Testosterone is primarily a male hormone, however it’s also current in women.
Weight acquire, pimples and hair loss are signs of hormonal modifications, together with excessive testosterone.
Doctors could inform sufferers of excessive testosterone ranges, however they could not all the time provide a lot recommendation on tips on how to decrease your testosterone ranges that will help you really feel higher.
So, what are the explanations women have excessive testosterone and how are you going to decrease it?
It’s essential to know what is occurring in your physique as a way to return to regular.
In most instances (95% of the time), excessive testosterone is brought on by one thing else, like one other hormonal imbalance.
Tackling the basis problem will assist enhance your excessive testosterone ranges.
Symptoms
Understanding signs may be very important in diagnosing excessive testosterone, as every particular person varies in phrases of what’s thought-about an excessive amount of for his or her physique.
There are loads of women who’ve “normal” testosterone ranges, however have all of the signs of an excessive amount of testosterone, as a result of what is taken into account the typical regular is definitely excessive for them individually.
While the testosterone ranges in these sufferers could seem comparatively “normal”, they are going to nonetheless profit enormously from remedy to assist handle their signs.
Fat cells can contribute to androgen manufacturing, thus obese and overweight women could expertise greater ranges of testosterone. — FilepicSome widespread signs of excessive testosterone ranges in women embody:
- Imbalances of different hormones, together with the ratio of oestrogen and progesterone, different androgens like dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA), and thyroid hormone.
- Changes in temper, together with despair, irritability or anger.
- Weight acquire (particularly whether it is surprising), or lack of ability to shed weight.
- Acne, modifications in complexion or very oily pores and skin (deep cystic pimples, often on the jawline, is widespread with excessive androgen ranges).
- Hair loss (particularly if thyroid perform and different hormones are regular and if the hair loss is “male-patterned”).
Many of those signs are usually non-specific, therefore there will probably be some overlap with different hormone imbalances in your physique.
For instance, weight acquire and hair loss are additionally indicators of thyroid issues, however not male-patterned baldness.
Additionally, thyroid points could cause pimples, however such pimples often isn’t cystic or situated on the jawline.
If you employ these particular clues, you would possibly be capable of precisely guess the place your hormonal issues are coming from.
However, because of the overlap of signs, it’s all the time finest to seek the advice of your physician and get the related hormone ranges examined.
Causes and remedy
Managing excessive ranges of hormones could be difficult as a result of it requires digging into the basis trigger.
Anything that will increase sure hormones may enhance your complete testosterone (even whether it is taken as a complement!).
As a end result, when evaluating testosterone ranges, it’s a good suggestion to additionally test serum DHEA ranges, in addition to cortisol ranges.
The following are widespread causes of excessive testosterone, however do observe that there are additionally different causes not in this listing.
> Imbalance in oestrogen and progesterone
Hormones in your physique work together with each other.
When one hormone is imbalanced, it can finally affect different hormones in the physique.
Despite the shortage of readability in regards to the actual mechanism, there’s undoubtedly a correlation between testosterone, and progesterone and oestrogen.
Treatment: Check for oestrogen and progesterone imbalances by blood serum ranges.
Maintain optimum thyroid perform as hypothyroidism could cause low progesterone ranges and oestrogen dominance.
To guarantee optimum oestrogen excretion and metabolism, be certain your liver is functioning correctly, and that your B nutritional vitamins and vitamins are methylated.
Consider dietary supplements to assist with oestrogen metabolism.
These embody vitamin B12 (ideally methylcobalamin), 5-MTHF (methyltetrahydrofolate), DIM (diindolylmethane) or indole-3-carbinol, milk thistle, MSM (methylsulphonylmethane) and bio-identical progesterone (20-40mg transdermally on days 14-28 of your menstrual cycle).
> Resistance to insulin
Insulin resistance often causes low testosterone in males, however it might probably trigger excessive testosterone in women.
If you could have each excessive testosterone and excessive insulin ranges, then insulin is certainly contributing to your hormone imbalance.
Check your HbA1c and fasting insulin ranges, in addition to free and complete testosterone ranges.
Treatment: Consider insulin-sensitising medicines similar to SGLT-2 (sodium-glucose co-transporter 2) inhibitors, metformin, GLP-1 (glycogen-like peptide 1) agonists and alpha-amylase inhibitors.
Increase thyroid perform and insulin sensitivity by utilizing T3 hormone dietary supplements.
Consider dietary supplements similar to berberine (1,000-2,000mg per day), alpha lipoic acid (600-1,200mg per day), magnesium, chromium and glucomannnan, which have been proven to cut back blood sugar and insulin ranges.
Insulin resistance is widespread amongst women with weight-loss resistance (and issues dropping pounds).
Do not ignore this hormone and be sure you get correctly evaluated if in case you have insulin resistance.
> Weight acquire
Women with extra fats even have greater ranges of testosterone as fats cells enhance androgens in the physique.
Additionally, these cells enhance insulin resistance, ensuing in additional androgen extra (excessive testosterone).
To normalise testosterone ranges, it’s essential to shed weight in addition to the opposite therapies above.
Treatment: You would possibly wish to take into account diets like dietary ketosis if you wish to lower carbohydrates (particularly refined carbohydrates similar to sugar, bread, pasta, and so forth.)
A chronic or intermittent fasting programme could also be helpful.
Meditation and spending time in nature are two methods we are able to deal with stress and ameliorate adrenal illness. — FilepicConsider train as an extra solution to stop your physique from growing excessive ranges of testosterone.
Lack of train doesn’t trigger excessive testosterone ranges instantly, however train does assist stop excessive ranges.
By sensitising your cells to insulin, train lowers insulin ranges.
Exercising could assist steadiness testosterone to spice up muscle mass and libido.
Treatment: Strength-training or high-intensity interval coaching (HIIT) can enhance insulin sensitivity.
> High ranges of leptin
When you don’t obtain the sign to burn fats, your mind does the other as an alternative.
Fat cells produce leptin, a hormone that controls urge for food and metabolism.
Leptin ranges are excessive in women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), and insulin resistance additional worsens testosterone ranges in women with leptin resistance.
Therefore, excessive insulin ranges result in elevated testosterone ranges in women with PCOS.
Treatment: Consider leptin-sensitising medicines like exenatide and liraglutide.
While there are not any particular dietary supplements to deal with leptin resistance which have been proven to work persistently, you may strive the insulin-sensitising dietary supplements listed above, in addition to fish oil, zinc and leucine.
Cut down your carbohydrate and fructose consumption as each make leptin ranges worse.
Treat underlying thyroid resistance and insulin resistance if current.
> Adrenal illness
There are a number of precursors to testosterone, together with DHEA, pregnenolone, progesterone and androstenedione, that are produced by the adrenal glands in this situation.
Treatment: Add consumption of salt like Himalayan pink salt or Celtic sea salt.
Manage stress ranges with rest strategies like yoga, meditation, non secular contemplation or prayer, time exterior or in nature, and so forth.
Reduce caffeine and alcohol consumption.
Avoid different stimulates like amphetamine-based medicines (amphetamine, methylphenidate hydrochloride, phentermine, and so forth).
Get eight hours of sleep per evening, and keep away from high-energy duties late at evening, in addition to taking naps through the day.
Consider the next dietary supplements: vitamin B6, adrenal glandulars, adrenal adaptogens, vitamin C, and low doses of melatonin.
In conclusion
High testosterone ranges could be handled, however the underlying trigger should be addressed.
You ought to be capable of scale back your signs dramatically when you diagnose and deal with the underlying trigger correctly.
The commonest causes of excessive testosterone are insulin resistance, leptin resistance, oestrogen/progesterone imbalances, adrenal dysfunction and poor weight-reduction plan/way of life.
If you might be critical about treating your excessive testosterone ranges, discover a health care provider who is aware of tips on how to steadiness hormones and is prepared to dig into the reason for your drawback.
Datuk Dr Nor Ashikin Mokhtar is a marketing consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist, and a useful drugs practitioner. For additional data, e-mail [email protected]. The data supplied is for academic and communication functions solely, and it shouldn’t be construed as private medical recommendation. Information revealed in this text is just not supposed to switch, supplant or increase a session with a well being skilled relating to the reader’s personal medical care. The Star doesn’t give any guarantee on accuracy, completeness, performance, usefulness or different assurances as to the content material showing in this column. The Star disclaims all accountability for any losses, injury to property or private damage suffered instantly or not directly from reliance on such data.
