Is Cortisol Disrupting Your Period? Here’s What You Need to Know

Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) views symptoms as your body’s version of a "check engine" light—a signal that something needs attention.  Ignoring these signals can lead to escalating issues and more severe symptoms over time. TCM views your body as an interconnected web, where every part works in harmony to maintain optimal health. 

This holistic view is also present in western biomedicine, which recognizes the brain’s role in sending signals to glands to regulate the natural rhythmic fluctuations of hormones, like estrogen and progesterone. These hormones are essential for governing the menstrual cycle, and when these rhythms are disrupted, hormonal imbalances can arise, leading to menstrual symptoms and irregularities.

What is a Hormone? 

Hormones are your body’s chemical messengers. They travel through your bloodstream to specific organs and tissues, delivering instructions and regulating processes such as growth, metabolism, mood, and reproduction to keep your body functioning in harmony. One hormone that can disrupt the menstrual cycle is cortisol. 

What is Cortisol? 

Cortisol, often called the "stress hormone," is a steroid hormone produced by the adrenal glands. While it sometimes gets a bad reputation, when balanced cortisol is essential for regulating key body processes, including:

1. Metabolism: Converts protein and fat into glucose for energy, essential for maintaining healthy blood sugar levels. 
2. Inflammation Control: Acts as an anti-inflammatory to manage injuries and modulate immune responses.
3. Blood Pressure: Helps maintain blood pressure by enhancing the effects of other hormones, ensuring cardiovascular stability.
4. Blood Sugar: It increases glucose production and maintains blood sugar levels during stress, preventing hypoglycemia.
5. Sleep-Wake Cycle: Peaks in the morning to wake you up and declines at night for restful sleep.
6. Influencing Mood and Motivation: Cortisol communicates with brain regions that control mood, motivation, and fear, playing a significant role in how we respond to stress and emotional challenges. 

How Does Cortisol Affect Your Period?

When imbalanced, cortisol can wreak havoc on your body’s communication line between the brain and ovaries, determining if your period is blissful, crappy, or somewhere in between. Cortisol significantly impacts the Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Ovarian (HPO) Axis, the hormonal communication network that regulates your menstrual cycle. Chronic stress and elevated cortisol can disrupt this delicate system, leading to:

1. Irregular or Absent Periods: Cortisol suppresses GnRH, the hormone responsible for stimulating reproductive hormones, causing irregularities or amenorrhea.
2. Anovulation: High cortisol can block the LH surge needed for ovulation.
3. Low Progesterone: Stress diverts resources to cortisol production, reducing progesterone levels (a process known as "pregnenolone steal").
4. Fertility Challenges: Hormonal imbalances caused by high cortisol can make conception more difficult.
5. Exacerbated PMS: Increased cortisol worsens mood swings, anxiety, and painful periods.

Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Ovarian (HPO) Axis and Your Period 

The HPO axis orchestrates the menstrual cycle through a finely-tuned hormonal interplay.  Gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) from the hypothalamus stimulates the pituitary to release luteinizing hormone (LH) and follicle stimulating hormone (FSH), which act on the ovaries to regulate the development and release of eggs and the production of estrogen and progesterone. These hormones prepare the uterus for potential pregnancy and, if pregnancy does not occur, your period arrives.

Cortisol breaks down the communication between your hypothalamus and pituitary gland, suppressing the release of GnRH, FSH, and LH leading to those hormone imbalances with estrogen and progesterone. 

How Elevated Cortisol Levels Disrupt Estrogen and Hormonal Health

Elevated cortisol levels can suppress the production of estrogen in the ovaries, leading to low estrogen levels. Estrogen shapes everything from development of secondary sexual characteristics (breasts and pubic hair) to mood, digestion, energy and even joint health. It regulates the menstrual cycle by triggering the LH surge and prepares the uterus for pregnancy by thickening the lining of the uterus and developing its blood supply (like fertilizer). Estrogen is one of the key players that keeps the menstrual cycle in rhythm.

Low estrogen levels can lead to: 

• Irregular periods 
• Weight gain 
• Hot flashes 
• Night sweats 
• Fatigue 
• Moodiness

How Elevated Cortisol Levels Disrupt Progesterone and Hormonal Health

High cortisol levels also suppress the production of progesterone, another integral period hormone. Progesterone regulates the menstrual cycle and affects mood, digestion, energy, and sleep. It regulates the thickening of the uterine lining, helping to ensure successful implantation and early pregnancy. Without progesterone, unregulated growth of the lining of the uterus from estrogen can lead to uterine cancer. 

Low progesterone levels can show up as: 

• Abnormal bleeding 
• Irregular periods 
• Headaches
• Mood swings 
• Anxiety & depression 
• Weight gain 
• Low libido 

Low Progesterone and Estrogen Dominance 

When levels of progesterone become low, the relative amount of estrogen increases leading to a possible estrogen dominance. Signs of estrogen dominance include: 

• Irregular periods 
• Heavy or light bleeding 
• Dense breast tissue 
• Low libido 
• Weight gain 
• Increased PMS 

Signs of High Cortisol 

You may have elevated cortisol if you experience:

• Weight gain (especially around the abdomen)  
• Anxiety 
• Mood swings 
• Menstrual symptoms 
• Digestive complaints 
• Sleep issues (especially waking between 1-3a)  
• High blood pressure 
• Difficulty focusing 

Modern Stressors That Trigger Cortisol

Our ancestors faced life-threatening stressors like predators, which triggered cortisol to help save our lives. Now cortisol is released much more frequently with modern non-life-threatening everyday triggers including:

• Work and family stress 
• Toxic relationships 
• Financial stress
• Lack of sleep 
• Nutrient deficiencies 
• Food intolerances 
• Intense exercise 
• Fasting  
• Phone notifications 
• Blue light at night 
• Emotional stress
• Trauma 

Cortisol was not meant to be released with these daily stressors. Chronic exposure to these stressors keeps cortisol levels elevated, disrupting hormonal balance and menstrual health.

How to Naturally Lower Cortisol Levels

The good news is you can reduce cortisol and support your menstrual health with these strategies:

1. Adaptogens and Herbal Remedies

Adaptogens like reishi and astragalus, found in Elix’s Daily Harmony, help regulate stress responses and improve hormonal communication between your brain and glands. This formula minimizes cortisol's impact and promotes calm, and is not only for those who menstruate but anyone looking for an edge against the effects of stress and high cortisol levels.

2. Personalized Herbal Cycle Support

Cycle Balance is your personalized herbal formula focusing on the root causes of your menstrual symptoms, including high cortisol levels. It works by addressing imbalances revealed through Elix’s free Online Health Assessment. It’s a way to evaluate your unique check engine light to see where exactly in your body things aren't working or communicating the way they should leading to menstrual irregularities. Based on your pattern diagnosis you are recommended a customized blend of organic and wild-crafted herbs for your personalized Cycle Balance formula, which gets to the why behind your menstrual symptoms instead of masking them.

Why Use Elix’s Cycle Balance and Daily Harmony Together?

If cortisol is disrupting your periods, the combination of Cycle Balance and Daily Harmony provides comprehensive support.

• Cycle Balance: Addresses hormonal imbalances related to your unique cycle.
• Daily Harmony: Mitigates the effects of chronic stress and high cortisol on your body.

Take the First Step

Start your healing journey today by taking  Elix’s free Online Health Assessment. Discover the root causes of your symptoms and find personalized support to improve your menstrual health and overall well-being.

This article was reviewed by Dr. Liem Le.

Dr. Liem Le is a Doctor of Chinese Medicine, Functional Medicine Practitioner, and Nutritionist in the Integrative Medicine Department at H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center. He is on the teaching staff for the Masters program for the Functional Medicine and Human Nutrition program at University of Western States. Dr. Le is currently working on his fellowship in Integrative Medicine with the Academy of Integrative Health and Medicine via a scholarship from the White House.

Sources

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2. Cortisol: What It Is, Function, Symptoms & Levels
3. The Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Gonadal Axis - Holland-Frei Cancer Medicine - NCBI Bookshelf
4. Estrogen's Effects on the Female Body | Johns Hopkins Medicine
5. Progesterone: Natural Function, Levels & Side Effects
6. Follicle-Stimulating Hormone (FSH): What It Is & Function
7. Luteinizing hormone (LH) blood test Information | Mount Sinai - New York
8. Hormonal Imbalance: Causes, Symptoms & Treatment
9. High Estrogen: Causes, Symptoms, Dominance & Treatment
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