Said yes to three or more questions in one category? News flash: you have a hormonal imbalance. Dear Reader, you are not alone. Five or more checks indicates that you are likely to have that grouping’s particular imbalance, and three to five checks means that there is a chance that you might suffer from that grouping’s diagnosis.
Part A: High Cortisol
This is by far the most common hormone imbalance affecting modern society. If you have five or more of these symptoms, chances are that you are high in cortisol. (If you want to confirm this with your physician, ask your Dr. to test your blood (serum) cortisol level in the morning before 9am. Ideally, the level should be 10 to 15 mcg/dL.) If you have three or more symptoms, take note: we will be examining cortisol in next week’s material, and reading Chapter 4 is this week’s assignment.
Part B: Low Cortisol
Remember, you can have both high and low cortisol—even on the same day, within a twenty-four-hour period. If you checked off five or more symptoms, you are likely low in cortisol. If you have three or more, you might be prone to low cortisol, so skip to Chapter 4 to read about your imbalance and study up for next week’s reading assignment.
Part C: Excess Estrogen
Five or more of these symptoms: Probably high in estrogen. Estrogen dominance affects 80 percent of women over thirty-five. Three or more symptoms: High estrogen is a significant possibility. Required reading: you will want to pay particular attention to Chapter 6, “Excess Estrogen,” which we will be reading the week after next.
Part D: Low Estrogen
Most women don’t notice a significant drop in estrogen until their forties or even fifties. Five or more of these symptoms: You are probably low in estrogen. Three or more: There’s a good chance you are low in estrogen. Either way, you will want to make notes as you read Chapter 7, “Low Estrogen,” which we will be getting to the week after next.
Part G: Low Thyroid
If you have five or more symptoms: you likely have a thyroid problem. Dr. Sara recommends asking your doctor to test your thyroid, particularly with the most sensitive tests that measure Thyroid-Stimulating Hormone (TSH), free triiodothyronine (T3), and reverse T3. If you scored between three and five symptoms: you might have a problem. In three weeks time, we will be digging into the chapter that matters to you, Chapter 9, “Low Thyroid.”
Did the questionnaire reveal any areas of improvement that you weren’t already aware of? Or did it confirm your suspicions that a particular hormone was out of whack? Leave your comments below.