Ask Your Hormone Doctor About Your Progesterone Levels

While a lot of discussions about menopause focus on estrogen levels, you should also talk to your hormone doctor about your progesterone levels. Estrogen and progesterone work together to perform some vital functions in your body and help keep you healthy. While progesterone is typically associated with pregnancy, your hormone doctor should also monitor your progesterone levels as you age and during menopause.

Progesterone and estrogen work as a team to help you feel good. Talk to your hormone doctor about your progesterone levels and how they could be affecting your wellbeing.

What is Progesterone?

Progesterone is a hormone that your body produces in the ovaries and the adrenal glands. It helps regulate your menstrual cycle, your libido, and the lining of your uterus. During perimenopause, low progesterone levels can cause irregular or heavy periods and PMS symptoms. Therefore, if you notice these symptoms during perimenopause, your hormone doctor may recommend hormone replacement to help reduce your symptoms.

Some symptoms of low progesterone include:

• Sore breasts
• Spotting between periods
• Vaginal dryness
• Mood changes
• Low libido
• Low blood sugar
• Headaches/migraines

Progesterone also plays a crucial role in menopausal hormone replacement therapy. For women who haven’t had a hysterectomy and still have a uterus, your hormone doctor will likely recommend both estrogen and progesterone replacement therapy to help protect your uterine lining. The lining of your uterus, the endometrium, can become too thick if your progesterone levels are low. This can lead to an increased risk for uterine cancer. Therefore, progesterone plays an important role in menopause treatment for many women.

Talking to Your Hormone Doctor About Low Progesterone

In addition to protecting your uterus, progesterone hormone replacement can help reduce many of the symptoms of menopause. Your hormone doctor may recommend estrogen and progesterone therapy for common symptoms that women experience during perimenopause and menopause. For example, they often help with hot flashes, “brain fog,” vaginal dryness, and mood swings.

Your hormone doctor may prescribe bioidentical progesterone and estrogen to help reduce your symptoms. Bioidentical hormones are natural hormones created from plant products. For many women, bioidentical hormone injections are more convenient and effective than pills, creams, and suppositories. Additionally, they offer your hormone doctor the ability to adjust your dosage in a way that hormone replacement pellets don’t allow. Therefore, if you’re feeling worn down by menopause symptoms, consider bioidentical hormone therapy to help you feel better again.

At HerKare, we take a holistic approach to your health and wellness. This means that we don’t just diagnose you and develop a treatment plan, we take your lifestyle and who you are as a person into account. Our team is here to help you improve your quality of life, and we believe the best way to do that is to tailor your treatment plan to you. At HerKare, we collaborate with you to help you improve your wellness. Schedule an appointment online today so we can help you feel great again. We are here for you.