How Stress Impacts Your Fertility & Sexual function

Menstrual irregularities and infertility are on the rise. In this article, I’ll take a brief look
at how stress and anxiety and how this impacts your sexual function.

High circulating stress hormones can interfere with the timing of ovulation and shorten the luteal phase.
Diminished progesterone availability in the luteal phase post-conception lessens the likelihood of a successful implantation; a 12-day luteal phase.

Stress hormones, the menstrual cycle & Sperm Count

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard clients tell me my endometriosis is worse
when I’m stressed. When I’m stress, the last thing I want to do is have sex.

When you’re stressed, not only are any existing health conditions exacerbated but your
libido is also likely to take a dive.

When you’re stressed, you release glucocorticoids like cortisol. These hormones have a direct impact on
gonadotropin releasing hormone, which in turn surpasses sperm count, ovulation and sexual activity.

It’s an interesting process one that probably evolved to stop us from having babies during periods of famine or
waring tribes, when having a baby would’ve been too dangerous for both mother and child.

Now, we know that our stress response is not working how it once did. It used to have a moment of acute stress
and then that event would pass and you’d return back to a state of relative calm parasympathetic dominance.

The only issue now is that for most of my clients, they’re under a chronic low grade stress. It’s changing
their blood chemistry and we’re seeing this when we run cortisol testing.

Not only are we seeing a lack of libido and infertility but there is also a significant amount of inflammation
and immune dysregulation that comes with the chronic stress.

Think of all the issues we have with mating animals in captivity. A well known fact, even though
the animals are fed well, socialized and, stimulated under the stressful artificial conditions of captivity
once wild animals are no longer able to conceive.

The Effect Of Stress On Egg & Sperm Quality

The increased level of stress hormone such as cortisol also reduces estradiol production possibly by affecting the granulosa cell functions within the follicles of the ovary, which results in deterioration in oocyte quality. You can read a review on this here.

Your stress is actually impacting the quality of your eggs.

Gentlemen aren’t getting let off the hook here either…

Different types of stressors, including occupational stress, examination stress and, major stressful life events (including fertility treatment itself) have been linked to reduced adult male reproductive function. Studies have showed a decline in semen quality during fertility treatment and in addition infertile men reported a higher number of stressful life events than fertile men.

The main hallmarks of stress are increased levels of circulating stress hormones, including glucocorticoids (GCs)
cortisol and the catecholamines as well as a decrease of circulating testosterone in males.

These are things that can and should be tested for in your pathology.
To find out more on how stress impacts sperm head across to this review.

Is stress affecting your ability to fall pregnant?

The circulation of elevated levels of stress hormones during the period between pre-conception and early pregnancy may prevent implantation and early pregnancy maintenance by messing up your luteal phase.

There is data that indicates high levels of glucocorticoids have harmful effects on the uterus and fetus, and inhibit pituitary luteinizing hormone, and ovarian estrogen, as well as progesterone secretion. All of these hormones are important for conception and maintenance of a pregnancy.

These inhibitory effects of stress hormones on female reproductive organs are also responsible for ‘hypothalamic’ amenorrhea (lack of period, or long periods) associated directly with stress, and it’s been shown in animal studies, primarily in mice— that this may also account for inadequate levels of progesterone during pregnancy, subsequently resulting in fetal loss.

Recurring miscarriages and long periods continue to add to the stress and anxiety around falling pregnant, which then continues to feed the same issues with sex hormones and it’s a vicious cycle that continues to plague couples. It’s also why you often hear of couples giving up on trying, going on holiday or adopting and then falling pregnant. The lack of stress and anxiety around the process of conceiving allows the hormonal system to settle into a normal rhythm.

PCOS- Endometriosis & Stress

Studies on rodents have found that chronic or accelerated stress actually increases
the lesion growth associated with endometriosis.

In PCOS we know that there are many factors contributing to the syndrome including, insulin resistance,
hormonal imbalances and an increase in fat distribution. We know that stress hormones have a role in all of these factors. Some studies have shown that women with PCOS have an exaggerated stress response.

The condition itself is stressful with excessive facial hair growth the absence of regular periods and
potential hair loss. It’s a challenge to keep a cool calm mind when you’re combating all of these symptoms.

Reducing the impacts of stress on your reproductive system

“So what do I do about the stress levels?”

One of the key things to note here is, it’s unrealistic to expect the world around you to stop being stressful.

Have you ever stopped to ask yourself why one person can step into a role and thrive and feel little pressure at all and another person steps into the same role and experiences an enormous amount of pressure and stress??

There are patterns of thought and behavior that make things appear stressful… and just like you can change your diet and your lifestyle you can also start to change your internal patterns which are no longer serving you.

Strategic psychotherapy and hypnotherapy are one of the best ways to tackle stress and anxiety

Mindfulness meditation and yoga can also be very helpful for reducing the amount of physical stress you experience on a daily basis.

There are several herbal medicines that are very useful for stress like passionflower, chamomile, and lemon verbena.

There are so many things that you can do to start reducing the amount of stress and anxiety that you’re experiencing on a daily basis and in tern help to improve the health of your reproductive system.

On a final note, you need a strategy and a plan! You can't resolve a problem with the same thinking that created the problem in the first place. You need a clear path that will tackle this issue from multiple angles. Rebalancing hormones, reducing tension and, creating new thought patterns all come into play here.

Just as when you take an extended holiday and you plan ahead of time, you buy tickets and book accommodation right?

You need to plan out how you will manage your stress and anxiety, and start adopting new ways of viewing the world around you…

There’s no such thing as an “anxious person” or
a “stress head.”

You just haven’t learnt the skills to view things from a more helpful lens. This is where the psychotherapy excels.

Even with the yoga and meditation, it’s all too common that you’ll start out with the best of intentions only to find that you’re too stressed and overwhelmed to do your de-stressing.

Change the filters of your mind, and you’ll find you can navigate your day to day routine with more calm and ease.

If you’re struggling with long standing reproductive symptoms or infertility consider having a stress hormone panel test, functional pathology labs conduct these and they’re easy and non invasive. Having a starting point you can track your progress over time.

If you have any questions about the info in this article or your own personal health,
please hit the button below and send me an email.