Progesterone is made in the ovaries of menstruating women and by the placenta during pregnancy. About 20-25 mg of progesterone are produced per day during a woman’s monthly cycle and up to 300-400 mg are produced daily during pregnancy. If an egg is not fertilized, progesterone production (as well as that of estrogen) falls quickly and this initiates the menstrual flow. Progesterone is necessary for the survival of a fertilized egg, the resulting embryo, and the fetus throughout gestation. It is also the precursor of other steroid hormones including cortisol, aldosterone, estrogen, and testosterone and performs a myriad of different functions.
When a woman fails to ovulate, her ovaries do not produce progesterone. This is called an anovulatory cycle. Women can begin to skip ovulations as early as the mid 30s, with the missed ovulations becoming more frequent as perimenopause approaches.
Progesterone, while primarily made by the ovaries, is also manufactured by the adrenal glands. It can be converted by the adrenals into cortisol, the stress response hormone. Since stress is a survival mechanism, it has a higher priority in the body than sex. What this means in practical terms is that when you are stressed, your body will use your supply of progesterone to create cortisol rather than using it to do progesterone work.
Dr Lee, in his publication 'What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Menopause' maintained that women, by the time they reached their mid-to late 30s or early 40s had so stressed their adrenal glands that they had nothing left to give.
He argued that when Western women stop making progesterone in their ovaries and their adrenal cortex and brain need to pick up 100 percent of that function to produce corticosteroids, there isn't much progesterone left over for other functions, such as balancing estrogen levels.
The adrenals of many women in Western cultures are so depleted they can't even make enough progesterone to make the corticosteroids. This may be an important factor in chronic fatigue syndrome, which is so common in women in their mid-30s and early 40s.
The Benefits of Progesterone
Progesterone is known as the “Feel-Good” hormone and has many beneficial actions throughout the body.
Progesterone protects against the undesirable side effects of unopposed estrogen, a condition termed “estrogen dominance”. Remember, estrogen dominance can occur as a consequence of taking birth control pills at sometime in your life, synthetic hormone replacement, stress and exposure to xenoestrogens (substances in our environment that mimic estrogen).
It is important to note that when a woman enters menopause estrogen levels drop only about 35% whereas progesterone levels can plummet 95% or more!
- Progesterone is essential for bone health and helps prevent osteoporosis in a manner that complements estrogen. While estrogen prevents bone breakdown, progesterone actually promotes bone rebuilding by stimulating the osteoblasts (the cells that create the bone fabric itself).
- It has a number of metabolic and nutritional effects. It promotes the use of fat for energy, thus opposing the estrogenic tendency to fat storage.
- It normalizes blood sugar levels
- It has a thermogenic effect—it makes you warmer by increasing blood flow to the skin.
- It counters estrogenic binding of zinc and copper, thus normalizing those levels.
- Progesterone exerts a diuretic effect, helping to get rid of the fluid bloating that estrogen can cause.
- Progesterone has a soothing effect; a natural antidepressant
- It can promote sleep and counteract edginess, anxiety and panic
- Progesterone is beneficial to thyroid function. It helps keep zinc and potassium in cells, which allows thyroid hormone to enter and be converted into the active form (T3).
- Decreases symptoms of PMS
- Helps restore libido
- Helps protect against breast fibrocysts
Progesterone vs. Progestins
What is the difference? Progesterone is natural. While still man-made, it is extracted from wild yam or soybeans in a laboratory. The resulting molecule is bio-identical which means it is the exact molecular structure to that which is found in the human body.
Progestins are synthetic – a substance that is not found in nature. These drugs are created not because they work better than natural hormones but rather because they can be patented and patented drugs have a much higher price tag than natural supplements. Progestins are made from the same substances that natural progesterone is made from but the molecular configuration of it is changed in the laboratory so that it is not identical to anything found in nature. By changing the molecular structure only slightly can create major ill effects on the body. Many physicians still believe that the synthetic progestins such as Provera (medroxyprogesterone acetate) are the same as natural progesterone.
When women take Progestins in birth control pills (BCP) or synthetic hormone replacement, it blocks receptor sites in cells from natural progesterone. Women who take the BCP are stopping ovulation therefore stopping the natural production of progesterone!
Supplementing with Bio-Identical Progesterone
It is very helpful to know the ratio of estrogen to progesterone prior to supplementing with bioidentical progesterone. This is why we suggest saliva hormone testing. Saliva testing reflects tissue levels of sex hormones.
Most women are finding that progesterone levels are extremely low in comparison to estrogen levels (estrogen dominance) however women all differ in their physiology. This is why it is so important to use the guidelines provided by a knowledgeable medical professional in regards to dosing with progesterone supplementation. More is not better! Although progesterone is deemed to be very safe, too much can cause untoward symptoms such as feeling tired, water retention, candida, bloating, mild depression, and symptoms of estrogen deficiency.
