Medically reviewed by Megan Miller, NP

Whether it’s teenage angst, mid-month ice cream cravings or mood swings, hormones get the blame for a lot of women’s minor health complaints. But how much of our health and well-being is reliant on our hormones? The answer could be a lot more — and sometimes less — than you think.

Hormones are chemical messengers that your brain sends to your body. Along with the glands that make them, hormones are a part of your endocrine system. They carry messages through your blood to your organs, skin, muscles and other tissues, telling your body what to do and when to do it. They regulate many processes, including:

Growth and development
Maintaining internal homeostasis
Metabolism
Mood
Reproduction
Sexual function
Your sleep-wake cycle

The role hormones play in a woman’s health is significant, and not only in terms of fertility, menstrual cycles and menopause. Women are more likely than men to have hormonal disorders that cause unpleasant or painful symptoms and sometimes serious health complications.

Women’s Main Messengers

Women’s bodies make certain hormones that are directly related to fertility, sex and menstruation — though their effects on the body are not limited to your reproductive organs. Those hormones include:

Estrogen, which generates the physical changes in young women during puberty and sets the stage for ovulation and pregnancy. But estrogen acts throughout your body; it also affects your brain, heart, skin, bones and other tissues. Estrogen in women is mostly made by the ovaries, but small amounts of estrogen are also produced by your adrenal glands and fatty tissues.
Progesterone, which is a steroid hormone secreted by the corpus luteum, a temporary endocrine gland that women produce after ovulation. Progesterone prepares the lining of the uterus for the possibility of pregnancy and helps the lining accept a fertilized egg. If you become pregnant, progesterone stimulates blood vessels in the endometrium that will nourish and support the growing fetus.
Testosterone, which is the primary sex hormone found in men — but it is produced in small amounts by the ovaries and adrenal glands, as well. It plays an important role in a woman’s body, contributing to sex drive, bone density and muscle strength.
Thyroid hormones, which are produced by the thyroid, a butterfly-shaped gland that sits low in the front of your neck. Thyroid hormones in both men and women control your body’s metabolism. For women, the thyroid hormones also help regulate menstrual cycles.

These aren’t the only essential hormones for women. So far, scientists have identified over 50 hormones in the human body so far, and they all operate in a delicate balance to keep you going strong.

Normal Shifts

Your hormone levels are not meant to be at static levels all the time — their fluctuation is part of how your body regulates itself. There are three common transitions specific to women that are regulated by hormones — they are all normal, though sometimes the source of unpleasant side effects:

Your Menstrual Cycle

Hormone fluctuation is a natural part of a woman’s menstrual cycle. Estrogen levels change throughout the month; they are highest in the middle of your menstrual cycle and lowest during your period. In the days before your period begins, your levels of both estrogen and progesterone drop sharply.

Your menstrual cycle also affects hormones that regulate your mood such as dopamine and serotonin, as well as the steroid hormone aldosterone, which causes fluid retention and bloating. Menstrual changes in hormone levels can cause:

Abdominal cramps
Acne
Bloating and fluid retention
Diarrhea or constipation
Headaches
Joint pain
Muscle aches
Tender breasts

These are symptoms of premenstrual syndrome (PMS), which is common. If these symptoms are severe enough to disrupt your daily activities, they may be a sign of premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD), which is not normal — women with severe PMS symptoms should talk to their gynecologist.

Pregnancy

If you become pregnant, the hormone levels in your body go through significant changes as your body switches gears to support the growing fetus. Those hormone shifts include changes in the levels of:

Estrogen and progestin, which are made by the placenta to help maintain a healthy pregnancy
Human chorionic gonadotropin hormone (hCG), which is only made during pregnancy and may play a part in the nausea and vomiting often linked to pregnancy
Human placental lactogen (hPL), which is made by the placenta and gives nutrition to the fetus. It also stimulates milk glands in the breasts for breastfeeding.

These aren’t the only hormonal shifts that occur during pregnancy. For example, relaxin is a hormone produced by the ovaries and placenta that helps the body prepare for childbirth by relaxing the ligaments in the pelvis and softening and widening the cervix.

Perimenopause and Menopause

Sometime after age 40, women enter perimenopause, a phase during which the natural rise and fall of estrogen and progesterone levels becomes more irregular. Testosterone levels go down during perimenopause, as well. Perimenopause can last for many years, and once your period has stopped for a full twelve months, you have reached menopause.

For many women, this transition can cause several symptoms that, while unpleasant, often resolve over time. Those symptoms can include:

Decreased sex drive
Headaches
Hot flashes
Insomnia
Night sweats
Weight gain

If your symptoms of menopause are disrupting your daily life, talk with your gynecologist about treatments that may ease those symptoms. It’s also worth noting that some changes, such as an increase in fatigue, weight gain, irritability or decreased sex drive could be the result of stress or other health conditions — and those factors can affect not only your hormones but also your health overall.

When the Balance Is Off

Hormones are potent forces in your body, and when they are out of balance, they can cause significant changes. But the term hormonal imbalance is broad, and it can refer to all kinds of conditions, from the mildly irritating to the life threatening. While both men and women can experience hormone imbalances, some conditions are especially prevalent in women.

Sex hormone imbalances: An imbalance in sex hormones can cause a wide range of symptoms, depending on which hormone is out of balance. These symptoms can also be related (or caused by) a number of other health conditions, so it can be tough to determine their source. They include:

Acne on your face, chest or upper back
Food cravings
Changes in muscle mass
Changes sexual desire
Dry skin
Fatigue
Fibrocystic breasts (non-cancerous breast lumps)
Hair growth and hair loss
Headaches
Hot flashes, sweating or night sweats
Infertility
Insomnia or difficulty falling or staying asleep
Insulin resistance
Irregular periods
Menstrual changes including light bleeding, heavy bleeding, infrequent periods or periods that stop altogether
Mood swings or changes in mood, such as feeling depressed or anxious
Premenstrual syndrome (PMS) that gets worse
Vaginal atrophy or dryness
Weight gain, particularly in the midsection (waist, hips and thighs)
Uterine fibroids (non-cancerous tumors in the uterus)

Polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS): PCOS is an endocrine condition that is sometimes seen in women of childbearing age who have difficulty getting pregnant. Women with PCOS have symptoms that can include:

Acne
An apple-shaped body
Carbohydrate intolerance – a condition that makes you prone to gaining weight
Elevated triglycerides
Excessive or thinning hair
Insulin resistance
High blood pressure
Low levels of “good” cholesterol, high levels of “bad” cholesterol
Menstrual irregularity
Obesity

Thyroid disorders: One in eight women will develop thyroid problems during her lifetime. Women are more likely than men to have thyroid problems, and this likelihood goes up shortly after a pregnancy and also after menopause.

Hypothyroidism, in which the thyroid does not produce enough hormones, may not cause symptoms at first, but as it worsens it can lead to:

Constipation
Depression
Dry skin
Elevated blood cholesterol levels
Fatigue
Heavy or irregular menstrual periods
Hoarseness
Impaired memory
Increased sensitivity to cold
Pain, stiffness or swelling in your joints
Puffy face
Muscle aches, tenderness and stiffness
Muscle weakness
Slowed heart rate
Thinning hair
Weight gain

Other hormonal imbalances: Other illnesses that arise from hormone imbalances and wreak havoc in women’s bodies include:

Addison’s disease and congenital adrenal hyperplasia — conditions in which the adrenal glands don’t produce enough of the steroid hormones cortisol and aldosterone
Cushing syndrome — having too much cortisol, often known as the stress hormone
Diabetes — you may not think of diabetes as a hormone imbalance, but it arises when your pancreas doesn’t make any or enough of the hormone insulin, or when your body doesn’t use insulin properly.
Hashimoto’s disease — an autoimmune disorder that leads to an underactive thyroid

These diseases require treatment and some of them raise the risk of serious concerns, including adrenal crisis, high blood pressure, heart disease, insulin shock and cancer.

Don’t Shoot the Messenger

Before you blame all your woes on hormones, consider that hormone imbalances are also sometimes the result of a problem, not the underlying cause. Stress, lifestyle choices, medications, tumors, chemotherapy and trauma can all create hormone imbalances.

If you’re worried about hormone imbalances, a good first step is to take a look at what’s going on in your life and your health. Many of the symptoms that can be caused by hormone issues can also be caused by other conditions. And lots of conditions can throw your hormones out of whack.

You don’t need to figure it out on your own. If you notice symptoms that don’t go away, that get worse or that affect your daily life, it’s important to talk to your physician — no matter what you think the cause might be.

Bringing hormone levels back into balance can help alleviate symptoms as well as treat more serious complications. Many hormone imbalances can be treated by your primary care physician; endocrinologists and gynecologists can also diagnose and address many common hormone disorders.