As you approach menopause (perimenopause), your progesterone levels naturally decrease. This can contribute to sleep problems and tiredness.
You may feel groggy, irritable, or anxious. You may have trouble concentrating, sleeping, or losing weight. You may have digestive issues, PMS, or severe menopausal symptoms.
Commonly reported side effects of progesterone include: abdominal cramps, depression, dizziness, and headache. Other side effects include: anxiety, cough, diarrhea, fatigue, musculoskeletal pain, nausea, bloating, emotional lability, and irritability.
Hypothyroidism (underactive thyroid) – It does not make enough of the hormones to control metabolism. Body processes slow down which causes symptoms like fatigue, depression, and memory problems.
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.
Low progesterone can be caused by a myriad of factors . 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)
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.
Fatigue is one of the most common symptoms of a hormone imbalance. Excess progesterone can make you sleepy. And if your thyroid -- the butterfly-shaped gland in your neck -- makes too little thyroid hormone, it can sap your energy. A simple blood test called a thyroid panel can tell you if your levels are too low.
Extreme fatigue in women can be caused by high sleep debt, being out of sync with your circadian rhythm, your menstrual cycle and period, pregnancy, menopause, hormonal contraceptives, poor diet, lack of exercise, stress and anxiety, medication side effects, and medical conditions like thyroid issues or anemia.
Oestrogen
Therefore, poor use of serotonin due to low levels of oestrogen may cause poor or disrupted sleep, thus making you more tired the next day. Menopausal women can suffer from low energy as a result of falling oestrogen levels.
Progesterone can increase your energy levels. It does this by stimulating the thyroid and speeding up metabolism. Adequate progesterone levels are essential for a healthy sex drive. As progesterone levels change during your cycle, it can affect your sex drive.
Progesterone is produced in both the ovaries and the adrenal glands. That means that lack of progesterone could be either a contributing factor to adrenal fatigue or a result of adrenal fatigue.
When progesterone is high, you may notice an increase in your energy levels. Progesterone is responsible for stimulating your brain to produce a neurotransmitter called gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), which can make you feel drowsier and may help you sleep better.
Estrogen can reduce menopausal symptoms like hot flashes, night sweats and vaginal dryness. If you have a uterus, you'll likely need to take progesterone along with the estrogen. Estrogen without progesterone increases the risk of uterine cancer.
Fatigue and Sleep Issues
Estrogen is intimately linked to serotonin, and serotonin makes melatonin. Melatonin is the primary sleep hormone. This means, if you've been sleeping less and feeling fatigued, you could have low estrogen.
Low estrogen levels many times found in menopause, often result in insomnia and night sweats. Diminished estrogen also causes irritability and mood swings in women which furthers exhaustion. Too little progesterone is also linked to fatigue in women.
In most cases, there's a reason for the fatigue. It might be allergic rhinitis, anemia, depression, fibromyalgia, chronic kidney disease, liver disease, lung disease (COPD), a bacterial or viral infection, or some other health condition.
Most of the time fatigue can be traced to one or more lifestyle issues, such as poor sleep habits or lack of exercise. Fatigue can be caused by a medicine or linked to depression. Sometimes fatigue is a symptom of an illness that needs treatment.
Medical causes – unrelenting exhaustion may be a sign of an underlying illness, such as a thyroid disorder, heart disease or diabetes. Lifestyle-related causes – alcohol or drugs or lack of regular exercise can lead to feelings of fatigue. Workplace-related causes – workplace stress can lead to feelings of fatigue.
Testing patients' salivary cortisol and melatonin levels can provide further insight into potential contributors to fatigue symptoms. Gut health and genetics can also be implicated in the development of fatigue symptoms.
Understanding Progesterone and Estrogen
They contribute to many different bodily functions, mainly including female reproductive function. When estrogen levels are too high and progesterone levels are too low, women may struggle to lose weight.
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.
Low progesterone can lead to weight gain
If the thyroid is not supported and therefore cannot produce sufficient levels of hormones, your metabolism will slow down, meaning less food is burned for energy. Eating more food than you burn leads to weight gain.