When hormones are out of whack

Henriette Lamprecht – Think about it this way: Your hormone imbalance may cause you anxiety, but due to the severe anxiety you are struggling with daily, it increases your stress levels, which in turn increases your adrenaline. This means you now have insomnia due to too much adrenaline and cortisol, as well as constant worries. Now, you may also develop migraines or constant stomach aches and pains and constipation due to the anxiety and lack of sleep.

In turn, you now feel fatigued all the time, irritable, and have a short fuse, explains Ghitta Basson, a mental well-being consultant based in the UK.

“This now means you are pushing people away. You feel alone, miserable, and don’t want to go out with friends anymore, so you stay at home and become depressed, sleeping even more during the day and lying awake at night.”

Normally, people try everything else first before they go to see her, Ghitta explains.

“I am sort of their last resort. But the way I see it, is that you could have saved yourself a ton of money, years of looking for answers, and precious time, if only you tried my method first.”

We were all given this amazing brain (which we don’t quite understand yet), but we simply don’t always know how to use it, she says, and emphasizes that people can certainly heal themselves with this amazing part of themselves with a little guidance.

“Plus, I am all for combining therapies. Why not? You can use my method in conjunction with a good diet, healthy lifestyle, herbal supplements, amongst others. However, I’ll say stick to the natural ways when combining.”

Medication would always be her last resort. It is unnatural, it changes your body in ways you did not expect and yes, whilst it removes or improves some symptoms, it sadly brings on new symptoms or side effects, she explains.

When thinking about hormones, most people think of women. However, it’s not just a female issue. Men also suffer from hormone imbalances, it is just seldom talked about or even thought of when a man starts experiencing a variety of new symptoms.

Imagine your brain and body is like a computer, Ghitta explains.

Within you, there is a mother circuit board (your brain) and then millions or trillions of electrical currents running from your brain to various parts of your body.

Think of some of those currents being chemical currents. Hormones are basically chemical messengers that travel in your bloodstream to all your tissues and organs.

These messengers are sent from your endocrine system. This is the situation all around your body, from your brain down to your ovaries/testes.

The endocrine system consists of the hypothalamus (in your brain), pituitary gland (in your brain), pineal gland (in your brain), thyroid and parathyroid (in your neck), thymus (between your lungs), adrenals (on top of your kidneys), pancreas (in your stomach) and of course the ovaries and testes.

Hormones are responsible for a wide variety of bodily functions such as metabolism, growth and development, emotions and mood, fertility and sexual function, sleep, blood pressure, calcium, hunger, blood sugar levels, stress, oxygen intake, and so much more.

“It literally controls pretty much all of your body, so if your hormones are out of whack, you may struggle tremendously on so many levels.”

There are numerous ways of balancing hormones, explains Ghitta, with some more effective than others. Some are specific to certain conditions, and some you can only try and hope it works. However, there is not a one-stop solution, she emphasizes. The most common treatments are medications and hormone therapy, while alternative hormone treatment includes diet and nutrition, herbs, acupuncture, exercise, stress management, supplements, Tai Chi, Bioidentical hormones, and mind mediation and hypnotherapy.

The latter, mind mediation and hypnotherapy, is what Ghitta uses to help people rebalance their hormones and get their old lives back.

“I work purely with the unconscious mind. It is, after all, that unconscious mind of ours that allows us to breathe and for our blood to pump through our bodies.”

Our endocrine system is linked to our nervous system, she explains, and is the part of our bodies that releases our hormones.

Inside our brains sits a part called the hypothalamus, which is the portion of the brain that maintains the body's internal balance.

“The brain is the control centre of your body and your mind. Right in the middle of your brain is your hypothalamus, which controls much of our everyday functioning.”

The hypothalamus is the most important gland in the endocrine system, ensuring that the internal processes of your body are regulated and running properly by signalling the pituitary gland to release hormones to the rest of the endocrine system.

The hypothalamus regulates body temperature, hunger, thirst, sleep, emotions, the immune system, your libido, and more, also regulating the autonomic nervous system.

By scanning people’s brains whilst in a hypnotic trance, meditation, or mind mediation, scientists were able to see neural changes in the brain and, in particular, the activation of the hypothalamus, Ghitta explains.

Thus, when conducting her sessions, she works purely with the unconscious mind and thus, directly with the hypothalamus in changing your hormones.

“This is the most natural way of getting your hormones rebalanced and your life back. No more synthetic pills and potions and an actual, natural solution.”

As she is working with the mind, she has no way of knowing how many sessions are necessary.

“I have been doing this since 2012 and in the last nine years, I’ve found that it can take anything between two and six sessions. Sessions can be between 30 minutes and three hours long. I find it pointless sticking to the usual one-hour therapy sessions. We are working with the mind. I don’t want to interrupt and stop it mid-way through the vital work just because the clock says so.”

Usually, people going through menopause medically exhibit about ten symptoms, but Ghitta has worked with women who were struggling with up to 40 symptoms.

Causes of a hormonal balance differ, depending on which hormones or glands are affected. Common causes include hormone therapy, pregnancy, puberty, endocrine disorders (such as hypo/hyperthyroidism, PCOS, chronic and long-term conditions, diabetes), medications, cancer treatments such as chemotherapy, tumours (whether cancerous or benign), pituitary tumours, eating disorders, stress and injury, and trauma.

Causes unique to women include menopause, primary ovarian insufficiency (also known as premature menopause), pregnancy, breastfeeding, and hormonal drugs such as birth control pills.

Signs of a hormonal imbalance include, amongst others, weight gain, fatigue, muscle weakness, pain, stiffness or swelling of the joints, sweating, migraines, constipation, hot flashes, breast tenderness, increased or decreased heart rate, and night sweats.

“It can have a mental, physical, and emotional effect. It can literally make you feel like a different person.”

Complete your mini hormone test to see if your hormones might be out of whack. – www.rewindyourmind.co.uk, [email protected]