Hormone balance in Menopause.

The hormone conversation is prevalent online these days, which is awesome, but confusing.  

A hormone is a signaller or messenger.  Your body makes many hormones throughout the day to do a variety of tasks.  Some of the most well-known hormones include:

Cortisol (the stress hormone)

Insulin (the hormone that helps to keep blood glucose stable)

Melatonin (hormone that helps you to feel sleepy)

Thyroid hormone

Vitamin D (this is actually a hormone!)

When talking about menopause, many are referring to the hormones estrogen and progesterone - the hormones your body makes to support menstruation and ovulation (and many other processes in the body).  

The thing to remember is this…

If you’re in menopause (or technically post-menopause - meaning you have not had a menstrual cycle in 12+ months) you’re NOT MAKING ANY estrogen or progesterone.  We’re not aiming for balance here.  You’re not making any of the hormone and we don’t expect you to be making any of that hormone.  Our goal is not to balance your hormones.  Our goal is to help you feel well and support your health even though you’re not making those hormones anymore.  

To support that goal we’re often looking at those OTHER hormones (cortisol, insulin, thyroid, melatonin, vitamin D).  We’re looking at cholesterol, blood sugar regulation, bone density, exercise and other nutrients.  When we can support these other systems, we can support healthy aging and feeling well despite the estrogen/progesterone flatline.  We might also look at adding IN of estrogen/progesterone where the flatline isn’t working well to support health.  This can be a great option for women when indicated to allow them to achieve their health goals, but works best when we’re looking at the whole picture.

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