Quiz for Hormonal Balance

Did you know that hormones are the Holy Grail for how you look and feel and control everything from your weight, energy, memory, mood, libido, skin/hair quality and resilience to stress?

I've adapted this quiz from my training with Harvard gynecologist, Dr. Sara Gottfried, and it's designed to decode the messages your body is sending you. Each section is crafted to identify the undiagnosed hormone problems you may face and the results will pinpoint EXACTLY which hormones are out of whack and we can then work together to get them back on track just by changing the way you eat, move, sleep and manage your stress.

If hormones are rattling your cage and you're desperately seeking answers that have not been answered by conventional medicine, your quest for optimal hormone health starts here…

Feeling you're constantly racing from task to task?
Feeling tired but wired?
A struggle calming down before bedtime, or catching a second wind at 10 pm that keeps you up late?
Difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep?
Anxiety or worries about things beyond your control?
A quickness to feel anger or rage - frequent screaming or yelling?
Memory lapses or feeling distracted, especially under duress?
Raging cravings for sugar?
Increased abdominal circumference, greater than 35 inches (the dreaded spare tire or muffin top - not bloating?

Skin conditions such as eczema or thin skin (sometimes physiologically and psychologically)?
Bone loss (perhaps your doctor uses scarier terms, such as osteopenia or osteoporosis)?
High blood pressure or rapid heartbeat?
High blood sugar (maybe your clinician has mentioned the words prediabetes or even insulin resistance)?
Shakiness between meals, also known as blood sugar instability?
Indigestion, ulcers, or GERD (gastroesophageal reflux disease)?
More difficulty recovering from physical injury than in the past?
Unexplained pink to purple stretch marks on your belly or back?
Irregular mentrual cycles?

Fatigue or burnout (you only "wake up" after 2-3 cups of coffee)?
Energy crashes, particularly in the afternoon, from 2-4 pm?
Seeing the glass half empty with a negative outlook?
Crying for no particular reason?
Decreased problem solving ability?
Feeling stressed most of the time (you have trouble coping)?
Decreased stress tolerance?
Insomnia or difficulty staying asleep, especially between 1-4 am?
Low blood pressure?
Postural hypotension (you stand up from lying down and feel dizzy)?
Asthma? Bronchitis? Chronic cough? Allergies?

Agitation or PMS?
Cyclical headaches (particularly menstrual or hormonal migraines)?
Painful and/or swollen breasts?
Irregular menstrual cycles, or cycles becoming more frequent as you age?
Heavy or painful periods (heavy: going through a superpad or tampon every two hours or less; painful: you cant function without ibuprofen)?
Bloating, particularly in the ankles and belly, and/or fluid retention (in other words, you gain 3 to 5 pounds or more before your period)?

Ovarian cysts, breast cysts, or endometrial cysts (polyps)?
Easily disrupted sleep?
Itchy or restless legs, especially at night?
Increased clumsiness or poor coordination?
Infertility or subfertility (you've been trying hard to conceive but haven't hit the official twelve-month mark of no conception - six months if you're 35 or older)?
Miscarriage in the first trimester?

Bloating, puffiness, or water retention?
Abnormal pap smears?
Heavy bleeding or postmenopausal bleeding?
Rapid weight gain, particularly in the hips and butt?
Increased bra-cup size or breast tenderness?
Fibroids?
Endometriosis, or painful periods? (Endometriosis is when pieces of the unterine lining grow outside of the unterine cavity, such as on the ovaries or bowel, and cause painful periods.)

Mood swings, PMS, depression or just irritability?
Weepiness, sometimes over the most ridiculous things?
Mini breakdowns? Anxiety?
Migraines or other headaches?
Insomnia?
Brain fog?
A red flush on your face (or a diagnosis of rosacea)?
Gallbladder problems or (removal)?

Poor memory (you walk into a room to do something, then wonder what it was, or draw a blank midsentence)?
Emotional fragility, especially compared with how you felt ten years ago?
Depression, perhaps with anxiety or lethargy (or, more commonly, dysthymia: low-grade depression that lasts more than two weeks)?
Wrinkles (your favorite skin cream no longer works miracles)?
Night sweats or hot flashes?
Trouble sleeping, waking up in the middle of the night?
A leaky or overactive bladder?
Bladder infections?
Droopy breasts, or breasts lessening in volume?

Sun damage more obvious, even glaring, on your chest, face and shoulders?
Achy joints (you feel positively geriatric at times)?
Recent injuries, particularly to wrists, shoulders, lower back, or knees?
Loss of interest in exercise?
Bone loss?
Vaginal dryness, irritation, or loss of feeling (as if there were layers of blankets between you and the now-elusive orgasm)?
Lack of juiciness elsewhere (dry eyes, dry skin, dry clitoris)?
Low libido (its been dwindling for while, and now you realize its half or less than what it used to be)?
Painful sex?

Excess hair on your face, chest, or arms?
Acne?
Greasy skin and/or hair?
Thinning head hair (which makes you question the justice of it all if youre also experiencing excess hair growth elsewhere)?
Discoloration of your armpits (darker and thicker than yoru normal skin)?
Skin tags, especially on your neck and upper torso? (Skin tags are small, flesh-colored growths on the skin surface)
Hyperglycemia or hypoglycemia and/or unstable blood sugar?

Reactivity and/or irritability, or excessively aggressive or authoritarian episodes?
Depression? Anxiety?
Menstrual cycles occurring more than every thrity-five days?
Ovarian cysts?
Midcycle pain?
Infertility? Or subfertility?
Polycystic ovary syndrome?

Hair loss, including the outer third of your eyebrows and/or eyelashes?
Dry skin?
Dry, strawlike hair that tangles easily?
Thin, brittle fingernails?
Fluid retention or swollen ankles?
An additional few pounds, or 20, that you just cant lose?
High cholesterol?
Bowel movements less often than once a day, or incomplete evacuation?
Recurrent headaches?
Muscle or joint aches or poor muscle tone (you became an old lady overnight)?
Tingling in your hands or feet?
Cold hands and feet? Cold intolerance? Heat intolerance?
Slow speech, perhaps with a hoarse or halting voice?

A sensitivity to cold (you shiver more easily than others and are always wearing layers)?
A slow heart rate, or bradycardia (fewer than 60 beats per minute, and not because youre an elite athlete)?
Lethargy (you feel like youre moving through molasses)?
Fatigue, particularly in the morning?
Slow brain, slow thoughts? Difficulty concentrating?
Sluggish reflexes, diminished reaction time, even a bit of apathy?
Low sex drive, and youre not sure why?
A prescription for the latest antidepressant but youre still not feeling like yourself?
Heavy periods or other menstrual problems?
Infertility or miscarriage? Preterm birth?
An enlarged thyroid/goiter? Difficulty swallowing? Enlarged tongue?
A family history of thyroid problems?