Effects of  Low Progesterone 

Quick view: What are the effects of low Progesterone? 

Low progesterone levels often result in irregular periods and shorter menstrual cycles. Other signs and symptoms of low progesterone levels are mood changes, sleep issues or disturbances, anxiety, and depression. Progesterone deficiencies can also affect the body’s fluid regulation processes which can lead to weight gain and breast tenderness. 

Quick Review: Here is what we will be covering in this post. 

• What are the symptoms of lack of progesterone?
• What happens if progesterone is low?
• What causes lack of progesterone?
• How can I increase my progesterone naturally?

What are the symptoms of lack of progesterone

Progesterone is a hormone that plays a major role in a woman’s body. In a healthy body estrogen and progesterone balance each other out. So when there is an issue or irregularity with either of those hormones it causes issues with the other. 

In the case of low progesterone, also called progesterone deficiencies there is a good chance it has caused estrogen dominance.

You can think of these two hormones on a seesaw if one goes up the other goes down. Our aim is to keep the seesaw in perfect balance. Save this post to read next if you are seeing signs of progesterone deficiencies: Estrogen Dominance and Estrogen Dominance Weight Gain

Signs or Symptoms of Progesterone Deficiency

• headaches or migraines
• mood changes, including anxiety or depression
• irregularity in menstrual cycle

Low progesterone may cause abnormal bleeding in women who aren’t pregnant and irregular or absent periods may also be a tell tell sign of poorly functioning ovaries and low progesterone.

Eliminating Foods Causing Hormonal Imbalance

When it comes to losing weight the first thing we must understand is food is either medicine or it is poison. The foods we are eating are either nourishing our bodies or slowly poisoning them. 

In America, we eat what is called the SAD diet, or the Standard American Diet. I am not sure anyone could find a more fitting acronym for US eating habits than SAD.

The BEST Diet for Hormonal Weight Gain That I Have Found is The Keto Diet

Food has a massive effect on our hormones. It is vital that we are eating foods that nourish and heal our bodies and not cause even more imbalance.

The Custom Keto Diet meal planner (click here to check it out) is what I like to call the big red easy button.

They start you off with a quick quiz to see what your weight loss goals are and what kinds of foods you like. 

Then they give you a customized meal plan with a shopping list each week to take all the research and guesswork out of trying to get it right. It is under $40 per month, less than one dinner out with friends!

Avoiding foods such as; 

• Gluten
• Dairy
• Sugar
• Seed Oils
• Processed Refined Carbs (aka fast food/junk food)

Even if they are “keto-approved” foods they are huge endocrine disruptors and will vastly slow down your hormone resetting to a happy healthy hormonal balance.

As important as getting rid of foods causing hormonal imbalance is just as important as supplementing and helping our bodies boost the nutrients it is not receiving. 

I have gone into details on both of these in other posts but for now, I will say that both of these supplements boost of helping with hormonal balance and lots of weight loss testimonies (click the links above to read more).

What happens if progesterone is low

Progesterone is a female sex hormone playing a crucial role in the menstrual cycle and the ability to make the uterus ready for pregnancy. Progesterone is also part of breast development and ensures the breasts can breast feed.

Progesterone is important during the childbearing years. You may have trouble getting or staying pregnant if you don’t have enough progesterone.

Without progesterone to complement it, estrogen may become the dominant hormone. This may cause symptoms including:

Without progesterone to complement it, estrogen may become the dominant hormone.

Estrogen Dominance may then cause symptoms like:

• weight gain
• decreased sex drive, mood swings, and depression
• PMS, irregular menstrual cycle, heavy bleeding
• breast tenderness, fibrocystic breasts
• fibroids
• gallbladder problems

What causes lack of progesterone

There could be a few reasons causing progesterone deficiencies, some of the top related issues are:

1. Anovulatory cycle – when a cycle of ovulation does not occur
2. Hypothyroidism – Autoimmune disorder when the thyroid is under-active or not producing enough hormones (for more on how I healed hypothyroidism naturally which is how anyone can heal any hormonal imbalance read this post next: Hormone Repair Manual)
3. Increased cortisol levels – this is when the body is producing high amounts of cortisol also called the stress hormone, in small amounts our body needs cortisol, in excess it can lead to other health issues such as anxiety or depression.
4. Hyperprolactinemia – increased production of the hormone prolactin by the pituitary gland, this negatively affects the sex reproduction hormones, disruptions in menstrual cycles, and can lead to reproductive problems.
5. Low cholesterol levels – our bodies need cholesterol to make progesterone, so with low cholesterol comes low progesterone

How can I increase my progesterone naturally

Natural remedies for raising low progesterone levels include:

• increasing vitamins B and C, which are necessary for maintaining progesterone levels
• eating more foods with zinc, and supplementing (my favorite zinc supplement is linked below)
• controlling stress levels, since your body releases cortisol instead of progesterone when you’re stressed

Estrogen Dominance

Estrogen Dominance is the condition of increased estrogen levels relative to progesterone levels in the body. Estrogen dominance normally results from an overproduction of estrogen by the body, changes in estrogen metabolism and excretion, or an imbalance in the estrogen to progesterone ratio.

Most commonly doctors have linked estrogen dominance to being caused by a decrease and progesterone without a subsequent decrease in estrogen. 

Over 70% of women are estimated to experience estrogen dominance throughout their lifetime. 

Click here to read Estrogen Dominance Treatment next.

Conclusion

Hormonal Imbalance can be hard to pinpoint. This is because when one hormone in our body drops our bodies kick into high gear trying to fix it for us. Often this can cause other hormones to be affected. Then the hormonal imbalance dominos effect begins.

Ultimately estrogen dominance and low progesterone go hand in hand in causing a hormonal imbalance. Most often with our hormones if one hormone is out of balance others are as well. In the case of progesterone deficiencies, there is normally estrogen dominance or vise versa. 

Please comment below with any questions you have and come back and give me an update on how everything is going on your healing journey back to happy healthy hormonal balance!

XOXO,

K’Lee