Having a hormone imbalance, such as high/low progesterone, may be one piece of the puzzle impacting your overall health and wellbeing by presenting itself in various symptoms such as fatigue, low energy, insomnia, anxiety, and mood changes. Working with a functional practitioner will help to address the root causes of your symptoms.
What is Progesterone?
Progesterone is most commonly known as “the body’s chill pill hormone”. It works with GABA in the brain, which is our primary calming neurotransmitter. When progesterone is well-supported, many women notice they feel more grounded, less reactive, and better able to handle stress without feeling overwhelmed.
Alpha progesterone metabolites modulate GABA receptors. Therefore, when progesterone is low, some females report issues with sleep, anxiety, and irritability.
The Role of Progesterone
In cycling females, progesterone’s primary role is to stabilize the endometrium for conception, but also supports sleep, mood, and memory. In premenopausal and postmenopausal females, progesterone also protects against endometrial cancer, osteoporosis, and cardiovascular disease.
Progesterone also:
- Promotes restful sleep
- Balances estrogen to reduce anxiety, irritability, and PMS symptoms
- Calms inflammation and supports the nervous system
Common Symptoms of Low Progesterone
- Chronic fatigue leading to persistent low energy levels
- Insomnia
- Irritability
- Anxiety
- Weight gain
- Infertility
- Increased endometrial cancer risk
Some females may experience PMS, heavy bleeding, and breast tenderness.
Root Causes of Low Progesterone
- Chronic emotional, psychological, or physical stress
- Anovulation
- Breastfeeding
- Perimenopause
- PCOS
- Thyroid disorders
- High prolactin levels
- Medications
Less common symptoms include anorexia, low body weight, extreme exercise, decreased ovarian blood flow (surgery or smoking), decreased ovarian cell health, hypopituitarism, and hypogonadism.
Labs To Assess
You may use DUTCH (Dried Urine Test for Comprehensive Hormones) testing linked here to view your progesterone level. The DUTCH Test measures progesterone indirectly by taking the weighted average of two metabolites, a-pregnanediol and b-pregnanediol. The DUTCH Test measures two progesterone metabolites in the urine: a-pregnanediol and b-pregnanediol. It may be helpful to know if there is a 5a or 5b preference, because the alpha progesterone metabolites modulate GABA receptors and may help with mood and sleep.
Diet/Nutrition
Probiotic Strains
Discuss supplements with your dietitian to determine which will be the best fit for you. Always consult your healthcare provider prior to beginning a new supplement.
Gut health and hormone health are connected. You are living in one body meaning all systems must work together to achieve optimal health so when one system is imbalanced, in this case a hormone imbalance or an imbalance in the endocrine system, the other systems (organs) are affected as well. An example of this is the gut which is part of the digestive system affecting the nervous system leading to a change in mental health, emotional health, and overall wellbeing. Having optimal health is simply focusing on the importance of the interconnected system of organs within the human body working together and properly in balance and harmony.
Adding various or specific probiotic strains to ferment in yogurt allows them to multiply and digest easier as well survive intestinal transit ensuring optimal nutrition. I recommend making your own probiotic rich yogurt to experiment with different probiotic strains! I have the recipe linked here!
Medicinal Herbs & Adaptogens
Discuss supplements with your dietitian to determine which will be the best fit for you. Always consult your healthcare provider prior to beginning a new supplement.
Supplements
Discuss supplements with your dietitian to determine which will be the best fit for you. Always consult your healthcare provider prior to beginning a new supplement.
Targeted Supplements:
You may order from my supplement dispensary below through Fullscript’s catalog where each brand and product meets strict top quality standards. You can learn more about third party testing here.
My supplement dispensary is linked here and you do not need to be a client to place an order.
Stress
Stress management tools are listed here.
Sleep
- Aim for 7-9 hours of quality, deep sleep.
Duration of sleep varies for females since hormones are always fluctuating and run on a monthly cycle. In the days leading up to the menstruation phase of your menstrual cycle, you may find that you have trouble falling asleep due to the decrease in estrogen and progesterone levels.
Look at sleep routine: reduce blue light towards the evening to regulate proper circadian rhythm and melatonin levels, limit caffeine intake prior to bedtime (depends on multiple factors such as absorption rate of the caffeine, amount of caffeine per drink (milligrams of caffeine), meal intake &nutrient density for that day, meal timing and density prior to caffeine intake, hydration status, and your genetics & how quick you metabolize caffeine by the liver), sunlight in the morning for 10-15 minutes to regulate circadian rhythm, natural cortisol spike in the morning (to wake us up) as well it’s natural decline in the evening (to wind down) as melatonin secretion increases. You can test your waking melatonin levels using DUTCH hormone testing.
Referrals
- Endocrinologist
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