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Welcome to Essentially Quinny - A podcast to help you learn more about your body and all the things that affect your health.

I have more than 12 years experience in the Natural Health field working with practitioners and doctors and speaking all over the world.

With more and more people wanting to take responsibility for their health and well being, I am bringing weekly episodes to you so you can make informed choices towards your good health.

If you would like to book an appointment with me, I
 am available for both online and in person consults.

Head to https://www.aurorahealingcodes.com/ for more information. 

May 2, 2021

We are continuing our series on Stress. To listen from the beginning head back to episode 21.

Today we are talking about how prolonged stress can affect your estrogen, progesterone and testosterone levels, which bring emotional changes and physical conditions. 

 

Estrogen

Estrogen is important for healthy skin, to prevent depression, to prevent dryness in general and to feel more ‘sexy.’

We learned last week that prolonged stress makes your adrenal and thyroid glands secrete certain hormones. The metabolisation of these hormones eventually leads to increases in estrogens. 

There are three forms of estrogen - E1, E2 and E3 which we will be focusing on today. E2 (estradiol) is the common estrogen tested in blood tests by doctors. Both males and females have estrogen AND testosterone. I.e. These hormones are not just for one gender. In females, their naturally higher levels of estrogen bring their beautiful, curvy body shape and also increases tissue development. 

Understanding that estrogen increases tissue development is important because tissue development also means multiplication of cells generally and it is this function which enables females to develop and grow a baby. It is also the function of cell multiplicity which can encourage tumour formation if levels are too high. 

We are focusing on stress today, but it is worth noting that certain chemicals (eg synthetic fragrances) have an estrogenic effect (raise estrogen levels). This can lead to fetus malformation, infertility and even cancers. This can happen in any gender. 

As we have already explained, stress can also lead to increased estrogen production and this leads to the same consequences described. 

Estrogen tends to increase fat cells as well. And fat cells tend to produce more estrogen which creates more fat cells. Fat cells attach water molecules and so as fat cells increase we end up with fluid retention. This is how an excess of estrogen results in fluid retention. 

In perimenopause and post menopausal women, we often see an increase in weight and even further development of breasts tissue. This is because of the estrogen increase. 

Women who seek help for menopausal symptoms or to avoid pregnancy, often end up taking medication that release estrogen. The estrogen being absorbed by the body compounds the effects of high estrogen levels like cell multiplication (eg tumour formation) and fat cell production. If you are using any of these products it is recommended that you get your levels checked frequently to try and avoid any undesirable effects. 

When estrogen is high in men, they have a tendency towards baldness, enlargement of breasts and abdomen and a tendency for prostate issues. Excessive passing of urine at night time is often a sign of high estrogen. A broken flow of urine during the day is caused by an enlarged prostate. This symptom can happen as early as 30 years of age if the stress has been at a high level for a period of time. 

 

Progesterone

Progesterone is often one of the first hormones to become depleted with high levels of stress. Without progesterone females tend to have high levels of anxiety, the mind will deteriorate, the hair will begin to grey, sleep will become shallow, aging comes prematurely, cholesterol tends to increase (independently of a good diet) and the body and mind starts to decline into a state of chaos.  

It is important to understand that intrauterine devices that have some amounts of progesterone may not have adequate quantities to support the losses. 

We also need to be aware that estrogen and progesterone need to be in a particular ratio. And the 3 estrogens also need to have a particular ratio among them. If this ratio is not kept, the person will have dysfunction in the body (eg weight gain).

 

Testosterone

Low progesterone brings more facial acne. It is not uncommon for clients to present with facial acne who tell me that they have been prescribed the contraceptive pill in an attempt to reduce testosterone in order to help the acne. Unfortunately, in these cases it is not usually testosterone causing the problem. When testosterone causes acne, it is more of a cystic presentation and can be seen on the upper chest, back and sometimes the arms.

With this cystic presentation, high testosterone can also result in the very well known condition of polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS), which can lead to infertility.  

Testosterone can increase dramatically with stress, bringing these undesirable effects. 

Testosterone is responsible for the sex drive and is also involved in the uptake of calcium. An excess of testosterone will make the person more rigid in mind and behaviour. On the flip side, low testosterone can bring a drop in motivation, a lack of muscle strength and in men, a tendency towards depression.  

 

Emotional and mindset effects

As we said low levels of:

Progesterone causes anxiety

Estrogen causes depression

Testosterone causes lack of motivation

 

Our emotions are closely linked with our hormone levels. This means that no matter how good you are with changing your mindset, your feelings can still deteriorate due to hormonal levels. Please reach out to us if this is occurring for you. There are ways we can naturally support your body and mind to regain its balance.  

 

Keeping the balance

Hormonal balance is essential but it is also an aspect of health that can be quite complex so seek help if you are unsure. 

 

Support

If you require more support in your health journey or have any questions, head to our website at https://www.aurorahealingcodes.com/ 

 

Music: Wholesome by Kevin MacLeod

Link: https://filmmusic.io/song/5050-wholesome

License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/