Could a Hormonal Imbalance Be Affecting Your Fertility? Here's What You Need to Know

(Photo : Photo by Toa Heftiba on Unsplash)

We all know that hormones can have a huge impact on women during pregnancy, and there's nothing more disheartening than waiting every month for some good news, but never receiving it. Tussling with infertility can be so depressing, but in many instances, the solution may be simpler than you think.

One of the factors that can influence your chances of getting pregnant is an imbalance of hormones. The entire endocrine (hormonal) system operates collectively to control the level of hormones coursing throughout your body. If one or more is even a bit imbalanced, it can cause great health and fertility complications.

Now, you can take control of things by doing an at-home hormone test to see if your hormone levels are the cause of the problem. Here, experts provide you with a better understanding of the essential hormones that can affect your fertility and teach how to have your levels examined.

Symptoms of a Hormonal Imbalance

If you've been trying to get pregnant for several months already and you're otherwise healthy, it might be a good idea to consider your hormone levels. Here is a list of symptoms that may indicate a hormone imbalance:

• Infertility

• Irregular periods

• Inexplicable weight gain or loss

• Anxiety and Depression

• Insomnia

• Acne

• Fatigue

• Low sex drive

• Facial hair or thinning hair

• Digestive issues

Key Hormones That Affect Fertility

Tons of various hormones are circulating throughout our bodies, but only some are participating when we're trying to conceive. Below, we've classified some of the key fertility hormones you'll need to know if you assume a hormone imbalance might be impairing your ability to get pregnant. But the great news is, a hormone test will give you an understanding of these essential hormones.

• FSH (Follicle-Stimulating Hormone) is one of the essential hormones for fertility. It is responsible for keeping period regularity and producing healthy eggs.

• LH (Luteinizing Hormone) is the hormone that signals your body to release an egg that's set to be fertilized.

• AMH (Anti-Mullerian Hormone) is held for keeping the immature eggs your body has. 

• Progesterone is a vital role both in preparing the body for pregnancy and for maintaining a new pregnancy to continue.

• Prolactin is the hormone that handles milk production, but it's also a pivotal player in ensuring your period stays regular, which is necessary when trying to conceive.

• T3 and T4 (Thyroid Hormones) have a major impact on the ability to get pregnant.

Causes of a Hormonal Imbalance

It's necessary to know that if your hormones are out of balance, it's not actually your fault, and you're not doing anything wrong. There are just a few ways we can do lifestyle-wise that negatively or positively affect hormone production and balance like obesity, or excessive weight loss can affect a woman's menstrual cycles and ovulation.

Causes of hormone imbalance also include:

• Age

• Certain medications

• Food allergies

• Exposure to certain chemicals

• Stress

At-Home Hormone Tests

If you come to a decision to try an at-home test, it's a great idea to consult your verdicts with your doctor, mainly if anything strange shows up. Due to the variety of their profession, doctors are natural sceptics of every at-home test.

Below, are some of the top hormone level tests you can get to measure your hormones in the luxury of your own home:

Everlywell is an at-home hormone test for women that measures several of the fertility hormones stated earlier, like estradiol, FSH, AMH and LH with a mere finger nick. A board-certified physician promptly reviewed the results.

Proov is a hormone test that requires urine to identify levels of progesterone in the bloodstream. In a regular cycle, progesterone is a hormone that's discharged quickly after ovulation; it's crucial for a healthy pregnancy to occur.

Modern Fertility employs an easy but effective private dashboard to deliver results. This hormone test measures various hormones based on the type of birth control you use.