How Science Got It Wrong About Progesterone

Progesterone is important for women's health.

Progesterone has been both ignored and mistakenly blamed for side effects it does not cause. How did that happen?

For one thing, progesterone was discovered shortly after estrogen. Thus, missing out on the tidy hormone dichotomy of “testosterone for men and estrogen for women,” pointed out endocrinology professor Jerilynn Prior. Also, progesterone could not (at first) be made into a medication that could be absorbed orally.

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How Too Much Testosterone Can Cause Weight Gain in Women

Testosterone causes weight gain in women.

In women, too much testosterone can cause insulin resistance and abdominal weight gain.

That’s why androgen excess is the main driver of weight gain with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), menopause, and some types of birth control.

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High Histamine Can Make for a Tougher Perimenopause

A tendency to allergies or high histamine can increase the risk of perimenopausal symptoms such as night sweats, anxiety, pain, sleep disturbance, migraines, and heavy periods. That’s because histamine increases with estrogen, and estrogen is higher than normal during the early years of perimenopause.

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What Estrogen Does in Your 40s (and How Progesterone Can Help)

Estrogen rollercoaster of perimenopause

Night sweats, mood swings, and crazy heavy periods. Is this menopause already? And you’re only 42? No, menopause could still be a decade away. This is perimenopause or second puberty, which is the decade or so before your final period.

Perimenopause is different from menopause (or post-menopause), which is the life phase that begins one year after your final period.

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