Understanding Your Anxiety

Increased heart rate, rapid breathing, constant worry, and sweating are all common symptoms of an anxiety disorder. According to ADAA, 40 million adults in the United States over the age of 18 suffer from anxiety disorders. It’s pretty common for people to notice an increase in their anxiety during stressful situations like speaking in front of a large group or when they have to take a test. But some people experience it in more day to day situations. What many people don’t realize though is that your hormones can play a large role in your anxiety. Understanding your anxiety is extremely important so that you are able to properly treat it.

Understanding Your Anxiety

Anxiety is a common emotion. Most people will feel it at some point in their life. Depending on the level of your anxiety though, it can start to affect your daily life and even physically affect you. Some people’s anxiety stems from deeper psychological or traumatic issues that they have not worked through which is why it’s important to figure out the main reason for your anxiety.

For both men and women, stress is a very common cause of anxiety. Stress can be caused by a variety of different factors which will vary for everyone. When you are feeling stressed for long periods of times, it can start to affect your cortisol and adrenaline levels which can then eventually lead to feelings of anxiety. Just like stress can affect your anxiety and hormones, a women’s menstrual cycle can as well. Anxiety can be connected to chemical imbalances within the body so it’s no surprise that when we are experiencing things like stress or menstruation we will start to get more anxious.

Hormones and Anxiety

Feelings of anxiety can occur for many different reasons and present themselves in different forms. But if your hormones are imbalanced there are a variety of symptoms related to your anxiety that can develop. These symptoms can include some of the following:

•  Agitation
• Fear of losing control
• Intense fear or worry
• Irrational thoughts
• Irritability

While you might experience the above mental symptoms, it’s common to also experience more physical symptoms like hot or cold flashes, lightheadedness, nausea, racing heart, shortness of breath, or sweating. Women who are in perimenopause and menopause tend to experience higher anxiety. Also, women who have low progesterone levels and men who have low testosterone levels are more prone to experience anxiety. But those aren’t the only hormones that affect your anxiety. Your thyroid hormones and oxytocin also play a role in your anxiety. Just like you need to know what the root of your anxiety is, you need to know which hormones might be imbalanced and causing a spike in your anxiety.

Hormone Therapy

With many different causes for anxiety, and a variety of different hormones playing a role in your anxiety, it’s important to get to the bottom of it. With the use of hormone therapy at The Riegel Center, we can determine which hormones might be imbalanced and work to level them out. After an initial virtual consult, Dr. Riegel will send you to get your bloodwork done. Once The Riegel Center has received your results, we are able to design a fully individualized treatment plan. With regular check-ins, we will adjust your hormone therapy as needed to make sure we are meeting your body’s needs. Now with virtual appointments available, it’s as easy as ever to start your hormone replacement therapy with The Riegel Center.

Call The Riegel Center today for more information at (888) 386-0237.