Feeling anxious, overwhelmed or constantly on edge can affect many areas of life. Anxiety is often linked with stress, lifestyle and emotional wellbeing, but your hormones and underlying metabolic health can also play an important role.
Hormones are chemical messengers that influence everything from energy and sleep to mood, concentration and how you respond to stress. When these systems are out of balance, you may notice changes in how you feel – sometimes without realising hormones could be involved.
So, could your hormones be contributing to your anxiety? Let’s take a closer look.
How are hormones connected to anxiety?
Your nervous system and endocrine system (the system that produces and regulates hormones) work closely together. Between them, they help manage your stress response, energy, sleep and emotional wellbeing.
When you’re stressed, your body releases hormones such as cortisol and adrenaline to help you respond. This is a normal and necessary process. But when stress is ongoing, the systems that regulate this response can become disrupted.
Other hormones – including thyroid hormones, oestrogen, progesterone and testosterone – also influence brain function, mood and nervous system activity.
This means anxiety isn’t always just about what’s happening emotionally or psychologically. Sometimes there are underlying hormonal or metabolic factors worth exploring.
4 hormonal factors that could be influencing your anxiety
1. Cortisol and ongoing stress
Cortisol is one of the body’s main stress hormones. It helps regulate energy, blood sugar, inflammation and the sleep-wake cycle, and prepares the body to respond to challenges.
When stress becomes ongoing, cortisol regulation can be affected. You might feel constantly switched on, find it hard to relax, wake during the night or feel exhausted but wired. Over time, ongoing stress can also influence other hormonal systems, making it harder for the body to stay in balance.
Supporting your nervous system with adequate sleep, nourishing food, movement and stress-management strategies is an important part of restoring balance.
2. Thyroid hormones
Your thyroid plays a major role in regulating metabolism, energy production and many aspects of brain function.
When thyroid hormone levels are too high, symptoms can include a racing heart, restlessness, irritability, difficulty sleeping and feelings that resemble anxiety. Low thyroid function, on the other hand, can contribute to fatigue, low mood, brain fog and reduced motivation.
Because thyroid symptoms can overlap with anxiety, checking thyroid health can provide another piece of the puzzle.
3. Testosterone and hormonal health in men
Testosterone is often associated with muscle mass and libido, but it also plays an important role in men’s energy, mood, motivation, sleep and overall wellbeing.
When testosterone is low, some men experience fatigue, reduced motivation, mood changes, poor sleep and reduced libido. These symptoms can overlap with anxiety and low mood, so it’s worth considering hormonal health as part of a broader assessment.
Testosterone naturally changes with age, but sleep quality, chronic stress, nutrition, body composition and general health can also influence it.
4. Oestrogen, progesterone and hormonal changes in women
Oestrogen and progesterone influence much more than the menstrual cycle. They also interact with the brain and nervous system, helping to regulate mood, sleep and emotional wellbeing. Changes in these hormones can contribute to anxiety, irritability, low mood or emotional sensitivity.
For some women, anxiety becomes more noticeable at certain stages of the cycle, especially in the days leading up to a period. This can be associated with premenstrual syndrome (PMS) or, in more severe cases, premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD).
Hormonal fluctuations during perimenopause and menopause can also affect mood, sleep and stress tolerance. Some women experience increased anxiety during this transition, even if they’ve never struggled with it before.
How can you tell whether hormones are contributing to your anxiety?
One of the most useful things to look for is a pattern. Does your anxiety come and go? Is it worse at certain times of the month, when you’re sleeping poorly or under prolonged stress? Have you noticed changes in your energy, motivation, concentration or libido?
Things worth paying attention to include:
- Anxiety or irritability that gets worse at particular times of the menstrual cycle
- Increased anxiety alongside changes in sleep, hot flushes or night sweats
- Feeling constantly wired, restless or unable to switch off
- Ongoing fatigue, brain fog or difficulty concentrating
- Changes in libido, motivation or energy
- Mood changes that coincide with other physical symptoms
For men, changes in energy, sleep, libido and motivation can also offer useful clues about hormonal health.
Keeping a simple symptom diary can help reveal patterns and give a clearer starting point for investigating possible contributing factors.
Could hormone or metabolic testing help?
If your anxiety is persistent, or you’re noticing other changes in your energy, sleep, mood or overall wellbeing, looking more closely at your hormonal and metabolic health can help build a clearer picture.
At MNHC, we use different types of testing depending on your symptoms and health history. Two tests that can provide useful insights are the DUTCH hormone test and OMX Organic Metabolomics.
DUTCH hormone testing
The DUTCH test analyses hormones and their metabolites, including oestrogen, progesterone, testosterone and cortisol. It helps us understand your hormone patterns and how your body is processing these hormones.
This can be particularly useful when exploring symptoms linked to the menstrual cycle, perimenopause, menopause, changes in testosterone or an ongoing stress response.
OMX Organic Metabolomics testing
While DUTCH focuses on hormones, OMX looks at a much broader picture of metabolic health. This urine test analyses organic acids, amino acids and other metabolites to show how different biochemical pathways are functioning.
That includes areas relevant to mood and nervous system health, such as:
- Neurotransmitter metabolism: metabolites associated with serotonin, dopamine, noradrenaline and GABA – chemical messengers involved in mood, motivation, focus and the stress response.
- Energy production: insight into mitochondrial function and how efficiently your body produces cellular energy.
- Nutritional status: functional markers for B vitamins and other nutrients needed for energy production and neurotransmitter pathways.
- Oxidative stress and inflammation: metabolic patterns that can place extra demands on the body.
- Gut-derived metabolites: certain compounds produced by gut bacteria and yeast, offering another perspective on the link between gut and metabolic health.
OMX can be especially relevant when anxiety occurs alongside fatigue, brain fog, poor concentration, low mood or digestive symptoms. It helps us investigate whether underlying nutritional or metabolic factors could be part of the bigger picture.
Importantly, OMX isn’t a direct hormone test, and it doesn’t diagnose anxiety or pinpoint a single cause. Instead, it provides extra information about metabolic processes that we consider alongside your symptoms, health history and any other relevant testing.
The right test depends on the individual. Sometimes hormonal patterns are the main area to investigate; other times, nutritional status, energy production and neurotransmitter metabolism offer valuable additional insight. Our naturopaths will talk you through the options and choose the right test for you.
Supporting your hormones, nervous system and overall wellbeing
Testing can help identify contributing factors, but supporting your overall health is just as important. Hormones don’t work in isolation – they’re influenced by everyday habits, including how you sleep, eat, move and manage stress.
Practical ways to support hormonal and nervous system health include:
- Prioritise sleep: consistent, restorative sleep supports healthy cortisol regulation, energy and mood.
- Eat regularly and nourish your body: balanced meals with enough protein, healthy fats, fibre and essential nutrients help support blood sugar and hormone production.
- Make time for recovery: ongoing stress places extra demands on the nervous system, so build in time to slow down and recharge.
- Move regularly: physical activity supports mood, metabolic health and hormonal wellbeing.
- Pay attention to patterns: tracking changes in mood, sleep, energy and other symptoms can help identify triggers and hormonal fluctuations.
Small, consistent changes can make a meaningful difference to your body’s ability to regulate stress and stay in balance.
Personalised support
At Malvern Natural Health Care, we take a personalised approach to understanding anxiety and the factors that may be contributing to it.
Rather than focusing on symptoms alone, our naturopaths look at the bigger picture – including hormonal health, nutritional status, gut health, metabolic function, sleep and nervous system regulation.
Depending on your needs, support may include nutritional strategies, personalised herbal medicine, lifestyle recommendations and functional testing such as DUTCH or OMX.
Our on-site dispensary allows us to prepare personalised herbal tonics tailored to your individual needs and health goals, which you can take home the same day.
Anxiety can have many contributing factors, and understanding what’s happening beneath the surface is a crucial step towards feeling more balanced and supported.
Could your hormones be part of the picture?
If you’re experiencing ongoing anxiety, mood changes, disrupted sleep or unexplained changes in energy, it may be worth looking beyond stress alone.
Understanding how your hormones, nervous system and metabolic health work together can help identify the areas that need support and provide a more targeted approach to improving your overall wellbeing.
To book an appointment with one of our naturopaths, contact Malvern Natural Health Care today.
Malvern Natural Health CareMalvern East
(03) 9572 3211
mnhc.com.au