the treatment of hormonal failure. It must be remembered that the abuse or misuse of such contraceptives can manifest itself in a serious hormonal imbalance. For example, self-administration of contraceptives containing a large amount of progesterone and its analogues for therapeutic or contraceptive purposes will contribute to weight gain. which will contain estrogen and progesterone in the right ratio, can also be prescribed in the treatment of hormonal failure. It must be remembered that the abuse or misuse of such contraceptives can manifest itself in a serious hormonal imbalance. For example, self-administration of contraceptives containing a large amount of progesterone and its analogues for therapeutic or contraceptive purposes will contribute to weight gain.
How to treat hormonal failure correctly?
Before prescribing this or that drug for the treatment of hormonal failure in women, a doctor may recommend taking a blood test for hormones. Any analysis must be taken correctly, since in the second half of the monthly cycle, the concentration of progesterone increases, and in the first half – of estrogen. When prescribing an analysis for progesterone, the doctor will definitely tell you on which day of the cycle it is best to take it. With a regular cycle, such an analysis is usually carried out a week before the onset of menstruation, and with an irregular cycle, measurements will have to be taken several times.
If we are talking about a lack of estrogen, then you can slightly increase its level with the help of certain foods, for example, soy and soy products, as well as other legumes, vegetables and fruits such as carrots, pumpkin, cauliflower or Brussels sprouts, eggplant. It must be remembered that too large portions of these products can cause an increase in the amount of hormones, which again has negative consequences.
Today, many women in a rush to work and daily fuss do not pay due attention to their body and do not even attach importance to obvious signs of hormonal failure, such as irregular and too painful periods, bleeding between periods, swelling of the breast and the appearance of seals in it. It must be remembered that any disease is easier to prevent than to treat, and at the very beginning, even minimal treatment can completely solve the problem. At the same time, a delay in solving the problem of hormonal failure can lead to a number of diseases that may require serious intervention.