Stress, Hormones....or all of the above

A lot of women know they have hormone imbalances. It's not a surprise, they have all the symptoms, they've been to the doctor, and sometimes they've had tests done to prove they have hormone issues. Some proclaim they have flattened cortisol levels, or low testosterone or estrogen, or progesterone levels. And honestly, most of these women attribute it at least partly to stress.

I get it, with Dr. Google and every other source out there, no matter who you are and what you are experiencing, it becomes obvious quickly...hormones are involved and so is stress.

So, it is time to ask - do you just have a hormone imbalance and a stressful life or is there more going on?

Truth be told, the medical world...both alternative and conventional stops at hormone imbalance, and gives lip service to stress, but rarely offers up more than meditate more and maybe do yoga.

Which is of course why so many women get led into doing hormone replacement. Initially, it seems like a logical answer...something is low, so you replace it.

But, did it solve the problem?

I get it, replacing hormones can make you initially feel a whole lot better...energy, mood, libido, even sleep can change pretty quickly.

But, I will still ask...did it solve the problem?

Or

Did it mute your awareness of the problem enough to let you keep plowing ahead, pushing through (which is how the stress response gets overblown anyway) while the inflammation, cell fatigue, alarm responses and wear down continues?

Would you know how to tell the difference?

See, lab test won’t show it, at least not the ones the doctor will run, because they are basing your entire dosage on what your levels are, despite the fact that blood and even saliva levels of hormones have not been indicated to actually predict function or even accessibility of hormones, much less indicate if tissue levels are rising and therefore so are cancer rates.

Hormones aren’t just messengers and initiators, they are deeply connected to emotional states, even past emotional states, and as a consequence, their functionality and accessibility and production will be directly tied to emotions, stress, and nutrients at the cell layer.  

So, if taking hormones makes you feel better but has done nothing to regulate cell response or put you in touch with the emotions stuck in the tissues, or deal with the nutrients needed to regulate essential cell function.

Have they done anything except make everything appear better?

What if we instead asked:

Why are the hormones imbalanced?

Is it toxicity?

Or candida?

Or inflammation?

Or rigid cell membranes?

Or aging mitochondria?

Or a raging stress response?

Or a lack of essential nutrients needed to convert the hormones from inactive to active form?

See, if you just replace the hormones, you'll never know which of those 7 possible things were the reason and if you don't solve a problem according to what creates it, then you haven't solved the problem at all.

Now 95% of doctors will never be willing to ask these questions because they don't know where to look and they don't know how to solve it.

So, where to start?

First, understand that stress at the cellular and extracellular layer is the number 1 cause of hormonal imbalance.

However, even that may not mean what you think it means because stress isn’t just a difficult time, or a challenging project, stress is a lifestyle, an ingrained response within the nervous system, a patterned behavior at the cell level.

Consequently, it isn’t enough to stop the stress...by retiring, or changing jobs, or going to counseling because once the cells have arranged behavior based on constant signaling, turning it off has to be done systematically at the cell layer.

Which is why hormone replacement can’t even touch the real cause…

Sadly, neither can meditation alone, or nutrients alone, or diet alone or even exercise alone...it is too complicated for that.

See, stress and the cellular mechanism of response is one of the most complex aspects of our human body.

It affects every system and because of the nature of our extracellular matrix and biological protection mechanisms at the cell membranes, once initiated, it has to be selectively turned off based on the body’s adaptations to it.

Meaning, there is no one size fits all approach to addressing it.

So, right now, you can take action and at least begin to think about this reality and selectively turn down the amplitude of stress in your life….one essential step.

You can also learn to breathe better, spend more time doing nothing and sleep more...more essential steps.

And if you feel inclined, set up a time to talk with us, and see IF we can help you get ahead of the stress and get off the hormones so you can know you have actually dealt with the problem once and for all.

Blessings

Dr. Julie