We now know that progesterone is a hormone created within a woman’s ovaries which helps to prepare the womb each month for acceptance of a fertilized egg, and attachment of a fetus.

Not having an adequate level of progesterone in the body is a problematic circumstance for many women. Why? Because a number of problems can result from low levels including irregular menstrual cycles, miscarriage and increased cancer risk from unchecked estrogen.

It is extremely important to a woman’s overall health during her entire lifetime (not just during her reproductive years) that her body produces and maintains normal levels of progesterone. The most important reason for this is so that it properly counterbalances the effects of estrogen. These levels can be adversely affected by a number of environmental factors including stress, prescription hormones, and hormones used in commercially produced and processed dairy products and meats.

Now that we know that it’s important for your body to maintain normal levels, we are faced with the following question: What are some signs that your body may have low Levels of progesterone? Here are some clues:

Breast tenderness

Fibrocystic breasts

Decreased/Low sex drive

Depression

Obesity

Night sweats

Bone loss

Irregular menstruation

Excessive bleeding during menstruation

Uterine fibroids

Water retention

Sleeplessness

Vaginal dryness

Thyroid dysfunction

Unclear thinking

Infertility/Miscarriage

Headaches

Endometriosis

Many of these symptoms don’t seem particularly alarming when considered separately, and therein lies the danger. Because they may appear harmless, oftentimes signs of low progesterone are not specifically noticed or interpreted as reasons for concern.

However, when you have noticed these symptoms occurring simultaneously, they should certainly be a signal that something in the body is not normal. This is then reason for a higher level of concern, and should warrant further investigation.

Achieving balance between estrogen and progesterone helps to restore the body’s natural hormonal state and lessen the occurrence of severe PMS symptoms.

Premenstrual syndrome or PMS is the onset of various symptoms both physical and emotional that occur in an estimated 75 – 90% of women of child-bearing age, between 2 and 14 days prior to the onset of the menstrual period. The characteristics related to this condition are numerous (over 100), and occur most often in women from their late 20′s into their 40′s. Some of these include abdominal cramps, water retention, weight gain, moodiness, fatigue, lower back pain, breast tenderness, headache, irritability, depression, and food cravings.

A definitive cause of this condition is not known. For a number of years, it was considered a psychological problem, a view which completely ignored the hormonal, nutritional and biochemical characteristics related to the syndrome. Today it is widely thought that it is the result of women’s sensitivity to hormonal shifts during the course of the reproductive cycle.

About 10% of women who experience Premenstrual syndrome have severe symptoms causing a disruption in their lifestyle. While stress can greatly aggravate or amplify the condition, it is not a direct cause. The symptoms usually diminish or disappear altogether once the menstrual period (bleeding) starts.

Diagnosis is usually based on the collection of symptoms a woman may experience. Relief can be found through a number of remedies including taking magnesium or calcium, using a natural progesterone supplement, regular exercise, and avoiding stress. Medical treatment is available for relief from severe symptoms.

The characteristics normally reported are related to the normal levels of estrogen in the presence of low progesterone, or elevated estrogen and the condition of estrogen dominance. When balance exists between estrogen and progesterone, the symptoms are lessened, giving a woman suffering those symptoms much desired relief.

During the years that a woman is able to bear children, the hormone progesterone is produced from within her ovaries. In her post-menopausal years, her body continues the production of progesterone in the adrenal glands and fat cells.

“Natural progesterone” is a hormone produced from plants that is biologically identical to the progesterone created in a woman’s ovaries. It is made from soybeans and yams, and is readily accepted by the body.

Natural progesterone works within the body exactly as progesterone manufactured in the body would, causing few if any side effects. For many years, natural progesterone has been used by women consistently and successfully in hormone replacement.

Synthetic progesterone, or progestin, is a man-made hormone that is made using chemical compounds. Also used in hormone replacement therapy (HRT), it can produce various and undesirable side effects including headache, breast tenderness and PMS.

The use of natural progesterone provides women with a means of boosting unacceptably low levels of progesterone in their bodies. Low progesterone levels may allow the hormone estrogen to reach a “dominate” level causing problems such as breast tenderness, water retention, irregular menstrual periods, as well as other, more serious, health issues.

When natural progesterone has been used in treatment, it doesn’t interfere with the performance of estrogen hormones, but works in a balance as it would under natural conditions. One of the concerns of synthetic progesterone use is that it may diminish estrogen benefits.

Some of the benefits of natural progesterone include:

helps prevent fibroids in the uterus
improves sleeping
restores sexual desire
works as an antidepressant
relieves water retention
helps stabilize blood sugar
helps eliminate postpartum depression
helps fight obesity
facilitates thyroid activity
stimulates bone building
helps to restore clear thinking

The use of natural progesterone can help to re-establish hormonal balances in a woman’s body and relieve worsening premenstrual symptoms as a woman approaches menopause. It can be used safely in hormone replacement to restore a woman’s hormonal health to natural, optimal levels both comfortably and successfully.

The dosages of natural progesterone required in hormonal treatment depends on several things. These include a woman’s life stage, levels of estrogen and progesterone in the body, whether estrogen dominance, menopause or low progesterone are the conditions being experienced, and symptoms being manifested.

There doesn’t seem to be any adverse affect from significantly increased progesterone levels, other than a change in menstrual cycle schedule, and a feeling of euphoria sometimes reported.

Approximately 20 – 25mg of progesterone is produced each day in the system of a healthy woman, during the last 14 days of her menstrual cycle. The goal for a woman experiencing a progesterone deficiency is to replace that same amount of progesterone to restore hormonal balance.

If natural progesterone is applied through the skin (as in the use of cream), it is very readily absorbed into the body, and therefore requires a small dosage. As a result, it’s often suggested that it be administered twice daily, in the morning and evening.

Following are some basic recommendations based on a woman’s reproductive stage or circumstance. These recommendations are only meant as general guides:

Women who are reproductive (ovulating) should take 20 – 25mg of natural progesterone daily, beginning on day 14 of their menstrual cycle (this is usually 14 days after ovulation and day one of the menstrual period) through day 26.This is so that there is no disruption in the normal pattern of the menstrual cycle.

Peri-menopausal women (menstrual period with symptoms of menopause, not ovulating) should take 20 – 25mg of natural progesterone daily beginning on day 7 after the menstrual period begins, through day 27.

Women in post-menopause should administer 20 – 25 mg of natural progesterone daily for 25 days, then rest for the remaining days of the month.

It is highly recommended that a health care professional be consulted in ultimately determining what the dosage of natural progesterone should be. In addition, the body should be given a rest for several days each month during which natural progesterone is not administered.

We now know that progesterone is a hormone created within a woman’s ovaries which helps to prepare the womb each month for acceptance of a fertilized egg, and attachment of a fetus.

Not having an adequate level of progesterone in the body is a problematic circumstance for many women. Why? Because a number of problems can result from low progesterone levels including irregular menstrual cycles, miscarriage and increased cancer risk from unchecked estrogen.

It is extremely important to a woman’s overall health during her entire lifetime (not just during her reproductive years) that her body produces and maintains normal levels of progesterone. The most important reason for this is so that it properly counterbalances the effects of estrogen.

Progesterone levels can be adversely affected by a number of environmental factors including stress, prescription hormones, and hormones used in commercially produced and processed dairy products and meats.

Now that we know that it’s important for your body to maintain normal progesterone levels, we are faced with the following question: What are some signs that your body may have low Levels of progesterone? Here are some clues:

Breast tenderness
Fibrocystic breasts
Decreased/Low sex drive
Depression
Obesity
Night sweats
Bone loss
Irregular menstruation
Excessive bleeding during menstruation
Uterine fibroids
Water retention
Sleeplessness
Vaginal dryness
Thyroid dysfunction
Unclear thinking
Infertility/Miscarriage
Headaches
Endometriosis

Many of these symptoms don’t seem particularly alarming when considered separately, and therein lies the danger. Because they may appear harmless, oftentimes signs of low progesterone are not specifically noticed or interpreted as reasons for concern.

However, when you have noticed these symptoms occurring simultaneously, they should certainly be a signal that something in the body is not normal. This is then reason for a higher level of concern, and should warrant further investigation.