Insomnia from Progesterone?

by Marie
(Michigan)

I'm 39 and blood tests on 2 occasions showed lack of ovulation, though my cycles do arrive every month. Around September I suddenly started having severe insomnia, on top of other menopausal type symptoms like dryness, lack of libido, and hair thinning. Nothing I took seemed to help me sleep.

My doctors all attributed it to anxiety, which I've struggled with my whole life. However, there was no particular event that would have triggered the sleep problems and I had actually been sleeping better than I had in 2 years when this started. Recently I started using a bit of progesterone cream hoping to sort out the imbalance, along with other methods (meditation, etc.) to help me sleep (I was going along with the doctors who told me it was anxiety). After a few days of using less than 1/8 tsp of the cream in the mornings, I started sleeping better, and actually lowered my sleeping medication. But the following month the cream was causing the insomnia to become worse almost immediately (I was using less than 10 mg a day).

I'm scared to continue the cream, not knowing if this is something that will pass. The insomnia is horrible, and severely impacts my life.

I'm grateful for any advice.

Thank you!

Comments for
Insomnia from Progesterone?

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Feb 05, 2010
 Low Estrogen
by: suzy-q

Sounds like you could have low estrogen. Low levels can cause anxiety and sleep problems. Progesterone while helpful to some can cause anxiety in others by raising cortisol levels (the stress hormone). I had to find this out the hard way, as I have encountered the same issues you have had. Hope this helps.
Feb 23, 2010
 Insomnia from Progesterone?
by: Wray

Hi Marie. Anovulatory cycles do start at about age 35, so this is not unusual. But it does mean your progesterone levels are dropping, as it's only when we ovulate that we make progesterone. So the symptoms are not unusual either. Anxiety is caused by a lack of GABA, it's one of our most calming neurotransmitters. GABA itself is difficult to use, but as progesterone activates the GABA receptor sites, it's normally enough to stop the anxiety.
You might like to see this web page.

It would seem your progesterone has been too low all your life, and the 1/8th tsp is not enough. All the successful studies used between 100-200mg/day, some more for the severe cases. Stress does drop progesterone levels sharply, which increases adverse symptoms. If you're not ovulating regularly it would mean you have excess oestrogen, this also suppresses progesterone. Cortisol, our stress hormone, is made in the adrenals from progesterone, so any added stress would drop the level. The reason the insomnia worsened was excess oestrogen, please see this web page for more info. Take care, Wray
Jul 05, 2010
 Insomnia from Progesterone
by: Marie

HI Wray.

Thanks for responding! To update on my experience, I had gone to see a Dr. who specializes in bioidentical hormones, and he put me on 100 mg progesterone capsules to take coninuously for at least 2 months. I didn't really feel anything, including any improvement in sleep (I actually had to up my sleeping pill dose just a bit). After a month, I switched over to a topical product again knowing that I really wasn't getting enough progesterone with the capsule. I did that for 3 days only, then stopped because I thought I was having side effects with my eyes. Turned out I'm just getting old :) Anyway, about 2 weeks after I stopped the cream, my sleeping actually got MUCH better. I was ALMOST to the point where I could come off my sleep medication altogether (on 25 mg vs. 150 mg when the insomnia began).

Then the next cycle rolled around around and I went full force into the progesterone (50 mg a day per Dr. recommendation). As soon as I started I had to increase my sleeping pill dose again. It never got any better over the 2 weeks on the progesterone, and it hasn't gotten any better in the almost 2 weeks I've been OFF the progesterone.

It's strange to me that the insomnia I've had since August of 2009 gets better after adding then stopping the progesterone (though it hasn't gotten better since stopping after this last cycle . . .yet), but gets worse when I start the cream again. Do you have any isight into this cycle of sleep improvement and regression??? I'm scared of permanently getting stuck in insomnia hell if I keep going with the cream. But I also need it to clear up cervical dysplasia I'm confident is related to too much estrogen. Will the insomnia eventually go away if I continue with the cream, and how long should it take???

Thanks!
Jul 08, 2010
 Insomnia from Progesterone
by: Wray

Hi Marie Firstly oral progesterone is a waste of time, most of it being destroyed by the gut, the liver metabolising the remainder. Unless 300-600mg/day is taken, but that really strains the liver unnecessarily. Please see here and here. Injections, suppositories or creams are far better systems, the cream being more versatile. As I said previously, the amount should be no less than 100mg/day, so you are not going full force into progesterone with only 50mg/day. This will merely keep you in a state of oestrogen dominance as you've discovered. To overcome this quickly I would actually suggest you use 200mg/day, then once symptoms have resolved reduce it slowly till you find the optimum level. I still use about 170mg/day and that's after 14 years of using it. The insomnia is only caused by excess oestrogen, so each time you start the progesterone it will occur again and again, as each time the low dose of progesterone is merely stimulating the oestrogen receptor sites. You are right about the cervical dysplasia, oestrogen and only oestrogen can cause cells to divide and multiply, it's a mitogen, progesterone is not. In fact it reverses this affect, so I would suggest you use some of the cream in your vagina too. Please read our web page on Oestrogen Dominance again, it explains in greater detail what's happening. Please also look at our page on Anxiety again. There is a list of nutrients which help with insomnia. Progesterone does help but if it's severe you will need help from these too, rather than taking a sleeping pill. Take care Wray
Sep 16, 2010
 Question for Marie or others with insomnia problem
by: Yaleigh

Hi Marie. Just wondering if you indeed increaded the dosage as was suggested and if you did, did it help with the insomnia? I'm having the exact same issues and very reluctant to continue using much less at an increased dose. Thanks!

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