Symptoms of Low Progesterone

Many women hear about progesterone and how symptoms of low progesterone play a role in women's health.  When we reach peri menopause, progesterone starts to drop, which can cause an imbalance between estrogen and progesterone.  This will generally create symptoms, such as insomnia.

What is progesterone?

Progesterone is a hormone made by the female body.  It is especially important in pregnancy. Progesterone supports healthy thyroid function and is a precursor to other hormones, such as estrogen and testosterone.  It also supports adrenal gland function and healthy blood sugar levels. When the ovaries begin to stop producing eggs and progesterone production falls, the adrenal glands take over some of the production of progesterone.  Since most western women have experienced years of stress, their adrenals may not be up to the task.  This could explain why we have more symptoms of low progesterone than other women in the world.

Causes of low progesterone

When women reach pre menopause, sometimes as much as ten years before menopause, progesterone levels in your body start to drop.  Eventually, after menopause, the levels will become almost non-existent.  In addition to progesterone deficiency, this can cause estrogen dominance as well.  Estrogen dominance occurs when your body's ratio of estrogen-to-progesterone is different from it's normal ratio, with estrogen being too high relative to progesterone.

Symptoms of low progesterone

The best way to remember progesterone is as the relaxing hormone.  Symptoms of low progesterone may include

  • Anxiety
  • Migraines
  • Insomnia
  • Irregular periods
  • Heavy periods

Perusing the web may have you finding many more symptoms associated with low progesterone, and many claims for the seemingly infinite number of uses for bioidentical progesterone cream.  I am not sure where these authors are getting their information, but I prefer to be conservative when speaking about medical issues.  

I have read one author (Elizabeth Lee Vliet, M.D.) that says almost the exact opposite of what many other authors say on this subject.  She is an expert, and although I take her information seriously, I have had a different experience personally, and know many other women that have also had experiences similar to mine.  

This leads to one of my key messages for women in their menopausal years, which is to pay attention to your body.  If you want to be successful using natural remedies, you must learn to listen to your own body's needs.  We are all unique in our physiologies, there IS no average woman.  

If you have some of the symptoms above, you can try some of the herbs mentioned below to see if they help.  

Or you can try bioidentical progesterone cream.  You can buy it over the counter or get a prescription from your doctor.  It is very safe, especially short-term, so it won't hurt to try it.  

Another popular brand is Emerita Progesterone Cream

Symptoms of high progesterone include sleepiness and depression.  If you have these symptoms already, or get them after using progesterone cream, then stop.  You can also get your hormones tested, either through your doctor, or on your own, through websites such as HealthCheckUSA or MyMedLab.

Natural remedies for Symptoms of Low Progesterone

There are some herbs that can help balance out the progesterone-to-estrogen ratio.  Herbs that help with low progesterone include:

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