Hormonal change isn’t just something that happens at puberty, during/after pregnancy or during the menopause. It happens across our entire lives - sometimes gradually, sometimes all at once - and its impact runs far deeper than we often acknowledge. Think of puberty, pregnancy, postnatal recovery, perimenopause, menopause - but also stress, trauma, illness, long-term medication and even overtraining or not sleeping enough. These can all cause major shifts in our endocrine system, the complex web of hormones that dictate everything from mood and memory to metabolism and muscle tone. And when that system starts to wobble? It’s not just your periods that go haywire.
My hormones flatlined in my early 20s, and I have never felt more alone or more uncertain about what my body would do next. If you’ve ever gone through a significant hormonal shift, you know it’s not simply about low energy or a bit of brain fog. It can feel like being evicted from your own body - like you no longer know what you’ll wake up to each morning.
You might feel:
- Emotionally volatile or disconnected
- Uncharacteristically anxious or flat
- Hyper-reactive or numb
- Tired and wired
- Like your resilience has quietly left the building. The smallest things can trigger you and then trigger a feedback loop of guilt and upset because that isn’t who you are.
I always try to make sure that no-one feels like they are alone in their experience, because you are not. And isolation or disconnection from those around you only makes things worse.
What’s Actually Happening in the Body
Your body is incredibly clever, and hormones shift in response to real needs and pressures. For example:
- High cortisol (stress hormone) can suppress reproductive hormones like oestrogen and progesterone.
- Thyroid hormones, which affect your metabolism, can dip or surge in response to immune issues, imbalanced meals or chronic stress.
- Blood sugar imbalances, often driven by diet or disrupted sleep, affect insulin and influence sex hormone production. These also worsen in the winter when darkness naturally makes us more prone to erratic blood sugar patterns.
- And during perimenopause, ovarian hormone production becomes more erratic, leading to peaks and troughs that affect the nervous system, digestion, and emotional regulation.
These changes are actually a good thing - they’re adaptive responses. But the danger is that over time, they can leave the body feeling depleted, dysregulated, and stuck in a loop it can’t get out of on its own.
That’s where adaptogens come in.
Adaptogen Hormone Helpers
Adaptogens are a class of herbs that help the body adapt to stress. They support your neuroendocrine system (the link between your brain, hormones, and adrenal response) helping restore resilience, rather than forcing performance.
Unlike other interventions (natural and otherwise) adaptogens are modulating, which means they gently nudge your body back toward balance, no matter which direction it’s tipped. And as you can see from the explanation above hormonal shifts are already creating a sense of insecurity which is why a lot of other suggestions such as high dose B vitamins, energy boosters and even sleep aids can have short lived impacts but then actually tip you further over the edge.
When we talk about adaptogens, the brand I always recommend (and use myself) is Adaptogenic Apothecary. Their blends are clinically formulated with all-natural ingredients and herbs that speak directly to the body’s stress load and hormonal triggers. They’re not quick fixes, but they are the foundation of long-term hormonal healing.
Some of my favourites from Adaptogenic Apothecary are:
🔥 HOT FLASHES / NIGHT SWEATS → Freedom 🕒 Take: 6g daily (morning) mixed into warm milk/coffee, smoothie, or sprinkled on food 💫 Supports oestrogen receptor sensitivity & hypothalamic thermoregulation. Helps your body regulate temperature naturally.
💭 BRAIN FOG / LOW ENERGY → Focus 🕒 Take: AM, blended into your morning drink or smoothie. Can be combined with Freedom 💫 Enhances mitochondrial efficiency & adrenal-cognitive communication. So you feel more focused, clear & have steady energy through the day.
😣 MOOD SWINGS / ANXIETY → Calm 🕒 Take: Afternoon or early evening mixed into warm milk or cacao 💫 Regulates cortisol & GABAergic tone. Both reduce anxious tension & support emotional stability.
🌙 SLEEPLESSNESS / RESTLESSNESS → Peace 🕒 Take: 30-60 mins before bed, stirred into warm milk 💫 Combines adaptogens & nervine botanicals that influence melatonin rhythm & parasympathetic balance. Meaning you get deeper, more restorative sleep.
💔 CYCLE IRREGULARITY / PMS / PERIMENOPAUSE FLUCTUATIONS → Harmony Monthly 🕒 Take: Daily with breakfast 💫 Nourishes hormone pathways, promotes cycle regularity & stabilises mood & energy across the month. Game changer if your luteal phase takes you right down!
💥 EXHAUSTION / STRESS OVERLOAD / ADRENAL FATIGUE → Calm + Focus 🕒 Take: Focus AM, Calm PM 💫 Dual adaptogenic action helps recalibrate circadian rhythm & cortisol patterns, whilst improving adrenal resilience. You get balanced energy without overstimulation or crashes.
💧 LOW LIBIDO / LOW OESTROGEN (e.g. muscle pain, easy overwhelm, fluid retention) → Freedom + Harmony Monthly 🕒 Take: Both in the morning, freedom in hot drink then Harmony with breakfast 💫 Targets oestrogenic tone, vascular perfusion & neuroendocrine vitality. Which decoded means you feel s*xy again, dryness resolves & vitality returns.
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Adding in Lifestyle Support
Adaptogens work best when paired with realistic, nervous-system friendly habits:
- Eat consistently, with a balance of protein, fat and complex carbs to support blood sugar and hormone production.
- Prioritise sleep, even if that means saying no more often.
- Move daily, but honour what your body needs. Some days that might be strength, others it’s rest or walking.
- Track your cycle, even if it's irregular. Your patterns hold valuable information.
- Reduce inputs – cut the noise from social media, news, and anything that ramps up your nervous system unnecessarily.
Listen to what your body is asking for, not what the algorithm or trends say you should be doing. Start small.
Step back. Support your stress response. Begin with security.
And from there, you’ll find your way back to yourself.
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