Progesterone acts as a natural antidepressant to lower anxiety, help with mood swings, and can even aid in relieving postpartum depression. Progesterone can relieve menopause symptoms.
Progesterone acts as a natural antidepressant, enhances mood and relieves anxiety. It has a calming effect on the brain. It stimulates the brain's GABA receptors, the feel-good, calming neurotransmitters. So it is easy to understand why anxiety can surface when your progesterone levels are low.
Progesterone is in a class of medications called progestins (female hormones). It works as part of hormone replacement therapy by decreasing the amount of estrogen in the uterus. It works to bring on menstruation by replacing the natural progesterone that some women are missing.
There is evidence that some women experience unpleasant mood symptoms (such as irritability, depressed mood and anxiety) while receiving hormone replacement therapy (HRT) while taking the progestin / progesterone component of the HRT.
Progesterone is warming, calming, anti-inflammatory and sleep-promoting. It's definitely a hormone that you want on board for overall health and wellness. Yet so many women suffer from low progesterone or other hormone imbalances that impact progesterone's benefits.
For most women, progesterone is good for mood because it converts to a neurosteroid called allopregnanolone which calms GABA receptors. Progesterone's calming neurosteroid effect is why progesterone capsules are usually tranquillizing and why times of high progesterone (luteal phase and pregnancy) can cause sleepiness.
Progesterone naturally metabolizes in brain tissues to the metabolite allopregnanolone, which is known to produce calming, anti-anxiety and possibly enhanced memory effects.
Progesterone can help increase your mood. Progesterone acts as a natural antidepressant to lower anxiety, help with mood swings, and can even aid in relieving postpartum depression. Progesterone can relieve menopause symptoms.
Progesterone has been suggested to increase serotonergic neurotransmission via the regulation of the expression of serotonin-related genes and proteins (Bethea et al., 2002; Smith et al., 2004; Sanchez et al., 2005).
Progesterone produces multiple effects in the brain through three principle mechanisms: regulation of gene expression, modulation of neurotransmitter systems, and activation of signaling cascades.
Arterial disease: Don't use non-prescription forms of progesterone if you have arterial disease. Breast cancer: Don't use non-prescription forms of progesterone if you have breast cancer or a history of breast cancer. Depression: Don't use non-prescription forms of progesterone if you have depression.
Progesterone reduces the risk of endometrial (uterine) cancer by making the endometrium thin. If you take progesterone, you may have monthly bleeding, or no bleeding at all, depending on how the hormone therapy is taken.
Using large doses of this medicine over a long period of time and using it with an estrogen medicine may increase your risk of heart attack, stroke, blood clots, or dementia. Talk with your doctor about these risks. Your risk of heart disease or stroke from this medicine is higher if you smoke.
The drop in estrogen and progesterone that occurs at the end of a women's menstrual cycle may cause anxiety and other mood symptoms. This is similar to the drop experienced during perimenopause, the time during which your body makes the natural transition to menopause.
Progesterone is often combined with estrogen to treat the symptoms of menopause. In combination, these two hormones can reduce the hot flashes, night sweats, and other side effects of menopause. Progesterone thins the uterine lining, helping to prevent the development of endometrial cancer.
One of the hormones that can lead to anxiety and worry is your cortisol. Cortisol is your stress hormone and it serves an important job in your body. It's responsible for keeping your senses and reflexes, especially during fight or flight situations, at peak level.
Some found that cyclical increases in progesterone were associated with increased mood symptoms premenstrually, but only in women with a history of physical abuse [15]. Other studies found no relationship at all between progesterone levels and premenstrual mood [16–19].
Serotonin: Dubbed the "feel-good hormone," serotonin plays a key role in staving off anxiety and depression. In fact, the main class of drugs used to treat these conditions — SSRIs (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors) — increase serotonin levels in the brain.
The role of Progesterone on Dopamine
Progesterone has been found to stimulate dopamine release, while oestrogen has been found to inhibit dopamine actions. So clinically, these opposing actions help to regulate dopamine release, if the woman's hormones are in check.
A 2012 study showed that increased levels of progesterone you experience in the luteal phase of your menstrual cycle is usually accompanied by lower levels of aggression, irritability and fatigue (1).
Changes in Your Mood, Including Depression and Anxiety
When your progesterone levels are low, you may experience irritability, anxiety, insomnia, and depression. These changes in your mood can worsen right before your cycle, causing the mood swings associated with premenstrual syndrome (PMS).
Progesterone also affects brain function. It produces a sense of calmness and helps promote rejuvenating sleep. But when progesterone levels are low, the body can feel it has too much estrogen, even though estrogen levels can be normal.
Especially when balanced with estrogen, progesterone has a calming effect on the brain. Both high and low progesterone levels lead to the mood swings and memory loss associated with brain fog.
More recently, progesterone has also been documented as playing an important role in cognition, since it influences brain regions involved in memory.
This hormone increases shortly after ovulation, and generally causes a glum, anxious mood. Science indicates that progesterone stimulates the amygdala — the part of your brain responsible for your fight-or-flight responses. Triggering the amygdala could make you feel super-stressed, and maybe even a little depressed.