Progesterone Hormone Levels and Women

Nature has given progesterone to men and women alike to balance and offset the powerful effects of estrogen. Some of the most common concerns of aging women are weight gain, insomnia, anxiety, depression, and migraines. For other women, even more debilitating conditions such as cancer, uterine fibroids, ovarian cysts, and osteoporosis now play a predominant role in their lives.

As men age, complaints of weight gain, loss of libido, and prostate enlargement top their list of health concerns. Many physicians and scientists are becoming more aware of a common link between these symptoms and conditions. That common link is often an imbalance between two sex hormones, progesterone and estrogen.

Estrogen Dominance

Estrogen dominance is really progesterone deficiency. The term "estrogen dominance" can be confusing at times because it is less related to the amount of circulating estrogen and more related to the ratio of estrogen to progesterone in the body. More relevant is that the estrogen levels drop by only approximately 40% at menopause while progesterone levels plummet by approximately 90% from premenopausal levels. It is the relative loss of progesterone that causes the majority of symptoms termed estrogen dominance.

This condition is common in women during the reproductive years, but tends to be particularly symptomatic for women in the peri-menopausal and menopausal years. Estrogen dominance is worse in women not ovulating, women being exposed to a higher estrogenic environment, or women not metabolizing estrogens correctly. Estrogen dominance is a term coined by John Lee, M.D. in the book What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Menopause.

Both estrogen and progesterone are necessary in the female cycle. Many women have an imbalance of these hormones, especially insufficient levels of progesterone to counter excessive estrogen. Progesterone is a hormone important to a number of body functions. During times of stress or conditions of chronic adrenal hyper-stimulation, progesterone is capable of being converted into the stress hormone cortisol.

The symptoms of progesterone deficiency and estrogen dominance are:

• Anxiety
• Irritability
• Hypersensitivity
• Nervousness
• Restless sleep
• Weight gain
• Headaches/migraines
• Breast tenderness
• Decreased libido
• Heavy periods
• Irregular menstrual cycles
• Mood swings
• Uterine fibroids

Thousands of women in the western world are using natural progesterone, generally in the form of a non-prescription product that is applied to the skin. These women experience increased vitality, better skin tone, and a renewed emotional balance, along with many other benefits.

Unfortunately, natural progesterone has been totally overlooked by medical science. The focus has been placed more heavily on estrogen, which has had detrimental effects on women's health.

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