How to Know if You Have Low Progesterone
Think progesterone is only something to focus on when you’re pregnant? I’m here to tell you that progesterone does SO MUCH MORE for you throughout your menstrual cycle. It affects things like anxiety, depression, PMS, and more - so this is really something we want to pay attention to!
Before we dive into how to know if you have low progesterone, here’s why you should actually care about your progesterone level. We most often associate progesterone with pregnancy, but it actually affects so many other areas of your overall health:
Progesterone has a calming effect on your brain and can really help with anxiety and promote sleep.
It reduces inflammation and helps builds your bones.
It increases your metabolic rate during your luteal phase causing you to burn an extra 279 calories per day!
But most importantly, progesterone’s job is to get your uterus ready for pregnancy. Your sex hormones, like progesterone, work with your reproductive cycle - and you want to keep this healthy, even if you’re not looking to get pregnant.
When you ovulate, your follicle that releases the egg forms what’s called the corpus luteum, which is what produces your progesterone. If you were going to get pregnant, the corpus luteum would be producing the progesterone for that first part of the pregnancy until the placenta takes over. That’s why you often hear about progesterone in terms of pregnancy because it’s very crucial in that first part to support the pregnancy.
After you ovulate, your progesterone levels increase and it should reach a certain peak before slowly coming back down. When it fully lowers, this is what signals your period to start.
Low Progesterone Symptoms
Spotting During Luteal Phase
One of the most common low progesterone signs is spotting during your luteal phase.
Your luteal phase starts after ovulation and lasts until your next period. If you are spotting during this time, it’s a sign you may be low on progesterone. Thankfully this is one of the big signs of low progesterone that’s really easy to identify!
This is my favorite analogy to explain why this happens:
Think about your progesterone as a grocery bag that’s holding everything together. If your progesterone either doesn’t get high enough after ovulation OR it drops too quickly, you may deal with spotting during your luteal phase.
So basically, your uterus is prematurely shedding, just like your groceries are leaking out of your grocery bag. Maybe your grocery bag has some holes or it's not as strong as it should be. And this shows up as spotting during your luteal phase, before your period.
If you’re spotting just the day before your period, that’s not really a red flag, but if you’re spotting 2 days or more before your period, that is a red flag and you should start paying attention to what is going on.
Brown Blood
If you’re dealing with a lot of brown blood at the beginning and end of your period, this can be a sign of low progesterone for some women.
For a healthy menstrual cycle, you really want to be seeing cherry red or deep wine red blood from the start of your period. So if you’re dealing with a lot of brown in the beginning and the end, that can be a sign of low progesterone. Yes it’s just old blood, oxidized blood, or slower moving blood. But instead of just writing it off, the question to ask yourself is, “WHY is it slower moving - WHY am I getting it?”
Painful Cramps
Another sign of low progesterone is having bad cramps.
If you’re dealing with a lot of bad cramps, this could actually be a sign of a tilted uterus. This is not something to freak out about! It can actually be fixed. I suggest seeing a pelvic floor therapist who specializes in this to help you.
Heavy Periods
Another symptom of low progesterone is really heavy periods, especially as you’re heading into perimenopause.
This is definitely something to keep an eye on if you’re having a lot of heavy periods and it’s something you may want to bring up with your doctor as well.
Other Symptoms of Low Progesterone
These are a few other symptoms you may notice before your period starts each month that can be signs of low progesterone:
Breast tenderness
Strong mood swings
Anxiety
PMS
Temp not spiking after ovulation
Temp dropping prematurely during luteal phase
Luteal phase not lasting about 12 days
What Causes Low Progesterone?
Two things could be happening that are causing you to have low progesterone:
Your progesterone isn’t reaching that peak before dropping.
OR it’s reaching that peak, but not staying elevated long enough and it’s dropping prematurely.
You could also have low progesterone in relation to your estrogen levels. Your body needs a certain ratio of estrogen to progesterone. Even if your progesterone level is NOT technically too low, you could have a lot of excess estrogen throwing off that ratio and therefore causing signs of low progesterone.
For some women, the driver of their low progesterone could be endometriosis, it could be a thyroid issue, or it could be that they’re not getting the correct nutrients. The exact cause is unique to every individual, so if you’re noticing any of these symptoms, you’ll want to work with your doctor or practitioner to figure out what your specific issue is and address it.
How to Test for Low Progesterone
A common way to test your progesterone levels is through a blood test. However, it’s also common for a blood test to show that you have normal progesterone levels, even though you are still struggling with some of these symptoms.
That’s why I recommend getting a DUTCH test because it not only tests your progesterone levels through your urine, but it also tests how your body is metabolizing progesterone which is really important.
Another way would be to get a saliva test, which will show the bioavailability of progesterone, meaning the hormones that your body can use immediately.
You can also test this yourself at home using Proov strips, which have you test your progesterone multiple days after ovulation leading up to your period to get a read on what your progesterone levels are like. This is really helpful, especially if you’re tyring to get pregnant and it’s really cost effective as well.
It’s also important to look at both your labs AND the symptoms you’re experiencing. This is the big difference between a conventional medical doctor and a naturopathic doctor or practitioner.
A conventional medical doctor is just there to look at your labs and diagnose. But if you go to a naturopathic doctor, or even a practitioner, they will look at any screenings and any labs in relation to your symptoms to see what’s going on. They look more holistically at your life and ask how it makes sense in relation to any of the functional tests they ran.
Something else to keep in mind when it comes to testing your progesterone levels is that progesterone levels fluctuate. So if you get your labs done right before your progesterone pulses, it could be showing low when your actual levels are okay. Again, this is why sometimes your typical blood draw is not the most accurate way to get a reading on your progesterone. I recommend doing a saliva test or the DUTCH test if you really want to keep an eye on it.
So these are all the things I recommend keeping an eye on to help you get an idea of what’s going on. I know sometimes people are like, “Oh my gosh, I’ll just run and get this test and that’ll tell me what’s happening.”
Should I Test My Progesterone Levels?
Testing can be awesome at helping you understand what’s going on in your body! But also, let’s take a step back and look at EVERYTHING that’s going on. Let’s look at your cycle, let’s look at what’s happening before your period and your symptoms to make sure we have a really clear picture.
That way, when you have a test come back, you’re not just taking those results as gospel. You’ll have a better idea if maybe you want to get a second test or try a different type of test.
I will say though, if you are pregnant and need to get a read on your progesterone levels ASAP, then you do want to go in for a blood test because you don’t have time to wait for all the other tests. If that’s the case for you, I do recommend that you talk to your doctor and get that figured out right away!
You don’t have to feel like every shark week, your period is gonna take over your life.
I want you to take back control of your hormones! I’ve seen women lengthen their luteal phase. I’ve seen spotting go away completely. I’ve seen women completely stabilize their moods. I’ve seen women get rid of anxiety and PMS and get rid of their cramps because low progesterone really does cause a lot of PMS symptoms!
If you are struggling with any of these symptoms of low progesterone, know that there are steps you can take to increase progesterone naturally and finally feel like yourself again!
Learn more about supporting your hormones throughout your whole menstrual cycle by downloading the free Painless Period Prep Guide!
The recommendations presented in this blog are not a substitute for medical advice from a qualified doctor. Before making any changes to your diet and lifestyle, please consult with your health care provider.
