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3 Signs You Have Low Progesterone (+ What to Do About It) · Nourished Fertility

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  Hello and welcome back to the Nourishing Women Podcast.
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  I'm your host, Victoria Myers, peer recovery specialist
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  and fertility dietician.
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  And today we're gonna discuss three signs.
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  You have a low progesterone without testing, and what to do about it if
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  you're working on restoring your Period.
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  As most of you are listening to this episode, you're trying to
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  conceive, which all of you are.
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  Um.
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  Or honestly, even if you're just trying to have your hormones like chill out.
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  Hello, PMS.
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  Today's episode is for you.
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  You all absolutely loved the episode I did on the three signs of low
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  estrogen, so I really wanted today to be like a similar type conversation.
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  Again, three signs of low progesterone instead of estrogen today.
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  And just like that other episode, what exactly to do about that.
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  And before we get into those specific signs, I think we should just first start
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  with why progesterone is such a big deal.
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  Progesterone is made after ovulation by something called the corpus lium.
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  The little follicle remnant that's left behind after an egg is released
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  in the event of ovulation, so progesterone is your dominant
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  primary hormone in the second half of your period, your luteal phase.
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  And again, it's made by that leftover follicle remnant, the corpus lium.
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  And it's basically your body's way of saying like.
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  Yay, we ovulated time to support a possible pregnancy.
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  Progesterone plays a vital role in thickening and stabilizing the
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  uterine lining, keeping estrogen in check because again, remember,
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  it is the dominant hormone in your second half of your your cycle.
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  It reduces inflammation and supports the early stages of pregnancy.
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  And since you all are here listening to this very show because
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  you were trying to conceive.
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  Progesterone is so important for you.
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  I think it's also really important here, just to start off by saying,
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  for this episode in particular, I'm gonna give signs of low progesterone
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  for someone who actually has a cycle.
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  Because all these signs are kind of things that go awry on
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  a cycle with low progesterone,
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  but let's just start first by saying.
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  If you're not ovulating, therefore not having an ovulatory bleed
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  each month, just know that you're gonna have no progesterone at all.
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  Like these are problems for people who are actually having periods.
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  However, I. If you don't have an ovulation, you don't have a period at all.
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  You just are gonna know.
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  Like progesterone's obviously an issue.
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  I don't even really need to test for this.
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  I know it's a problem 'cause I'm not actively ovulating.
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  And by doing the work of period recovery to get your period back, therefore
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  restore your fertility, you are going to be supporting your body and producing
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  adequate levels of progesterone.
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  Two, in fact, oftentimes in period recovery.
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  After our client's first recovery period and the second, third, and
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  ongoing as they're trying to conceive, it's pretty common to see short luteal
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  phase, what's called luteal phase defect in the period recovery process.
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  And again, that is just because the body needs time and recovery to
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  produce adequate levels of hormones.
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  So when that happens, we just know that this means that someone needs to continue
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  in the period recovery process as well as look at other things like minerals,
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  nutrients, and supplementation that can.
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  Poor progesterone levels too.
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  Also sleep, stress, all the kind of fertility stuff goes into play there too.
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  So with that kind of foundation laid, let's talk about the
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  first sign that you have.
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  Low progesterone, even though you have a period, because we just said like, Hey, if
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  you don't have a period, we know for sure that you don't have enough progesterone.
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  So if you have a period and you're having short luteal phases, AKA, the
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  second half of your cycle is too short, we know that you likely have not.
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  Adequate levels of progesterone.
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  The luteal phase starts after ovulation and goes until the
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  first full day of your bleed.
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  The first full day of your bleed begins the beginning of your
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  follicular phase and the new cycle.
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  So all the days between ovulation and that are your luteal phase.
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  This should last 12 to 14 days.
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  So if your period comes just seven to 11 days after ovulation, that's
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  a big red flag for low progesterone.
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  Again, it's often called luteal phase defect.
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  Now, why does this happen?
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  Progesterone's job is to hold the uterine lining in place and give
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  a fertilized egg time to implant.
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  So if progesterone is low, your body will shed the uterine lining
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  to early cutting your cycle short.
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  That makes it really hard for pregnancy to happen because even if the egg and
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  sperm do their thing, the uterus says time's up before implantation is complete.
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  If you track basal B temperature, you may potentially see this show up too before
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  you actually get that early period.
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  Um, because after you have your ovulation, peak, temp, and risen temps that are all
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  risen again because progesterone rises after ovulation, you'll see this instead
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  of a gradual decline to the start of your cycle and said you'll typically
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  see this as a sharp decline instead, and then again, you start bleeding early.
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  And because progesterone is so important in getting and staying
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  pregnant, obviously a short luteal face is gonna be really problematic
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  because you may have a period you may.
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  Even be ovulating.
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  But if you're not having a long enough luteal phase, you very likely
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  don't have enough adequate levels of progesterone to get and stay pregnant.
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  This is why the work of supporting your body by truly nourishing it for fertility,
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  not only to ovulate and cycle, but also to make sure you have adequate levels of
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  hormones like progesterone is of vital importance because that is how you reach
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  your goal of holding a baby in your arms.
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  Okay.
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  Sign number two, that you have low progesterone levels.
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  Spotting, spotting for a few days before your period fully starts is
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  something that gets dismissed all the time as quote unquote normal.
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  It's actually another key sign, similar to a short luteal phase of low progesterone.
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  When progesterone is strong and healthy, it holds the uterine lining
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  firmly in place until it drops, causing your full period to begin.
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  But if progesterone is low or drops too soon, the lining starts to shed
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  gradually instead of all at once.
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  That's where the brownish or pink spotting for one to three days before
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  your actual period shows up, is signaling to us of low progesterone.
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  And again, it's not just an annoyance similar to the short luteal
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  phases, it's a hormonal breadcrumb.
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  It's your body basically telling you, Hey, something is up here, and similarly,
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  sign number three that you may have low progesterone is your PMS, that feels like
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  a horror film, especially emotionally.
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  I'm talking anxiety spikes, insomnia, mood swings, irritability,
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  maybe even night sweats.
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  This is a problem.
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  You should not have these crazy tense symptoms or feel like you wanna go live
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  in a cave before your cycle begins.
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  If you have PMS or even PMDD.
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  That is your body trying to tell you something.
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  Here's why progesterone doesn't just work in the uterus.
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  It also binds to GPA receptors in your brain, the same ones that help
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  you feel calm, grounded, and chill.
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  So when your progesterone is low in the luteal phase, your brain
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  can't regulate stress as easily.
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  Your more reactive, edgy, emotional, and on high alert.
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  If this sounds familiar, it's not just PMS, it's not something we should just.
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  Deal with is low hormones.
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  It's low progesterone, and this is problematic because
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  again, progesterone is low.
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  It becomes much harder to get pregnant because the luteal phase is too short
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  or unstable for implantation, and it's also hard to stay pregnant because
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  progesterone is required to maintain the uterine lining in early pregnancy.
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  So while PMS is just seen as this thing that we all deal with, it's
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  actually a sign that you don't have adequate levels of progesterone.
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  And while mild symptoms are okay and expected as part of the.
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  Process of being a woman and having a period every month.
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  We don't want anything in extremes, so mild symptoms, okay.
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  Extreme symptoms, crazy PMS, that is your signal that you
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  likely have low progesterone,
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  so to recap, those three signs of low progesterone are number one, short luteal
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  phases, and I think seven to 11 days.
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  Number two, spotting before your period.
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  And then number three, PMS from hell, anxiety, insomnia, and mood swings,
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  especially these are signs that you have low progesterone and honestly all things
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  that you can gain from just tracking your cycle and being aware of what's
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  going on with your period each month
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  so while all three of these signs can point to low progesterone, if
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  you really want to see what your progesterone levels look like, you
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  want an accurate representation.
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  My recommendation to you would be to do your progesterone testing differently than
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  your rest of your hormone blood panel that you've done, which you typically do on
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  day three of recycle this instead, because progesterone's only risen in the second
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  half after ovulation is something you.
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  Only one to test five to seven days after ovulation.
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  So whether you do it through again, um, blood work with your doctor, or
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  you do something like the Dutch test, which can tell us the estrogen and
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  progesterone imbalance, as well as other key hormones, that so important because
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  we cannot see true, accurate readings of progesterone levels without it being
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  five to seven days after ovulation.
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  Whether or not you decide to move forward to actually getting some lab testing
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  done to see what your progesterone levels are, or you're like nodding along
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  each of these, you check off of things that you're dealing with right now.
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  PMS spotting before your period and short luteal phases.
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  This likely says to us like, Hey, your progesterone does need support whether or
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  not you decide to move forward and test.
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  So what do we do about that?
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  Because if you are trying to conceive without enough progesterone, the body
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  can shed the lining too soon leading to chemical pregnancies or early loss.
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  So progesterone is so important, as if mentioned already in
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  getting, but also staying pregnant.
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  So here's some key things we can do to support healthy progesterone levels.
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  Number one, eat more.
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  Eat enough.
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  The like theme of this very podcast is to eat enough.
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  Even if you do not have period loss, even if you do not have hypothermic
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  amenorrhea, you still have to eat enough.
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  Remember how we often talk about with ha there's a spectrum and we do consider
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  short luteal phases or low progesterone as part of the spectrum of ha.
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  It's not classified in the same way of like period loss
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  of three plus months or more.
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  However, low progesterone can still be.
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  Deeply affected by not eating enough.
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  In fact, there was a study recently done on estrogen and progesterone
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  exposure to women in an energy deficiency age 20 to 40 years,
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  what the researchers specifically investigated was the impact of
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  moderate exercise combined with caloric restriction on a women's menstrual
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  function and their hormone levels.
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  And what they found was these women who went under a 25% reduction
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  in caloric intake experienced significant menstrual disturbances,
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  including significant alterations in estrogen, but also progesterone levels.
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  Through this study, they were able to conclude that energy deficiency achieved
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  through chloric restriction and exercise.
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  Hello.
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  Like all of my people led to a reduced exposure of these hormones, and of
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  course it's going to affect reproductive.
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  Health.
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  So just kind of naming the importance of eating adequately.
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  And I think what's super interesting about this study in particular
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  is that they did a, um, 25% reduction in caloric intake, right?
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  But for you, and for most of my people, you guys are usually eating around
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  1500 calories a day compared to what you actually need for fertility.
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  And for a healthy period, that's a 40% reduction in calories.
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  So no wonder.
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  You're likely struggling right now with low progesterone listening to
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  this very episode, let alone likely low or suboptimal levels of estrogen.
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  Two.
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  So please, please, please eat enough.
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  That is of critical importance.
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  Goal number one, if you think you have low progesterone.
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  Number two, stop over training.
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  Um, as we, again, always talk about Russ is important here too.
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  Russ is medicine.
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  Just like we need to eat enough our bodies, yes.
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  Need exercise.
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  And that helps us in so many ways with our fertility and our health and
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  us feeling connected in our bodies.
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  However, there's, you know, um, kind of a pendulum so to speak.
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  Too little exercise, not great.
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  Too much exercise.
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  Not great either
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  and if you're someone who tends to be on that pendulum swing of over training,
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  this is really something to reflect on.
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  Even if you ovulate, even if you have a period, if you have any of
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  these three signs of potentially low progesterone, please make sure that
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  you're giving your body breaks at least two rest days per week that
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  some of your exercise and movement is of walking or yogurt or somewhere
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  of that restorative movement too.
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  Okay, number three.
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  If you have low progesterone steps to take would be to start tracking your
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  cycle using things like basal bio temperature and cervical mucus, which is
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  something we do with all of our clients.
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  We don't rely on LH strips In our practice.
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  We like to use the actual signs from your body will be so helpful
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  because this will tell us about not only confirming ovulation, which is.
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  Obviously like it's critical for fertility and conceiving, but your basal by
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  temperature can tell us so much about what's going on with your progesterone
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  levels, so that can give you more insight specifically as to what's going on.
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  Step number four, reduce stress.
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  I know I know easier said than done, but nervous system regulation is huge.
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  Your body can't ovate or have healthy progesterone levels in
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  a healthy luteal phase if it's constantly stuck in survival mode.
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  Stress has significant impacts on your progesterone levels, so take this as
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  seriously as you're taking everything else in your fertility journey.
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  Step number five, nutrient dense foods,
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  as always here at the podcast and the practice, you know, we're really
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  unique in the peer recovery space.
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  We don't want you just to focus on eating enough.
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  We also want it to be these nutrient dense foods that support fertility.
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  And what's really cool about a lot of these foods is they're going to
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  support healthy progesterone levels too.
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  You can think of things like.
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  Foods that have B six bananas, salmons chickpeas, foods
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  that have lots of magnesium.
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  Magnesium is so important for healthy progesterone levels.
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  Uh, I think leafy greens, almond sharp chocolate, but more often
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  than not, we are need to supplement with magnesium to get enough of it.
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  I think zinc.
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  Zinc is important for a healthy progesterone levels, selfish
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  red meat, CS like pumpkin seeds.
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  And then of course healthy fats like egg yolks, avocado butter, and olive oil.
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  So with that shared, if you listen to this episode and think that you may
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  have low progesterone, you know, your steps are to make sure you're eating
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  enough to stop over training, to track your cycle fully, to get more insight
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  into what's going on, to reduce stress and to focus on nutrient dense foods.
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  And, you know, I think just a, a kind of final.
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  Statement here to say, you know, everything when it comes to healthy
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  hormone levels that supports healthy, uh, pregnancy and your ability to get and
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  stay pregnant is not about a quick fix.
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  It's instead about helping your body feel safe enough to
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  do what it was designed to do.
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  If you're nodding along right now and you're like, oh my gosh, this is me.
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  I just wanna encourage you that what your body needs more than anything is
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  to restore nourishment, to balance your nervous system and support consistent
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  ovulation and all of this will help so much with supporting healthy progesterone
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  levels, and this is exactly what we do inside of Premier Period Recovery for
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  Fertility, our high touch coaching program that helps you restore your period bounce
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  hormones like estrogen and progesterone.
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  Feel confident in your body and get pregnant.
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  If you're interested in learning more and applying for one of our
• 15:22
  limited spots, I'll have that link included in our show notes.
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  Thank you so much for listening to today's episode.
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  I'll be back for another episode next week.
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  Until then, know that a nourish body is a powerful one.