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Fertility and Pregnancy

GABA eases anxiety and is protective against metabolic and reproductive disturbances in polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS)?

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gaba pcos

This question was recently asked in my online GABA Quickstart group program: What are your thoughts about using GABA with somebody who has polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS)? Are there any contraindications? My approach is always the same regardless of your diagnosis – if you have the low GABA symptoms of physical anxiety then it’s worth doing a trial to determine if supplementing with the calming amino acid GABA will help.

What is very interesting is that this rat study, Protective effects of GABA against metabolic and reproductive disturbances in letrozole induced polycystic ovarian syndrome in rats, reports some very specific benefits of GABA being protective against metabolic and reproductive disturbances in PCOS.

Letrozole or Femara, a non-steroidal aromatase inhibitor (i.e. it lowers estrogen production) is used to treat breast cancer in postmenopausal women and it induced PCOS in the rats.

The following benefits were found when GABA was used in the rats with PCOS:

  • reduced body weight
  • reduced body mass index
  • reduced testosterone
  • a favourable lipid profile
  • normal glucose tolerance
  • a decreased number of cystic follicles in the ovaries

These results are profound. But wait for it …”the effects observed with GABA were comparable to that with metformin” with none of the side-effects (which can actually include anxiety, a racing heart, shakiness and depression).

The authors conclude as follows:

The results suggest that GABA treatment has shown protective effects in PCOS and provides beneficial effects either by reducing insulin resistance or by inducing antioxidant defence mechanisms.

The above paper didn’t measure anxiety levels but it’s very common with PCOS. According to this paper, Polycystic Ovary Syndrome: A Review of Treatment Options With a Focus on Pharmacological Approaches

after PCOS is diagnosed, studies show that more than 50% of patients develop prediabetes or diabetes, and there is an increased risk of myocardial infarction (MI), dyslipidemia, hypertension, anxiety, depression, endometrial cancer, and sleep apnea.

So it makes sense that using GABA will also help to ease any anxiety symptoms that are present. As always, look at the low GABA symptoms and if they exist rate them on a scale of 1-10 (with 10 being most severe), do a trial with GABA, and rate your symptoms afterwards, adjusting up or down as needed based on symptom relief.

A quick recap if you are new to GABA, these are the symptoms of low GABA:

  • Unable to relax or loosen up
  • Stiff or tense muscles
  • Feeling stressed and burned-out
  • Feeling worried or fearful
  • Panic attacks
  • Craving carbs for relaxation and calming
  • Craving alcohol for relaxation and calming
  • Craving drugs for relaxation and calming
  • Insomnia *
  • Have intrusive thoughts, perseverate or have an overactive brain
    Or have unwanted thoughts – thoughts about unpleasant memories, images or worries (Updated Nov 17, 2017: new GABA research on intrusive thoughts) *
  • Inability to prioritize planned actions *
  • Acrophobia (fear of heights) * – possibly other phobias too
  • Poor focus *
  • Rectal spasms *
  • Burning mouth *
  • Visceral pain/belly pain with IBS *

(* New additions that are not in my book “The Antianxiety Food Solution”)

Keep in mind that the above PCOS GABA paper was an animal study and GABA was not listed as a treatment option in the second paper above so my approach would be to use GABA for easing the physical anxiety symptoms. At the same time, share this blog and study with your prescribing physician and request if they will work with you to adjust your Metformin as they monitor your testosterone, lipids, glucose, insulin and cystic follicles in the ovaries, as well as weight and body mass index.

I look forward to human GABA PCOS studies in the near future. I also look forward to hearing back from you if you have PCOS and are using GABA for easing your anxiety symptoms AND are also seeing some of the above metabolic and reproductive improvements.

Given the prevalence of PCOS it’s important we use everything at our disposal to help:

Research suggests that 5% to 10% of females 18 to 44 years of age are affected by PCOS, making it the most common endocrine abnormality among women of reproductive age in the U.S. Women seeking help from health care professionals to resolve issues of obesity, acne, amenorrhea, excessive hair growth, and infertility often receive a diagnosis of PCOS.

We must always use a comprehensive approach and this book by my friend and colleague, Amy Medling is wonderful: Healing PCOS.

Do you have PCOS and anxiety and has GABA helped? Have you also observed some of the above metabolic and reproductive improvements?

If you’re a practitioner working with women with PCOS, have you made any of these observations?

I’d also be curious to hear if you see changes in acne severity, amenorrhea (missed periods), excessive hair growth or infertility?

Please do share in the comments below.

The Anxiety Summit – Foods to balance your hormones and ease anxiety

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Magdalena Wszelaki, founder of Hormones Balance, is interviewed by host of the Anxiety Summit, Trudy Scott, Food Mood Expert and Nutritionist, author of The Antianxiety Food Solution.

Foods to balance your hormones and ease anxiety (part 1)

  • Magdalena’s own journey with Graves’ disease, Hashimoto’s disease, adrenal fatigue, estrogen dominance and anxiety
  • How hormonal imbalances can cause anxiety: low progesterone, low/high estrogen
  • How over and underactive thyroid can cause anxiety
  • The adrenals and anxiety and depression

Foods to balance your hormones and ease anxiety (part 2)

  • How to test for hormonal imbalances
  • The foundation to all hormonal health being: healthy gut, healthy blood sugar levels and optimal liver health
  • Foods that support the production of the different hormones
  • Seed rotation for balancing estrogen and progesterone
  • The role of coffee in liver health, hormone metabolism and anxiety

 

In part  1 we discussed this 2015 paper: Sex hormones affect neurotransmitters and shape the adult female brain during hormonal transition periods.

Here we review the evidence from animal experiments and human studies reporting interactions between sex hormones and the dominant neurotransmitters, such as serotonin, dopamine, GABA and glutamate

The brain represents an important target for estrogen and progesterone effects.

major shifts in sex hormone levels seem to be paralleled by the incidence rates of mood disorders such as unipolar depression

A subgroup of women suffers from clinical level of premenstrual mood changes called premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD)… core symptoms include anxiety, irritability and depressed mood

Estrogen has been reported to have potent serotonin-modulating properties

progesterone and its neuroactive metabolites (allopregnanolone, pregnanolone) seem to facilitate GABAergic transmission

To summarize, neurotransmitter systems do not work in isolation and sex hormones act on multiple sites, highly intertwined with serotonin, dopamine, GABA and glutamate.

Magdalena shared these low estrogen symptoms:

  • Forgetfulness
  • Incontinence
  • Skin elasticity problems
  • Loss of muscle strength
  • Feeling really blah
  • Osteoporosis/osteopenia
  • Warm flashes and/or night sweats

Magdalena shared these low progesterone symptoms:

  • Tender breasts
  • PMS
  • Irregular periods
  • Puffiness and water retention
  • Mood swings and anger
  • Anxiety and sleep issues
  • Problems falling pregnant
 
In part 2:
 
Magdalena shared how the foundation of hormone balance is a healthy gut and talked about food intolerances, the microbiome, bone broths and quality animal protein.
 
I loved the discussion on using seed rotation for hormonal balancing: flax seeds and pumpkin seeds for the first half of your cycle and sesame and sunflower seeds for the second  half of your cycle/luteal phase (the cracker recipes are in the gift download – see below). 
 
Coffee does affect our hormones and here is a great guest blog post by Magdalena: 12 Ways Coffee Impacts Your Hormones 
If you had to give up either coffee or the internet for 2 weeks, which one would you choose? How about either coffee or sex for 2 weeks? If you’d rather relinquish anything to keep your coffee, you’d be on par with the majority of the people around you.
Be sure to check it out and try out her delicious Roasted Chicory Root Latte recipe.

I shared my recipe: Carob Cinnamon Delight instead of coffee – a calming hot beverage and mentioned rooibos tea how it’s A Functional Food in the Management of Stress (an interview from a prior anxiety summit)

Magdalena mentioned the EWG/Environmental Working Group’s Skin Deep site for checking your cosmetics – simply enter the name of the product in the search area.

We also mentioned Annmarie Gianni Skin Care, which is a natural skin care line made with organic ingredients that you can trust – and that actually work. This is the best and most natural skin-care line I have come across – anywhere! It’s organic, uses absolutely zero toxic ingredients and features gorgeous essential oils! You can try your Annmarie Gianni Skin Care sample kit here. 

 

Magdalena’s gift: How to Rebalance Your Hormones with Food and Recipes

magdalena gift image

 

If you are not already registered for the Anxiety Summit you can get live access to the speakers of the day here: www.theAnxietySummit.com 

Missed this interview or can’t listen live? Or want this and the other great interviews for your learning library? Purchase the MP3s or MP3s + transcripts and listen when it suits you.

You can find your purchasing options here: Anxiety Summit Season 1, Anxiety Summit Season 2, and Anxiety Summit Season 3.

Anxiety and Depression Association of America 2013 conference highlights

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My gluten-mood poster at the 2013 ADAA conference
My gluten-mood poster at the 2013 ADAA conference

Last weekend I attended the annual conference of the Anxiety and Depression Association of America / ADAA and am pleased to share some of the highlights.

  • Gluten does have such a big impact on mood for so many people and I had many interested and curious visitors at my poster presentation (see the above picture)  “Evidence-based Research On The Serious Effects Of Gluten On Mental Health, With An In-depth Look At Testing And The Gluten-free Diet.” A number of people shared how gluten removal had eliminated their anxiety and/or depression too: a mom whose daughter quit gluten and found that this eliminated her panic attacks, a Canadian MD who didn’t know about gluten intolerance and infertility and the director of an anxiety clinic in Argentina. I was also honored to have Dr. Jerrold Rosenbaum, MD, ADAA Past President, Chief of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital and Professor of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, stop by. He said “interesting… everyone where I live is going gluten-free.” I asked him “and what kind of feedback are you getting?” Dr. Rosenbaum: “They’re all feeling better!”
  • I attended a great presentation by Dr. Teri Pearlstein: “Treatment of Perinatal Mood and Anxiety Disorders”. Dr. Pearlstein shared studies that show that babies born to depressed moms may have similar health problems as those born to moms taking anti-depressant medications i.e. lower birth weight and smaller head circumference. However, I also learned this: in a JAMA Psychiatry study of more than 1800 children, investigators found an adjusted 2-fold increased risk for ASD (autism spectrum disorder) among mothers who used an SSRI during the year before delivery and a 3-fold increased risk when SSRIs were ingested during the first trimester. The study was done in 2011 so it’s not new but it’s still an important finding. To me, this provides a very big incentive for using drug-free solutions for pregnancy – which is why the amino acids, fish oils and other nutrients that I cover in The Antianxiety Food Solution are worth investigating as a better option.  We really need some research in this area!

I’ll be sharing some other interesting posters (like “Mindful-based stress reduction for stress and cognition in older adults”) and presentations (like Benzodiazapine side-effects and tolerance) in my next post on the ADAA.