What Is Hormonal Burnout?

Hot flashes, sleep disruption, lower energy, and emotional distress. Those are just a few of the many symptoms brought on by menopause. Women who are 40 say menopause can be humiliating, confusing, and often painful. Menopause can also be infuriating. A total nightmare for women.

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A common problem is: You eat less and exercise more, but you are still packing on the pounds. So what is going on? This problem is called hormonal burnout. Unfortunately, hormonal burnout can wreak havoc on your body. However, there is a clear way to reverse the effects of hormonal burnout. The main cause of weight gain in women over the age of 40 is caused by declining levels of progesterone and estrogen. Here is how it works: As progesterone plummets, estrogen begins to drop recklessly, thus kicking fat gain into high gear. Keep in mind, hormonal burnout will strike at any age and affects all women as they mature through menopause. Making things worse, there are variable, or “threats” that make you vulnerable to weight gain. First, you become more carb-sensitive. Eating Olive Garden for dinner may result in an extra pant size the next day. Here is how it works: the decline in estrogen hurts your ability to process carbs since estrogen helps your body manage blood sugar in sum, less estrogen leads to higher blood sugar. Higher blood sugar leads to more fat. So just cut carbs from out of my diet? No. Definitely not. Removing carbs from your diet can stress your body significantly. In fact, your body becomes more stress-reactive. The levels of the stress-hormone cortisol spike up. To make matters worse, the levels of serotonin and GABA decrease. Typically, these chemicals keep you “feeling good.” But if they are depleted, you may feel sad or depressed. Higher stress level and not feeling good, causes collagen to break down. This can make your skin look five to 10 years older. These depleted chemicals can also weaken your muscles and bones making them soft, saggy, and brittle. Bottom line, all these physiology changes cause your body to act like a balloon. Fortunately, there is a solution. The way to conquer the uneasy physiological change is to turn your natural hormonal rhythms into a metabolic advantage. One study found that women can burn 65% more fat during exercise. And, let's not forget, women have more control over where the fat is stored. Every woman, even yourself, is different and has a unique set of hormonal rhythms. The first step to modifying your new body to avoid weight gain is to understand your specific hormone type. Click on this link to find out your specific hormone. However, if you have stubborn areas of fat that will not disappear with diet and exercise alone, you may want to consider liposuction. Liposuction is a great surgery used to remove stubborn hormonal fat of the abdomen, hips, and love handles. Liposuctions can be performed under local, IV, and general anesthesia. Liposuction is an outpatient procedure. Usually, you can return to work one to two weeks after you have liposuction. Dr. Katzen suggests you wear your compression garment for six to eight weeks after your liposuction. If you are considering liposuction, please call Dr. Katzen at (310) 859-7770 for a complimentary consultation.