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You might have experienced stiffness when walking up the stairs, when getting out of bed or when standing from a sitting position. Your knees or ankles might have protested, or you might feel pain in your shoulders when you move your arms.

Aching joints or joints that creak when you move aren’t a sign that you’re getting old. Anyone can experience joint problems. It can be caused from damage from injury or it can be caused simply by living your life.

Joint pain or creaking is something that can also be caused by carrying too much weight - because this puts too much pressure on your joints. It’s common for people who have joint pain to want to find something to stop the pain.

That’s why most people will either make an appointment and go see their doctor or they’ll take inflammatory relieving medications. But what you might not realize is that your hormones could be what’s behind problems with your joints.

At any stage in your life, your hormones can get whacky and you’ll feel it in your bones. So if your joints have been bothering you, keep in mind, it could be because of a problem with one or more hormones in your endocrine system.

One of the main causes of experiencing problems with the joints when it’s hormonal in nature is estrogen imbalance. But it can also be problems with your testosterone or progesterone.

Research has revealed that for people whose hormones are out of balance, hormone replacement therapy or HRT can help with your joint health. The use of HRT isn’t new, but researchers are discovering that the treatment offers more health benefits that originally thought.

When you take either the synthetic or bioidentical HRT, you’ll either take it through the use of patches, through pills or topically through the use of gels or creams. When you take this replacement method, the HRT brings your hormonal balance back up to where it should be - which brings relief to your joints.

Depending on which HRT you take, you’ll get varying amounts of the hormone since one mimics your body’s natural hormones but the other does not. What people who take HRT like about it is that the treatment doesn’t just give them a temporary fix.

The treatment works to keep the pain staved off so that they’re not experiencing the pain or problems that they were before they started taking it. The HRT can also help protect your joint health from osteoarthritis, which is a disease that you can get regardless of your age.

You can get this when your hormones are out of balance. By taking HRT, you can protect your joint tissues, which in turn protects the joints and helps keep inflammation away.

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Whenever your estrogen levels are off, it can affect your metabolism When you have excess levels of estrogen, it makes you gain weight. This happens because estrogen is linked to your ability to use fat and it’s also linked to the way that your body holds onto it.

Higher levels of estrogen create a condition where the body actually fights weight loss so that you end up not losing - and in many cases, you can end up adding pounds. This excess estrogen problem can be caused by your body’s own natural estrogen or through the use of synthetic estrogen.

This is why some women on HRT end up gaining weight. When your estrogen hormone levels get out of balance and you end up with more than you need, it can trigger fat added in specific areas of your body.

It most commonly appears in the abdominal area, but it can also cause you to gain fat in the area of the breasts. What’s happening is that the extra estrogen is triggering your body to begin a cycle of increasing the fat stores that you have.

One sign that your estrogen is off balance is when you notice that you’re gaining weight around your mid-section and you’ve done nothing to bring on those changes - such as decreasing or stopping exercise or eating more.

Many women don’t understand why, when estrogen levels are supposed to diminish during something such as menopause, why they still end up gaining weight. That’s because when your body recognizes that estrogen levels are dropping, it starts the process of trying to stop the loss of estrogen.

This causes estrogen to stay within the cells, resulting in excess estrogen in your fat. The body then, still in the mode of hanging onto estrogen, doesn’t want to let go of any of the calories found in the food that you eat.

Your body will burn what it needs for fuel, but every single calorie after that, it will put in your fat storage, which in turn creates more fat. This is why, as women age, they get what they believe is just a “middle age spread” - when it’s actually estrogen that’s behind that growth.

The changes that occur in a woman’s life as she heads toward menopause create a response within her body that makes it more favorable for estrogen to cause calories to turn into fat.

This is why a woman has to make some lifestyle changes to combat the estrogen-caused weight gain situation. You can take supplements that balance estrogen and you can also eliminate foods that are known to promote fat stores.

By eating a diet that focuses on low fat foods - such as vegetables, which contain nutrients that fight against fat storage, you won’t hold onto those extra fat stores caused by the high estrogen.

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A women has different types of estrogen in her body and there are different kinds of estrogen that she can take to replace the hormone or bring it into balance. You need estrogen in order for your body functions to run smoothly.

Some people think of estrogen as just a reproductive hormone, but it’s so much more than that. This chemical messenger alerts your body when it’s time for specific jobs to be carried out.

Estrogen is responsible for the shape of your bones, the development of your curves, and the strength of your hair. It’s also needed to give you insulin sensitivity, your voice tone and provides your skin with optimal health.

When estrogen is out of balance, everything from your reproductive system and more can start to have problems. Your body makes estrogen in three different types. These are known as E followed by a number to identify which one it is.

So women have E1, E2 and E3 estrogen in their bodies. Estrone is E1, Estradiol is E2 and Estriol is E3. Different times in a woman’s life can cause the introduction of certain estrogens.

Most women have E2 estrogen. This common hormone will ebb and flow within the body depending on what’s going on such as ovulation, menstruation, or menopause.

The three estrogens all have a job to do and it depends on the reproductive stage as to which one will be more plentiful.

For example, during menopause, the type of estrogen changes and becomes E1. This estrogen is a milder hormone than E2. Sometimes, a woman’s body can have an estrogen imbalance or she’ll reach the stage where her body is simply not producing enough.

When that happens, estrogen replacement therapy can be an option to counter the effects of low or out of balance hormones. You can get estrogen pills that you take once a day and the name brand or generic of the pill will vary, depending on what your doctor prescribes for you.

These pills do have some troublesome side effects. Instead of taking estrogen pills, some women opt to use estrogen patches. Taking the patch offers a lower risk of blood clots than taking the oral estrogen.

Certain medical conditions - such as having liver problems - make taking both oral and the patch form of estrogen riskier. But there are sprays, creams or gel forms of estrogen treatment that are safer for the liver.

Another type of estrogen that you can use is applied vaginally, such as a suppository or insertable rings. How fast and effective estrogen will be for you will depend on the type that you take - since some are absorbed more directly than other forms.

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Not every woman knows what estrogen is and the role that it plays in her life. Estrogen is the hormone that ebbs and flows depending on a woman’s stage of life. It rising as a result of puberty, but falls when it reaches the beginning stages of menopause.

You might think that estrogen is like a smooth road from one point of life to the next, but unfortunately, this hormone has been known to create a rollercoaster in a woman’s life. When it gets off balance, it can cause some upsetting side effects as well as carry significant health risks.

When your estrogen level is off, it can cause you to gain weight rapidly. It can also cause difficulty getting pregnant, irregular menstrual cycles and raise your odds of developing some diseases - including cancer.

When estrogen works like it’s supposed to, a woman’s body functions occur like clockwork. But when it doesn’t, it can create problems beginning all the way from puberty on.

If the estrogen is off balance, it impacts how often a woman ovulates. If the estrogen levels are too low, then the body doesn’t cycle through with the thickening of the endometrial lining.

If the estrogen levels aren’t normal, ovulation may not take place. Not only can this cause difficulty for a woman to have a child, but it can also lead to many problems within the reproductive system.

When unbalanced estrogen levels cause weight fluctuations, it can lead to obesity. The problem with estrogen related obesity is that it raises the occurrence of visceral fat, specifically in the abdominal area.

Too much estrogen can lead to cancer. Medical studies have shown that women who have excess amounts of this hormone are at high risk for developing what’s known as the estrogen cancers.

These are specifically breast, ovarian and uterine cancer. Keeping your estrogen within healthy, normal ranges can greatly minimize your chances of getting these types of cancers.

If your estrogen isn’t balanced, you can get a condition that’s known as estrogen dominance. This is what happens when you have high levels of estrogen as compared to your progesterone levels.

Signs of this include irregular menstrual cycles, the development of fibroids, passing large clots during menstruation, cysts, low sex drive, miscarriages, and emotional symptoms.

The emotional symptoms include anxiety and depression. There are various reasons that your estrogen levels can get off balance, but as far as hormones go, you’ll want to make sure you get this one tested and back to normal as soon as possible to help prevent health risks.

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A hormonal imbalance is something that can affect your body from head to toe. Depending on which hormones are out of balance, it can affect your ability to move with strength and agility and it can affect your mind – making it difficult to make important decisions wisely.

Some people think that hormone imbalances are a way of life, but they’re not. When you get a hormone imbalance, it’s a warning sign that you need to take seriously because it can affect major organs in your body and cause some serious consequences.

Other people think that a hormone imbalance is no big deal - but this isn’t true either. A hormone imbalance can impact your life to the point that you’re not able to work or to even stay awake during the day.

It’s not just your short term health that gets affected by a hormone imbalance, either. When your hormones are off balance, it can lead to aging diseases. By restoring your hormones to the right balance, you can protect yourself against these conditions.

When your hormones get unbalanced, such as your estrogen levels, this can lead to heart disease. This can lead to anything from needing surgery for a clogged artery to a heart attack, but it can also lead to fatal heart events.

If your thyroid hormones get off balance, it can lead to hyper or hypothyroidism. If you get hypothyroidism and the hormones that cause the condition aren’t balanced, it can lead to aging diseases such as ovarian failure.

It’s also been linked to rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, and disease of the adrenal glands. Dementia is a condition long associated with aging. But what many people don’t realize is that you can get dementia from metabolic malfunction.

That means if your hormones are unbalanced, you become a candidate for dementia that’s known as non-degenerative dementia. People who have a problem with their thyroid hormones being out of balance are at high risk for developing this type of dementia.

If your hormones are out of balance and have led to either hyper or hypothyroidism, you need to repair the imbalance in order to protect yourself. In some cases, hormonal thyroid imbalance can also cause you to develop thyroid cancer when you’re older.

If your parathyroid hormones are off, you can develop the aging disease osteoporosis because your body can’t hold onto the calcium that it needs to keep up the right amount of bone density.

If your adrenal hormones aren’t balanced, this can cause age related kidney problems - including kidney failure. By taking steps now to repair any hormonal imbalance you may have, you can protect your body from the risk of certain diseases that are age related.

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All too often, when many people all report having the same symptoms, it’s said that it’s a common problem. That’s what happened with hormonal imbalances. Because so many people experience this, it became a common thing.

The problem that happens when something is commonly experienced is that people then begin to accept it as normal. They believe that plenty of others are struggling with hormones, having the same symptoms and it is what it is.

Even the symptoms reported are similar - the mood swings, the brain fog, weight gain, bloating, fatigue, PMS, and irregular periods. What happened was that over time, someone began to say that with age, certain changes were going to come and these changes would throw off the hormones.

Everyone started saying it was just a fact of life. But the truth is that hormonal imbalances are not just a fact of life. They’re not normal - despite how many people have them.

Far too many people suffer - some of them to the point where they can no longer carry on doing the activities that they love, because they believe the myth that a hormonal imbalance is bound to happen.

They think there’s nothing they can do to prevent it and nothing they can do to fix it where it will just go away. If you think that there’s nothing that can be done about a hormonal imbalance, then you’ve bought into the myth.

It doesn’t matter if ten thousand or a hundred thousand people all have the same symptoms in common when it comes to their hormones. High numbers of people suffering the same thing doesn’t mean that it’s what’s normal.

Your hormones getting out of balance isn’t normal - and that fact doesn’t change no matter what stage of life you’re in or how old you are. Your body knows exactly what it needs.

It knows how to function, and it has all the timing down when it comes to your hormones. If something goes wrong and they get out of balance, there’s always a trigger.

Something happened to throw them off. They don’t just get the signal one day to get out of line and start wreaking havoc in your life. It could be that your adrenal glands quit producing the material needed to keep them in balance.

Fix the adrenal problem and you fix the hormone imbalance. It could be that your cortisol levels stay too high because you’re experiencing a lot of stress in your life.

Cortisol levels impact your hormones.

Fix the stress and you fix the cortisol. There is always an answer to every problem and that includes when your hormones go awry. You don’t have to grin and bear it. Suffering doesn’t have to be part of your day in any way.

A hormonal imbalance is a condition. That’s why you have symptoms. It’s a warning to your body that they’re off kilter and alerting you so that you can take steps to get them corrected.

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Fatigue is a health concern in which you can become so tired that you find it difficult to get out of bed - much less get through your daily activities. When you hit this level of tiredness, something is going on inside your body that robs it of the ability to function normally.

What you need to be aware of is that fatigue itself is not a diagnosis. It’s a symptom that you have a medical situation going on that needs to be examined. There are several different causes of fatigue.

One cause is when you simply push yourself beyond your body’s capabilities. But for most people, fatigue isn’t caused by something they can point to and say that it happened because they overdid it.

The main cause of fatigue, especially in women, is due to a hormonal imbalance. It can take awhile for your hormones to get out of whack - and because it happens so slowly, many women don’t notice it until the fatigue sets in.

When hormones get too high or too low, it impacts every aspect of your health. One of the causes of fatigue in women is when estrogen and progesterone levels aren’t where they should be.

When these levels are off, you’ll notice that you begin to drag and you may also notice that you’re suddenly not sleeping well - even though you feel bone tired. As a woman goes through specific stages in life, there’s a greater chance for a hormonal imbalance to kick in.

When a young woman hits puberty, her hormones can suddenly change and this can lead to that imbalance, followed by fatigue. During monthly menstrual cycles, the levels of estrogen can drop low and lead to fatigue.

When a woman is pregnant, this can also cause a hormone imbalance. So can the time immediately following childbirth. For women who are older, it’s perimenopause and menopause that can be behind the fatigue.

One of the reasons for a hormonal imbalance during these times in a woman’s life is when the estrogen level isn’t right. Estrogen is what impacts cortisol and cortisol is what’s in charge of the body’s ability to deal with stress.

When the estrogen level isn’t right, the cortisol can’t do its job, which in turn leads to great imbalance and fatigue. When the estrogen is off, the progesterone can be out of whack as well.

One hormone, estrogen, can sometimes be higher in production during a hormonal imbalance. This can lead to cortisol changes, which cycles right back to fatigue again. If you have a hormone imbalance in your thyroid, this can lead to a reduced level of the hormone that’s needed for energy.

Because the thyroid isn’t making enough, which is called hypothyroidism, this can lead to fatigue. Women experiencing fatigue should have an endocrine workup done by their doctor to test their hormone levels.

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Most people think of testosterone as purely a male hormone, but women do have small amounts of this in their body. They need this hormone working together with their other hormones in order to maintain a good balance and healthy outcome.

This hormone is one that helps level out mood swings. It can keep fatigue at bay and it can help promote a healthy libido. This hormone is naturally produced in a woman’s body by the adrenals.

The ovaries also produce some amounts of testosterone. You might not realize that without testosterone being in your body, it can rob your muscles of their ability to function as well as they should.

Testosterone is a hormone that helps boost your bone growth. So when the levels are unbalanced in a woman’s body, it can lead to a loss of bone density. This hormone works in conjunction with other hormones to help boost your cognitive abilities, too.

Not only does testosterone help keep you in good health, but it also plays a role in the shape of your body. Women who are lacking in the proper amount of testosterone can find that their body holds onto fat deposits more in one area than in another.

If you don’t have the right amount of this hormone, you’ll notice that your muscles can become flabby, you’ll experience bursts of irritability and you can have trouble with something called brain fog.

You might think that this hormone isn’t really something that you have to worry about when you’re young. But the truth is that declining testosterone levels actually begin early on.

Women in their 20s can begin to have levels of testosterone that are below the average minimum for good health. When a woman reaches menopause, the testosterone levels drop significantly.

Testosterone also plays a role in your brain’s long term health. When you have a normal level of this hormone, it can help prevent you from certain mental decline or diseases as you grow older.

Women who have a good range of testosterone won’t have the same risk of developing dementia as they age. That’s because testosterone helps protect your brain. When your testosterone is in balance, you don’t have the same mood swings that you would if it was faulty.

Testosterone is one of those hormones that has to be normalized because too little can cause the same level of side effects that too much can. If your testosterone levels get too high, it can cause facial hair growth, thinning or loss of hair and irregular periods.

It can even cause polycystic ovarian syndrome.

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Hormones are something that many young women don’t think about it because they believe if they’re not over 50, then they don’t have to worry about a hormone imbalance.

But the truth is that hormone issues aren’t something that are unique to older women - or any specific age group at all.

Hormones and their associated troubles don’t play by any set of age rules and you could be experiencing a hormonal imbalance even if you’re young. So much of your body is regulated by the production of hormones.

When that production isn’t in balance, it can lead to a host of ill health, including fatigue, as well as interruptions to the function of certain organs. You might even be feeling the effects of this imbalance and just not realize that’s what it is.

There are several organs within your body that are supposed to produce hormones and release them at specific times during the day. Your thyroid, adrenal glands and pituitary glands are usually the ones that are most often likely to be out of balance.

You can have a hormonal imbalance in your twenties that affects your ability to lose weight, get pregnant or regulate your menstrual cycle. This imbalance can also make you grouchy, feel weepy or even cause you to have depression.

A hormone imbalance has many different symptoms and it’s often easily overlooked by those suffering from it as well as those in the medical field. If you’re having trouble losing weight, your hair is thinning, you’re tired all the time or you feel dizzy, those are all signs that something could be off kilter about your hormones.

Having trouble remembering things, getting headaches or experiencing a loss of sex drive are all issues that can all be linked to a hormonal imbalance. The reason that a hormonal imbalance can occur at any age is because the cause of this imbalance is not just associated with growing older.

Your hormones are affected by the amount of stress in your life - especially if the stress is on-going (chronic) - and this can be both physical or emotional stress. If you eat a diet containing certain foods, this can also affect your hormones.

These foods can cause your hormones levels to rise or drop. For example, olive oil can boost estrogen, but cabbage lowers estrogen. Knowing the symptoms of a hormonal balance can be beneficial to you regardless of your age because the sooner you’re diagnosed with it, the sooner you can get treated and on the road to feeling better.

To get tested, you can have bloodwork or a saliva test performed and depending on where your levels fall, treatment can then be determined by you and your physician. Some will be prescribed, while others will be over the counter or lifestyle changes.