Erin Magner / October 9, 2018 / wellandgood.com

A few weeks after my 36th birthday this summer, I suddenly started experiencing some scary symptoms—hair loss, severe anxiety, and panic attacks that would wake me up in the middle of the night. When quitting my four-cup-a-day coffee habit didn’t help, I went to see my doctor. But unlike MDs I’ve seen in the past for bouts of anxiety, he didn’t just send me home with a prescription for Paxil. Instead, he gave me a page-long list of hormones to have tested…

Hormones are straight-up complex, and every doctor will have their own testing protocol that will vary based on a patient’s specific set of symptoms.

That said, if you’re experiencing frequent or missing periods, mood swings, low libido, heavy or painful periods, or changes in weight or hair growth, many doctors would choose to run a reproductive hormone panel. “In these cases, I test estradiol, total estrogen, progesterone, DHEA (an adrenal hormone), and testosterone (both free and total testosterone),” says Laurie Steelsmith, ND, a women’s health expert and naturopathic doctor. These hormones can be checked via blood, urine, and saliva—your doctor can advise you on which one is right for you…

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