The Hormone Connection: On average women tend to get by on less then 6 1/2 hours of sleep during the work week and 7 hours on weekends, often interrupted. Job stress, family stress, that “not enough hours in the day feeling” can contribute to a woman’s sleepless nights. But so can her hormonal fluctuations and changes. PMS, pregnancy, perimenopause, and menopause bring with them estrogen and progesterone fluctuations that can lead to increased wakefulness at night.

During the luteal phase of a women’s menstrual cycle, (days 14-24 after menses begins) as progesterone levels increase, sleep often comes easily. Then as progesterone declines, falling asleep can become more challenging. Progesterone, known as the calming hormone, is also believed to influence sleep during pregnancy. One of the most common complaints of my perimenopausal and menopausal patients is a change of sleep patterns. Studies have shown that between 50-60% of all perimenopausal and menopausal women have difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep throughout the night, with shortened periods of restful or deep sleep. This can be due to wildly fluctuating progesterone and estrogen levels as well as cortisol increase from overactive Adrenal Glands.

Most of us fall asleep when our body temperature is declining. As heat is lost through the skin, and the core body temperature declines, drowsiness increases. The hormonal changes that come with menopause affect the body’s temperature-regulating mechanisms, which could account for the increased sleep difficulty that comes with menopause and aging.

The Stress Zone: Chronic Insomnia increases levels of the stress hormone cortisol. Insomniacs with the highest degree of sleep disturbance secrete the highest amount of cortisol, particularly in the evening and nighttime hours when cortisol levels should be low. This means that insomniacs are producing stress hormone levels that actually prevent them from sleeping. They are suffering from sustained, round-the-clock activation of the body’s system for responding to stress. Continually living with stress of to little sleep can aggravate and intensify other medical conditions like high blood pressure, digestive disorders and weaken the body’s ability to fight off illness as well as cause increased weight gain. Also continually living with increased stress during the day can trigger this response as well causing Adrenal overload and cortisol overload preventing good sleep. (An important hormone we check during our Saliva Testing)

Natural Bioidentical Estrogen replacement therapy has been shown to improve sleep quality, facilitate sleep onset, and decrease nighttime restlessness and awakenings. Women taking bioidentical estrogen report feeling less tired in the morning and throughout the day. They also report that other symptoms of menopause such as hot flashes, muscle aches, and mood swings are improved. Another reason to check your hormones levels and supplement is low estrogen levels are associated with increased heart rate and blood pressure in response to stress (which is why many women report anxiety and heart palpitations during perimenopause and menopause). Restoring estrogen with natural bioidentical formulas helps restore the body to a more youthful less stress state. Estrogen, Progesterone, Cortisol, DHEA, Testosterone, DHT and Melatonin all play a role with how the body balances throughout any given day and therefore all important hormones to test when the body is not feeling like yourself.

The relationship between hormones is synchronistic, and delicate. What effects one, can affect the others. When one hormone is out of balance the synchrony can be disrupted. It is important never to just supplement one hormone without a full comprehensive evaluation. At our office we offer a 2 hour one-on-one evaluation with the doctor with computerized technology to evaluate the total health and wellness of the body. To assess the hormones we offer Blood Analysis and Comprehensive Saliva Testing in combination with our 2 hour consultation or for those of you already working with me any follow up evaluation. We offer full panel testing of all hormones based on your body’s specific symptoms and needs. Many insurances cover both Blood and Saliva Testing and for those of you without insurance we have a special cash discounts for the Saliva Hormone Testing.

If you’d like further information please don’t hesitate to contact our office and stay tuned for more blog posts on hormones and balancing your body from the inside out. All my best for continued great health,
Dr. Stephanie King

Dr. King’s passion for health and wellness and helping those whose doctors have given up is astounding. She does not give up, in fact, SHE LOVES pursing a challenge. She enjoys going to work each day hoping there is a new challenge waiting for her to solve. She even endearingly calls her group of patients the 10% because they are the ones that require extra attention, more time and that TLC that she has in her heart to give because of her love for her family, which is really what her patients are to her.

Whether it is treating illness, weight issues, hormone imbalances, or joint issues, no matter what you’ve tried, you haven’t tried them ALL until you’ve worked with Dr. King!

Dr. Stephanie King is an expert in Alternative Health Care, body mechanics, nutrition, weight loss, renewed health programs, bio-identical hormones and so much more. People that have failed other programs seek her out from across the country to join her 2 Weeks 2 a New YOU program. When there is a doctor next door advertising the same services, WHY do people fly from other states to see Dr. King? Here’s why: