People suffering from long-term COVID are now facing yet another challenge, low hormone symptoms. New research shows that long-term COVID can affect both male and female hormones.
There seems to be an endless battle for people living with long-term COVID. Many are dealing with more health issues than brain fog, respiratory problems, and a loss of smell and taste. The expert functional and holistic medical team at Atlanta’s premier health and wellness center, CentreSpringMD, share their most recent long-term COVID-19 findings.
What Long COVID Does to the Body
Experts say that people who suffered severe COVID-19 illness may have organ damage (1). This affects the heart, kidneys, skin, or brain, along with inflammation and a weakened immune system.
Aside from the most common post-COVID-19 symptoms (fatigue, fever, and breathing difficulty), long COVID causes neurological problems and other health conditions (1).
- Headaches
- Shortness of breath
- Dizziness
- Trouble sleeping and concentrating
- Depression and/or anxiety
- Joint and/or muscle pain
- Blood clots
- Chest pain
- Increased heart rate
- Digestive issues
- Rash
- Menstrual cycle irregularity
Many of these symptoms are similar to low hormone symptoms.
How and Why Hormones are Affected by Long COVID
To start, the most current clinical trials discovered high serum levels and lower testosterone in COVID-19 male patients due to an abnormal sex hormone secretion (2). Specifically, high serum levels are caused by dehydration, long-term inflammation, and infections caused by viruses (3).
Similarly, a separate study also showed decreased and altered androgen levels (male hormones) in male COVID-19 patients (4). Decreased and altered hormone levels were also found to be caused by increased stress and inflammation in the body from the virus.
Another study with COVID-19 female patients found those who were more severely ill due to COVID experienced longer and heavier menstrual cycles (5).
Looking at the long list of post-COVID symptoms and the fact that COVID is a new, still misunderstood virus, it is easy to understand why hormones would be affected. Additionally, when someone is having concentration, breathing, sleeping, or digestive problems, this can spike cortisol, your body’s stress hormone. Fighting a virus can turn your body’s normally healthy response system into a fight or flight mode to get better.
Low Hormone Symptoms and Treatment
Are you experiencing low blood sugar, insulin resistance, hair loss, weight gain, fatigue, infertility, decreased sex drive, sleep problems, and/or digestive issues? These are common low hormone symptoms that create a hormonal imbalance in men and women. You could be experiencing a hormonal imbalance due to long-COVID.
Research has shown hormone replacement therapy as an effective treatment for low hormone levels in both men and women (6). While more research will be done in the coming years, hormone replacement therapy has been found to decrease inflammation in the body caused by COVID (6).
Most importantly, research has shown the best protection against serious illness from COVID-19, especially if you have post-morbidities, is to get vaccinated against the virus (7).
Treatment for Low Hormone Symptoms at CentreSpringMD
CentreSpringMD can get you back on track with the right testing and treatment if you are experiencing low hormone symptoms.
Schedule an appointment today with one of our licensed functional physicians. We can test your hormones, discuss your low hormone symptoms, and create an individualized treatment plan for hormone balance.
Along with hormone replacement therapy, we offer bioidentical hormone therapy and more. Stop suffering and get treatment today to decrease your stress, improve sleep quality, concentrate better, and get rid of chronic pain from post-COVID.
Resources:
- https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/coronavirus/in-depth/coronavirus-long-term-effects/art-20490351
- https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/jmv.26259
- https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/symptoms/21025-high-blood-protein-hyperproteinemia
- https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1743609520310511
- https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1472648320305253
- https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0025619620305188
- https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/prevent-getting-sick/prevention.html
