By Lisa Edmondson, Nurse, Master Health Coach, Women’s Health and Hormone Specialist
It’s one of the most common things women tell me:
“I’m tired, but not just tired… it’s like I’m running on empty all the time.”
This kind of fatigue isn’t fixed by a nap or a few early nights. You might be sleeping, eating well, and doing all the right things—but your energy still crashes, your focus slips, your motivation fades, and even minor stressors feel overwhelming.
If this sounds familiar, there’s a good chance your hormones are involved. Hormones play a major role in regulating energy, mood, focus, and stress. When they’re even slightly out of balance, the effects can ripple across your whole system—physically, mentally, emotionally, and beyond.
The Hidden Influence of Hormones on Women’s Energy
Most women associate hormones with their cycle or menopause. But in reality, hormones affect nearly every part of our physiology—from how we generate energy, to how we cope with stress, process emotions, sleep, think, connect, and move through life.
Women’s hormonal systems are incredibly dynamic and responsive. That makes them powerful—but also vulnerable to disruption. Stress, poor sleep, nutrient depletion, overexercising, under-eating, toxins, and inflammation can all interfere with hormonal communication.
When hormones fall out of balance—especially cortisol, thyroid hormones, oestrogen, progesterone, and insulin—it can lead to persistent fatigue that doesn’t respond to typical self-care.
Five Levels of Fatigue: What Hormonal Imbalance Really Feels Like
Fatigue caused by hormone disruption is not just a lack of physical energy. It can show up across all levels of your being.
1. Physical Fatigue
This is the exhaustion you feel in your body. Your limbs may feel heavy. You might wake up tired, rely on caffeine to function, or hit a wall in the afternoon. Exercise recovery takes longer, and you may struggle with bloating, weight changes, or body aches.
Common hormonal contributors include:
- Low thyroid function, which slows your metabolic rate and energy production
- Cortisol dysregulation, where chronic stress depletes adrenal function
- Blood sugar imbalance from insulin resistance
- Oestrogen dominance or progesterone deficiency disrupting sleep and recovery
2. Mental Fatigue
Brain fog, forgetfulness, reduced concentration, or decision fatigue are often overlooked signs of hormonal imbalance.
Low oestrogen, for example, can reduce acetylcholine, a neurotransmitter vital for memory and cognitive clarity. When cortisol is chronically high or low, it impairs your brain’s ability to focus, plan, and process clearly.
Many women report feeling mentally overloaded even with basic tasks, which can be both frustrating and alarming—especially if you’re used to being high-functioning.
3. Emotional Fatigue
Hormonal changes also impact your emotional resilience. You may notice:
- Heightened anxiety or reactivity
- Mood swings, especially premenstrually
- A low mood that creeps in without explanation
- Feeling emotionally flat, numb, or easily overwhelmed
Progesterone, which has a naturally calming effect on the brain, is often low in women dealing with fatigue. Oestrogen fluctuations can also disrupt serotonin production, leading to mood instability.
This emotional fatigue can leave you feeling disconnected from your usual self and increasingly sensitive to stress.
4. Spiritual Fatigue
Although harder to define, spiritual fatigue is often deeply felt. It’s the loss of spark, meaning, or direction. You may feel like you’re just going through the motions, unable to connect to your inner sense of purpose or intuition.
This level of exhaustion can be linked to prolonged hormone disruption and nervous system dysregulation. When your body is chronically stressed or depleted, it becomes harder to access calm, clarity, and reflection—key ingredients for spiritual wellbeing.
5. Social Fatigue
Women who are hormonally depleted often pull away from social connection—not because they want to, but because they lack the energy. This might show up as:
- Cancelling plans
- Struggling to hold conversations
- Becoming irritable in social settings
- Feeling like no one understands what you’re going through
This withdrawal can reinforce feelings of isolation and deepen the emotional fatigue.
What Causes Hormonal Imbalance?
Hormonal imbalance doesn’t always stem from a diagnosable illness. Often, it results from small, cumulative stressors that slowly tip the scales. These include:
- Chronic psychological stress
- Sleep disturbances
- Overtraining or under-eating
- Gut dysfunction or poor nutrient absorption
- Toxin exposure (environmental, household, or emotional)
- Blood sugar instability
- Life transitions like perimenopause or postnatal depletion
Because the hormonal system is interconnected, a shift in one hormone (such as cortisol or insulin) can disrupt others (like thyroid hormones, oestrogen, and progesterone).
Testing: The First Step to Reclaiming Your Energy
At MyWellbeing, we offer two forms of advanced testing to help women understand their unique hormonal patterns and underlying imbalances:
1. Hormones & Nutritional Epigenetic Hair Test Assessment
This test uses a small hair sample to measure more than 800 markers of metabolic, hormonal, and nutritional health. It reveals insights about:
- Nutrient deficiencies
- Hormonal stress patterns
- Gut health and inflammation
- Toxin and EMF sensitivity
- Adrenal resilience and mitochondrial function
Hair testing is an excellent starting point for women wanting a non-invasive, real-time snapshot of their body’s internal environment.
2. DUTCH Hormone Test
For a more detailed look at hormone production and metabolism, the DUTCH test (Dried Urine Test for Comprehensive Hormones) is considered a gold standard. It analyses:
- Daily cortisol rhythm (stress hormones)
- Oestrogen, progesterone, and testosterone levels
- How your body breaks down and detoxifies hormones
This test is ideal for women dealing with fatigue, irregular cycles, PMS, anxiety, insomnia, or suspected perimenopause.
Rebalancing Naturally: Your Personalised Support Plan
Testing is just the beginning. Once we understand what your body is doing, we design a practical and effective support plan based on your real needs.
This may include:
- A personalised nutrition strategy to stabilise blood sugar, support detoxification, and nourish adrenal and thyroid health
- Targeted herbal and nutritional supplements to restore balance
- Lifestyle guidance around sleep, movement, and nervous system regulation
- Mind-body strategies for reducing stress and increasing resilience
- Coaching to help you build sustainable habits and regain confidence in your body
This approach supports your body’s natural healing ability—not just by treating symptoms, but by resolving the imbalances causing them.
You Don’t Need to Settle for “Fine”
Fatigue isn’t something you have to put up with or push through. If your energy, mood, or focus aren’t where they used to be—and you suspect your hormones are playing a role—it’s time to explore what your body is really trying to tell you.
At MyWellbeing, we combine advanced diagnostics with practical, real-life strategies to help you feel energised, clear-headed, and emotionally balanced again.
Start with a Hormones & Nutritional Epigenetic Hair Test Assessment or a DUTCH Hormone Test, and take the first step toward restoring your hormonal balance and reclaiming your energy.
Written by Lisa Edmondson
Qualified Nurse, Master Health Coach, and Women’s Health and Hormone Specialist
Lisa Edmondson is a qualified Nurse, Master Health Coach, and Women’s Health and Hormone Specialist at Global Health Clinics in Takapuna. She combines clinical science with integrative, personalised wellness strategies to help women restore energy, balance their hormones, and thrive at every stage of life.
Hester Scott, a compassionate and skilled practitioner of natural medicine and women’s health who brings depth in herbalism, nutrition, and energetic healing. Hester supports clients through tailored protocols that address root-cause imbalances and help women reconnect with their natural rhythm.
Together, Lisa, and Hester apply a whole systems approach—addressing physical, mental, emotional, spiritual, and environmental influences on health. This collaborative method ensures clients receive comprehensive care, grounded in science and enriched by experience, intuition, and innovation.
At Global Health Clinics, we believe that restoring energy and vitality requires more than symptom management—it requires understanding the whole person. Our integrated model supports women to move from surviving to thriving, with sustainable tools for lifelong wellbeing.
Watch the Global Health series to learn more about Adrenal Fatigue with Dr James Wilson