Menopause. “The Change”. The period signaling the end of a woman’s childbearing years. A condition that in the past has been met by many women with misunderstanding, fear or trepidation. Tales of wild mood swings, extreme physical changes, night sweats, and the infamous “hot flashes” have served to create significant anxiety in younger women contemplating their entry into that life stage.

At menopause, a woman’s ability to become pregnant and bear children is at its end. Her body ceases to go through the monthly process of menstruation which prepares her for possible pregnancy. Hormonal changes occur, especially in relation to her body’s production of the hormone progesterone. Although the body usually continues the production of estrogen at lower levels, its production of progesterone drops significantly.

In some cases as the level of progesterone in the body decreases, a condition of estrogen dominance occurs which leaves the body in a state of significant hormonal imbalance. This can have several unpleasant results including more intense menopausal symptoms such as hot flashes, mood swings, weight gain, headaches. In addition, a woman can be at greater risk for cancer. So how can progesterone help with menopause?

If menopausal symptoms are particularly uncomfortable or severe, treatment for relief of those symptoms may be warranted. Adding additional progesterone to the body’s system to increase its levels has been shown to be affective in treatment for menopausal symptoms. The additional progesterone serves to restore its levels to the point they were prior to the onset of menopause. This restores hormonal balance within the body, and acts as the natural counterbalance for estrogen. In this way, estrogen is prevented from increasing to disruptive levels.

If you are experiencing problematic menopausal symptoms, it’s worth your effort to have your hormone levels checked, and investigate the possible benefits of progesterone treatment for your health and relief.

More and more often, women today are being diagnosed with hormonal imbalance. One of the reasons for the increased occurrence of hormonal imbalance is the prevalence of estrogen and “estrogen like” chemicals now commonly found in our food supply, pesticides, plastics and other common products and substances. Hormonal imbalances can be both unpleasant and disruptive experiences, even leading to life-threatening circumstances. Part of ensuring optimum health for women, means taking steps to ensure that hormonal health is promoted and protected.

Estrogen and progesterone are two extremely important hormones in a woman’s body. These two hormones work together throughout a woman’s childbearing years, and continuing even after menopause, forming a delicate balance in maintaining hormonal health. During the first 10 days of a woman’s menstrual cycle, estrogen is produced, followed then by the production of progesterone when ovulation takes place. If pregnancy does not occur, then the levels of both hormones decrease, resulting in menstruation. After menopause, both estrogen and progesterone continue to be produced in the body at decreased levels. Whenever these two hormones are out of balance, the resulting symptoms may be uncomfortable at best, but can lead to situations that are extremely detrimental.

Estrogen/progesterone imbalance occurs when there is an imbalance in the levels of estrogen versus the levels of progesterone in the body. Most often, this condition is manifested in estrogen dominance where there is an excess in the level of estrogen relative to the level of progesterone.

How do you know if you are experiencing symptoms of estrogen/progesterone imbalance?
Symptoms of imbalance between estrogen and progesterone occur as a result of a disruption between the balance of these two very important hormones. Symptoms may include:

Allergy
Depression
Bloating and water retention
Foggy thinking
Endometriosis
PMS
Fibrocystic breasts
Hair loss
Osteoporosis
Dizziness
Facial hair growth
Fatigue
Anxiety
Headaches
Low sex drive
Uterine fibroids
Weight gain

If you suspect that you may be suffering from symptoms of estrogen/progesterone imbalance, it’s a simple matter to be tested to determine whether or not you are. Don’t simply assume that the above symptoms are simple signs of aging. They aren’t. Take control of your health. Be aggressive in finding out the truth about the condition of your body, and steps you may take to improve your condition. If you are suffering with estrogen/progesterone imbalance, it may be that natural progesterone can help in restoring your body’s hormonal balance.

We’ve all been through it. That “time of the month” when your wasteband seems to have shrunk two sizes, your fingers look like mini sausages and your rings are mysteriously cutting, your feet swell and become at least a half size too big for your shoes, or your blouse and shirt sleeves seem to squeeze the very life blood from your arms. It’s bloating, and it happens to many women coinciding with phases in the menstrual cycle, and beginning often a few days before the onset of menstruation.

Bloating affects a number of women in their childbearing years, and is considered a common complaint. Besides the issues relating to bloating itself, the condition is usually accompanied by weight gain of up to several pounds. Most women learn to expect it, and if the symptoms appear especially troublesome, turn to some form of over-the-counter remedy for a measure of relief. Others turn to more “natural” remedies like increased exercise to “sweat out” the excess water, reduction of salt intake, increased intake of fiber-rich foods or water to “flush out” excess sodium, or an increase in vitamins, especially calcium or magnesium to help alleviate symptoms.

Premenstrual bloating is caused by the body’s retention of water. Seven to ten days prior to the onset of menstruation, the change (increase) in the hormonal levels of estrogen and progesterone cause the body to retain sodium. Hormone replacement therapy (especially estrogen replacement therapy) can also cause bloating. High sodium levels cause the body to retain more fluid from blood in the cells, and the fluid becomes trapped in skin tissues leading to bloating.

Some women have found success in the alleviation of the symptoms of PMS (premenstrual syndrome), including bloating, with the use of natural progesterone. Although there are doctors who discount the effectiveness of natural progesterone in relief of these symptoms, there are other doctors and medical professionals, as well as experts who study the effectiveness of natural remedies that believe it is indeed effective. In this case, natural progesterone is used to restore a better balance between the hormones estrogen and progesterone, which subsequently relieves symptoms of imbalance, including bloating.

Any treatment or remedy should be thoroughly investigated and considered before use. It just may be that you find that the use of natural progesterone is beneficial to you in relieving a number of symptoms of PMS, including bloating.

You used to feel sassy, sexy and full of life. You enjoyed the aspects of physical closeness; the natural desire that coincides with a natural, healthy libido. But, that interest in sex, the desire for sex is long gone. You may assume that it’s a natural part of the aging process. But, what if it’s not? Healthy women enjoy a natural interest in and desire for sex. That includes healthy women who are past their childbearing years. Just because a woman has reached or passed her menopausal life stage, by no means indicates that she is no longer interested in sexual activity.

There are many women of all ages who suffer from a lack of libido or low sex drive. And a decreased sex drive can be caused by a number of factors including a low-active pituitary gland, alcoholism, prescription drugs including tranquilizers, diseases such as diabetes, hormonal changes associated with childbirth, and a number of others. However, menopause is not, as popularly believed, a cause of diminished libido. In fact, often times women who have gone through menopause relate increased interest in sexual activity. With the relief of concerns, especially that of unwanted pregnancy, related to sexual activity, some women at later life stages feel a greater sense of freedom and liberation in exploring their sexual desires.

Decreased libido may also be associated with psychological factors in addition to or in place of the physical conditions mentioned above. These may include fatigue, increased stress, depression, anxiety, overwork, living environment, and relationship problems. Ensuring your physical and mental health provides the optimum environment for healthy libido.

One of the circumstances that may manifest itself in low libido is hormonal imbalance. Progesterone is one of the body’s essential hormones, especially for women. It is essential for many of the body’s functions including embryo survival during pregnancy, it is a precursor for the production of cortisone, helps in the use of fat for energy, helps to stabilize blood sugar levels, promotes optimal operation of the thyroid, acts as a natural diuretic, and a natural antidepressant. But one of progesterone’s most important functions is that it works in counterbalance to the varying levels of estrogen in a woman’s body during differing pre and post menopausal stages.

When the cause of diminished libido is found to be due to hormonal imbalance, the restoration of normal levels of progesterone through the use of natural progesterone can help to restore a normal hormonal balance, and thus a normal libido.

The effects on a woman’s body of having too much estrogen can be quite serious.

A chronic condition of increased levels of estrogen (estrogen levels that are not balanced by sufficient levels of progesterone in the body) are the single greatest factor for an increased risk of endometrial cancer (cancer of the uterus).

Estrogen is not one hormone. Estrogen is actually three different hormones: estrone, estradiol and estriol. In addition to the estrogen the body produces on its own, women are exposed to estrogen-like environmental chemicals (they mimic the effects of estrogen in our bodies) called “xenoestrogens”, and dietary estrogen sources (estrogen contained in food). As a result, elevated levels of estrogen in a woman’s body may be traced to several different factors including biological, environmental or dietary/lifestyle, or may be a combination of all of these.

So why exactly does this matter? Why is having too much estrogen bad for you?

Too much estrogen or the condition of “estrogen dominance” can be the cause of serious health issues. Normally during a woman’s childbearing years, estrogen and progesterone levels increase and decrease in coordination with one another throughout her monthly reproductive cycle. When these hormones are in a state of imbalance, with estrogen occurring in higher levels, women experience problems such as headaches/migraines, clouded thinking, breast tenderness, anxiety, depression, heart palpitations, food cravings, and water retention.

If increased levels of estrogen are not treated, they can lead to much more serious and problematic circumstances including infertility, heavy menstrual bleeding, infrequent menstrual cycles, fibroids, endometriosis, stroke, and cancer.

Educating yourself about estrogen, it’s role and the effects it has on your body is very important. Learning to monitor and maintain your body’s hormonal balance is of great benefit, and will promote lasting results for your overall health.

Progesterone is a hormone produced in the ovaries of women. It is also produced by men, but in small amounts.

Progesterone is a fundamental hormone and is the forerunner for the production of additional, important hormones including estrogen and cortisone. Progesterone, in conjunction with estrogen, works to regulate a woman’s reproductive cycle.

Progesterone is considered critically important to a woman’s health. It is produced prior to ovulation to prepare a woman’s uterus for accepting a fertilized egg. Each month, during a woman’s childbearing years, progesterone is secreted from within the ovaries signaling the body to thicken the lining of the uterus, so that a fertilized egg may attach and begin to develop.

If a woman becomes pregnant, progesterone is then produced by the placenta to maintain pregnancy and prevent rejection (spontaneous abortion) of the embryo. When pregnancy does not occur, the levels of progesterone decrease, and the thickened uterine lining along with the unfertilized egg is shed in the menstrual period.

Progesterone’s most important role relative to a woman’s general health, is to keep the level of estrogen in a woman’s body in a balanced state. Unchecked estrogen can lead to very serious medical issues including increased risk for breast cancer or cancer of the reproductive organs.

In addition to the reproductive system, progesterone also stimulates thyroid activity, reduces inflammation, helps with immunity, blood-clotting abilities and other functions of the body. It is also used in synthetic (man-made) form to help with treatment of menstrual problems, prevent miscarriages and for birth control.

The body requires progesterone during all of the different phases of a woman’s life. It is therefore important that a woman’s body continues to generate progesterone even in the post-menopausal years, especially to prevent conditions such as osteoporosis.