Symptoms of Low Progesterone (Estrogen Dominance)

Many women who go to their health care providers with symptoms of low progesterone are told that they are having symptoms of low estrogen. Often times these women are never even tested to see what hormones they are low or high in. They are then usually put on either birth control pills to "balance out" their hormones or put on estrogen to take care of their "low estrogen symptoms". Both will make the symptoms of a woman who is low progesterone worse.

I personally was found to be low in progesterone about a year ago after being very sick for three years. The symptoms I experienced were severe and debilitating. I was extremely weak and fatigued almost all of the time. My body ached. I had severe hypoglycemic episodes that would make me weak, shaky, hot, irritable, and extremely hungry. I was often crabby, had mood swings and even felt depressed at times. I would get severe migraines that would last three or four days at a time. I had horrific hot flashes that made me miserable. I gained a ton of weight. I never slept well. I would wake up extremely hot with my heart racing. I never felt rested or refreshed in the morning. During the day my heart would race and have palpitations and I would have intense chest pain. I also developed high blood pressure and starting to retain water. I eventually ended up in the emergency room for the heart problems and was put on metoprolol to slow my heart rate down and lower my blood pressure.

I noticed that along with all of these symptoms my periods had become extremely painful and my monthly cycle had gotten longer to about 35 - 40 days. I started to pay attention to how I felt in relationship to my cycle. I realized that I felt worse and had a lot more symptoms during the second half of my cycle with the week before my period being the worst. I explained all of this to my OB/Gyn. She scheduled me for an ultrasound of my ovaries and uterus and also ran blood tests at specific times of my cycle to check out my hormone levels.

The ultrasound reveled that I had many little cysts on my ovaries, which they thought was a result of PCOS. The blood tests were not consistent with PCOS though. The only hormone that I was low in was progesterone and that was low during the second half of my cycle. It was explained to me that I wasn't ovulating, which caused all the little cysts and that my body wasn't producing enough progesterone because I wasn't ovulating. So I was put on clomiphene (a fertility drug) for three months in hopes of "kick-starting" my body into ovulating again. That didn't help, nor did it change my symptoms. It was then decided to put me on LoSeasonique birth control pills that are supposed to make your body only have a period every three months. I was told that not having my period would be beneficial because of the pain and how sick I felt and that I would be getting some of the progesterone that I needed. Being on LoSeasonique only made me worse and added more unpleasant side effects. The week when I took the estrogen only pills was the worst. (I wrote the article "Side Effects of LoSeasonique for Hormone Imbalance" about my experience on LoSeasonique if you are interested in knowing what this medication can do to you.)

I took myself off of LoSeasonique and called my OB/Gyn to let her know what had been happening to me on it and to ask about getting on some progesterone cream. She told me my symptoms were not because of the low progesterone and that the only way they would give me progesterone was if I were trying to get pregnant because my levels weren't high enough to sustain a pregnancy. None of this made sense to me. If progesterone was the only hormone I was low in, then why not try some progesterone to see if it helped. I had already been checked and tested for so many other things that were all found to be okay. Now something was finally found to be low and I was being told it couldn't be the cause of my symptoms. I silently disagreed and decided to buy a quality progesterone cream and try it. I did a lot of research to find out which creams were good and actually worked before purchasing. After reading many excellent reviews about Femgest and finding it recommended in a book written by medical professionals, I decided to try it.

I have been using Femgest for almost a month now and am experiencing great improvement in my symptoms. I have a ton more strength and energy. My body doesn't ache all of the time. I no longer have debilitating hypoglycemic episodes. I am hardly irritable now, my moods have evened out and I don't feel depressed. I'm not getting migraines that last for days. I sleep much better and often wake up feeling rested and refreshed. My heart rate and palpitations have settled down. Instead of having horrible symptoms for the second half of my cycle, I have just felt somewhat tired and not all of the time. I did not have horrible PMS or feel terrible the week before my period. My period only had light cramping that was easily taken care of with a little acetaminophen. So I would have to say that my symptoms were caused by low progesterone.

I plan to call or write my OB/Gyn to let her know that I am using progesterone cream and how it is helping. I want her to know that being low progesterone did cause all of my symptoms in hopes that she will be more open minded to prescribing progesterone cream next time a patient comes along with a bunch of nasty symptoms and nothing wrong except low progesterone.

If you are a woman having these hormonal symptoms, make sure you get your hormone levels tested in the first and second halves of your cycle. If you are found to be low in progesterone, do not allow yourself to be pressured into taking any medications with estrogen in them. Try to get a prescription for progesterone cream. If you are unable to get a prescription for progesterone cream, I highly reccomend using Femgest. It only takes a little progesterone cream to go a long way in helping with a lot of nasty symptoms. I personally only use 1/8 teaspoon morning and night and it has done wonders for me. I truly hope you can find the same relief.

Femgest - Buzzillions.com

LoSeasonique - LoSeasonique.com