Obesity, chronic stress and a poor diet can contribute to low progesterone, but there are also other causes, including: Hypothyroidism (underactive thyroid)
Progesterone is an important hormone in your body. It helps regulate menstruation and supports a pregnancy. Low levels of progesterone can cause irregular menstrual periods, spotting and headaches, and could affect your ability to get pregnant.
Low progesterone production (or formally termed, luteal phase deficiency) is treatable. There are multiple ways your doctor can treat ovulatory disorders or insufficient ovulation (luteal phase deficiency).
In short, low progesterone is all too common among women. And, more often than not, low progesterone is misdiagnosed. Even though it has been researched for over 60 years, there is still a lack of consensus in the scientific community regarding the luteal phase defect caused by low progesterone.
Causes of Low Progesterone
Obesity, chronic stress and a poor diet can contribute to low progesterone, but there are also other causes, including: Hypothyroidism (underactive thyroid) Hyperprolactinemia (elevated prolactin) Low cholesterol.
The most noticeable manifestation of low progesterone levels is irregular periods and short cycles, but sometimes symptoms like premenstrual spotting may appear. Other symptoms may include mood changes, sleep disturbances, anxiety, and depression. Progesterone affects the regulation of fluid levels in the body.
Vitamin B6 is absolutely essential for the development of the corpus luteum. The corpus luteum is a vital yet temporary mass produced in the ovary after the egg has been released, and it is what makes the hormone progesterone. Therefore, B6 is necessary for balanced hormones and preventing progesterone deficiency.
While progesterone doesn't directly cause weight gain, it does increase your hunger levels which may make you feel like you're eating more and therefore gaining weight. But progesterone is just a small player in hormone balance and weight management. There are other hormone imbalances that may cause weight gain.
In addition to keeping your bones strong, estrogen and progesterone keep your hair healthy. A decrease in these hormones causes an increase in androgen production which causes hair follicles to shrink and contribute to hair loss.
During peri-menopause, the first hormone that decreases is usually progesterone. This can lead to estrogen dominance, a common symptom of which is weight gain, causing you to store more fat around your stomach area.
Diminished estrogen also causes irritability and mood swings in women which furthers exhaustion. Too little progesterone is also linked to fatigue in women. The progesterone decreases sex drive and results in an overall less optimistic outlook. This anxiety or depression brings with it fatigue.
In all these effects note that progesterone does not directly cause weight loss. Instead it reduces the effect of other hormones in the body which are causing the weight gain. Think of it as allowing rather than causing the body to lose weight.
Progesterone is a natural inhibitor of the release of serotonin and dopamine (happy hormones). When progesterone levels are low, mood and behavior is compromised causing anxiety.
Progesterone becomes deficient
Progesterone drops with perimenopause because progesterone is hard to make. Unlike estrogen (which is made on the way to ovulation), progesterone is made only after ovulation. And ovulation is hard to do especially as you move into your forties and start to have more anovulatory cycles.
Issues of concern related to progesterone can lead to: Menstrual irregularities. Miscarriage and early labor. Decreased fertility.
Sex hormones — especially progesterone — can have a surprisingly powerful influence on the activity and effectiveness of thyroid hormones. Imbalanced reproductive hormones lead to hypothyroid symptoms — weight gain, low energy, hair loss — even when your lab tests are in the normal range.
Because progesterone is the precursor to cortisol, when cortisol levels increase, progesterone levels decrease. So, too much stress in a woman's life can lead to a progesterone deficiency, causing the estrogen dominance symptoms mentioned above.
Since cortisol blocks progesterone receptors, your body won't be able to use the progesterone you are producing. In this case you may actually have enough progesterone but you aren't using it efficiently.
Vitamin C is absorbed in large amounts just before ovulation and stimulates the production of progesterone. Include plenty of citrus fruits, kiwi, tomatoes, broccoli, cabbage, bell peppers and other Vitamin C rich foods, which also aids in the absorption of iron from plant sources.