HealthBee

First a note: depression is not a disease with just one or a few factors that cause it. Many things can be the cause of it and to say that depression is caused ONLY by a hormone imbalance or ONLY by negative thinking or ONLY because depression runs in your family is false information. However, a hormone imbalance can be one of many potential causes of depression. This article outlines some of the more common hormone imbalances that may be contributing to an individual’s depression.

Also, before doing anything, if you experience any of these symptoms, go to a doctor and get your hormones tested to see if a hormone imbalance could be the issue.

Excess Estrogen
Excess estrogen can also be a cause of depression for both women and men. For women, simply getting off of birth control pills or changing your HRT therapy to a bioidentical hormone could alleviate these symptoms. For me personally, getting off of birth control pills made a world of difference.

Some of the symptoms of excess estrogen are:

• Puffiness and bloating
• Cervical dysplasia (abnormal pap smear)
• Rapid weight gain
• Breast tenderness
• Mood swings
• Heavy bleeding
• Anxious depression
• Migraine headaches
• Insomnia
• Foggy thinking
• Red flush on face
• Gallbladder problems
• Weepines

Amenorrhea is the absence of menstrual bleeding. Amenorrhea is a normal feature in prepubertal, pregnant, and postmenopausal females, however, if it is prolonged, it indicates low estrogen levels.

Estrogen helps women absorb the calcium they take into their bodies. While estrogen doesn’t seem to be more than a sex hormone, most tissues in the body have receptors for estrogen.

Bones contain two different types of cells. Osteoblasts are cells that build bone. Osteoclasts are cells that dissolve old bone so new bone can be added. Estrogen stimulates osteoblasts and more importantly, suppresses osteoclasts.

With less estrogen in the body, such as during menopause, the bone builders, the osteoblasts are outdone by the osteoclasts. Bone building activity never stops happening, but sometimes new bone is being produced at a slower rate than the old bone dissolving.

Estrogen also helps the intestines to absorb calcium, and prevents it from being excreted by the kidneys. It also stimulates the activity of Vitamin D which is essential for absorbing calcium.