Progesterone Deficiency: Symptoms of Low Progesterone

One of the primary female hormone is progesterone. It has a vital role to play in stimulating metabolism and controlling hormonal activities in women. Therefore, low levels of progesterone or progesterone deficiency can cause many complications. The hormone progesterone plays a huge rule in maintaining pregnancy. This hormone is produced in a female, during the early part of her menstrual cycle. Let us understand what is progesterone, before we learn about the symptoms of low progesterone.

What is Progesterone?

Progesterone is a hormone, produced in the ovaries. It is responsible for the changes, which take place in the uterus during the later half of the menstrual cycle. Progesterone is important from the first step of pregnancy itself. It is progesterone which prepares the uterus for the implantation of the fertilized egg, and also is responsible for maintenance of the uterus through pregnancy.

Symptoms of Low Progesterone

Progesterone deficiency is seen not only in older women, i.e. women who are approaching menopause, but also in younger women. In younger women, it is seen as Premenstrual Syndrome, the acronym being PMS. The most common symptoms of low progesterone are...

• Infertility: It is not uncommon to see, women suffering from infertility, due to progesterone deficiency. In most cases, it is seen, that the women may not ovulate, due to low progesterone levels, which is the cause of infertility.
• Miscarriage: Many of the miscarriages experienced by women are due to progesterone deficiency. Due to lack of progesterone, the body is not able to withhold the pregnancy resulting in a miscarriage.
• Premenstrual Syndrome: If you often experience symptoms like mood swings, anxiety, etc, which you have not experienced previously, it could be one of the symptoms of low progesterone.
• Heavy Menstruation: Women with progesterone deficiency experience heavy bleeding to the extent, that they have to change sanitary napkins, at times even after every hour. They may also experience heavy clotted bleeding.
• Irregular Menstrual Cycle: Some women experience a heavy flow in one month, and the next month they might not menstruate at all. Progesterone deficiency can also cause frequent menstruation. They menstruate approximately every 20 days instead of the regular 28 days.
• Ovarian Cysts: One of the causes of ovarian cysts is low progesterone. It is often interlinked with the irregular menstrual cycle.
• Breast Tenderness: It is not uncommon to see that some women suffer from breast tenderness, at different point of time during their menstrual cycle. It is most commonly seen before the onset of the menstrual cycle. However, it is not always caused, due to low progesterone levels.
• Depression: Low progesterone can cause depression and can lead to suicidal tendencies.
• Insomnia: Low levels of progesterone can cause insomnia.
• Fatigue: If you have not made significant changes to your lifestyle and there are no reasons that can cause fatigue, you must check if progesterone deficiency, is the cause.
• Memory Loss: It has been observed that low levels of progesterone can lead to memory loss.
• Water Retention: It is commonly seen that women suffer from water retention, puffiness or bloating. When the progesterone levels in the body are low, water accumulation in the body is observed.
• Weight Gain around the Abdomen: If you notice abnormal weight gain around the abdominal area it can be due to progesterone deficiency.
• Vaginal Dryness: Very often women in the peri-menopausal or menopausal phase, experience vaginal dryness, due to the deficiency of progesterone. Vaginal dryness also causes painful intercourse.
• Hot Flashes: This is a condition, which is commonly seen in women in the menopausal phase. When the levels of progesterone drop down, it is seen that the women may suffer from hot flashes.
• Low Immune System: Women with progesterone deficiency are known to suffer from recurring ailments like cold, cough, etc. It may be seen, that these symptoms are seen during a particular time itself.
• Other Symptoms: Some of the other symptoms of low progesterone are joint pain, urinary tract infection, cyst in the intestine, change in appetite, reduced libido, fibroids, thyroid dysfunction, gallbladder diseases, magnesium deficiency, etc.

Causes of Progesterone Deficiency

Few of the causes of progesterone deficiency are enumerated below.

• Stress: Studies have shown that many women in America suffer from progesterone deficiency, due to the fast paced and stressful life they lead. Stress is also responsible for irregular ovulation.
• Diet: Women consuming high amounts of non-vegetarian food usually have high levels of estrogen. Animals these days are given high levels of estrogen, so that they grow big in size. This estrogen finds its way in the human body and causes imbalance between the levels of progesterone and estrogen in the human body.
• Birth Control Pills: There are high levels of prescription hormones in birth control pills. One of the hormones, is Progestin, but it is not the same as the progesterone hormone produced by the body. Added to it, these birth control pills increase the levels of estrogen, causing an imbalance.
• Other Reasons: Some of the other reasons causing progesterone deficiency are hypothyroidism, hyperthyroidism, adrenal gland disorders, hormone replacement therapy, etc.

Very often it is seen that there are symptoms of low progesterone. However the causes of progesterone deficiency are never researched or they are simply neglected. Some women use over the counter progesterone creams, which give them relief without going into the details of progesterone deficiency. It is however not advisable to use over the counter medicines, they can do more harm than sometimes. Therefore, it is best to increase progesterone naturally, so that one does not suffer from the side effects of increasing progesterone unnaturally. The measures to be taken are simple. As a matter of fact, the most of the remedies for the same are available in your own kitchen. Along with the home remedies and some lifestyle changes, you will be able to tackle low progesterone problem.