This complex group of chemical messengers constantly travels around our blood, to regulate and control physical and emotional processes. Women have a unique combination of hormones to support or eventually end their ability to become pregnant. These, and other hormones, can rise and fall, sometimes in a way that requires medical help.

The defining hormone for men is called testosterone, though interestingly women sometimes have small amounts of this too. The sex hormones for women are oestrogen and progesterone (both mainly produced by ovaries). These female hormones ‘signal’ your body to control menstruation in young girls, fertility cycles, preparation for pregnancy, breastfeeding, and eventually the menopause. When female reproductive hormones become unbalanced, it can lead to several distressing and uncomfortable symptoms, including low sex drive, painful and heavy periods, and mood swings. It can even create a whole new set of medical concerns about your skin, hair and even brain, for example! All of which is why diagnosis and intervention can be so important.