Who Does Move Your Hormones?

Post written by Payal Singh.

Today in Naari Tatwa, I am going to talk about the female sex hormones, how they fluctuate throughout your life, how they affect arousal and signs of a hormonal imbalance because female sex hormones or sex steroids play vital roles in sexual development, reproduction, and general health. Sex hormone levels change over time, but some of the most significant changes happen during puberty, pregnancy, and menopause.

 

What are hormones?

Hormones are chemical messengers that the endocrine glands produce and release into the bloodstream. They help to relay messages between cells and organ and regulate many bodily processes, such as appetite, sleep, and growth. Everyone has what are considered “male” and “female” sex hormones.

Types of female sex hormones

Estrogen

As the primary “female” hormone, estrogen promotes the growth and health of the female reproductive organs and keeps the vagina moisturized, elastic (stretchy), and well supplied with blood. Estrogen plays a big role in puberty, menstruation, pregnancy and menopause.  Estrogen also affects the brain, cardiovascular system, hair, musculoskeletal system, skin and urinary tract. Estrogen levels generally decline during perimenopause, but they do so in an irregular fashion. Sometimes there can be more estrogen present during perimenopause than in the past.

Progesterone

In addition to estrogen, a level of other hormone produced by the ovaries is progesterone. The role of progesterone is to prepare the lining of the uterus for a fertilized egg, support pregnancy and suppress estrogen production after ovulation.

Testosterone

Although testosterone is the main sex hormone in males, it is also present in lower amounts in females. In females, testosterone affects in Fertility, Sexual desire, Menstruation, Tissue and bone mass, Red blood cell production.

The roles your hormones play change over time.

Hormones change dramatically if you become pregnant, give birth, or breastfeed. And they continue to change as you near menopause. These changes are natural and expected.

Role in puberty

Females typically enter puberty between the ages of 8 and 13 years, and puberty usually ends when they are around 14 years old. Increased levels of estrogen and progesterone initiate the development of secondary sexual characteristics, which include in your breast development, hair growth on the underarms, legs, and pubic region, increased height, increased fat storage on the hips, buttocks, and thighs, widening of the pelvis and hips, increased oil production in the skin.

Role in menstruation

Menarche is the first time a person gets their menstrual period, and it typically occurs between the ages of 12 and 13 years. However, menarche can occur at any time between 8 and 15 years of age. Menstrual cycles are usually around 28 days long but can vary between 24 and 38 days. The menstrual cycle occurs in three phases that coincide with hormonal changes: Follicular phase, Ovulatory phase and Luteal phase

Sexual desire and contraception

Estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone all play a role in female sexual desire. Due to hormonal fluctuations, you are generally at the peak of sexual desire just before ovulation.

Pregnancy

As soon as conception takes place, you start to produce human chorionic gonadotropin hormone (hCG). This is the hormone that shows up in your urine and is used to test for pregnancy. It also boosts the production of estrogen and progesterone, preventing menstruation and helping to sustain the pregnancy. Human placental lactogen (HPL) is a hormone made by the placenta. In addition to providing nutrients for the baby, it helps stimulate milk glands for breastfeeding.

After childbirth and breastfeeding

Once pregnancy ends, hormone levels start to fall immediately. They eventually reach pre-pregnancy levels. A sudden, significant drop in estrogen and progesterone may be a contributing factor in the development of postpartum depression. Breastfeeding lowers estrogen levels and can prevent ovulation. This isn’t always the case, however, so you’ll still need birth control to prevent another pregnancy.

Perimenopause and menopause

During perimenopause, the period leading up to menopause and hormone production in your ovaries slows down. Estrogen levels begin to fluctuate while progesterone levels start a steady decline. As your hormone levels drop, your vagina may become less lubricated. Some people experience a decrease in their libido and their menstrual cycle becomes irregular. When you’ve gone 12 months without a period, you’ve reached menopause. By this time, both estrogen and progesterone are holding steady at low levels. This typically happens around age 50. But like other phases of life, there’s great variation in this. Decreased hormones after menopause may increase your risk of conditions such as thinning bones (osteoporosis) and cardiovascular disease.

Role in sexual desire and arousal

Estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone all affect sexual desire and arousal. Having higher levels of estrogen in the body promotes vaginal lubrication and increases sexual desire. Increases in progesterone can reduce sexual desire. Low levels of testosterone may lead to reduced sexual desire in some women. However, testosterone therapy appears ineffective at treating low sex drive in females. According to a systematic review from 2016, testosterone therapy can enhance the effects of estrogen, but only if a doctor administers the testosterone at higher-than-normal levels. This can lead to unwanted side effects. These side effects can include weight gain, irritability, balding, excess facial hair, clitoral enlargement.

When hormones become unbalanced

Your hormones will naturally fluctuate throughout your lifetime. This is usually due to expected changes such as irregular periods, excess body and facial hair, acne, vaginal dryness, low sex drive, breast tenderness, gastrointestinal problems, hot flashes, night sweats, weight gain, fatigue, irritability and irregular mood changes, anxiety, depression, difficulty in sleeping. Even a hormonal imbalance can sometimes be a sign of something more serious, such as polycystic ovary syndrome, primary ovarian insufficiency, hormonal birth control, hormone replacement therapy, excess body weight, ovarian cancer, stress and other underlying conditions include hypogonadism, which is a shortage of female hormones, a miscarriage or abnormal pregnancy, a multiple pregnancy (having twins, triplets, or more), ovarian tumour.