Progesterone levels

Progesterone levels should be optimised to maintain good health. Levels vary considerably in women, rarely in men.

Progesterone plays a major role in the body. It is not a female hormone. It is not a sex hormone, it plays no part in the secondary sexual characteristics which develop at puberty. It is the precursor to the two sex hormones oestrogen and testosterone.

It is secreted primarily by the ovaries in females and the testes in men. Smaller amounts are produced by the adrenal glands, the brain and glial cells.

There are no great quantitative differences between men and women, at least outside the luteal phase.

It's in this last phase of the monthly cycle, the luteal phase as it's normally called, that progesterone levels rise considerably above that found in the first half or follicular phase. Rising from as little as less than 1ng/mL to 20ng/mL (serum levels). Saliva levels are much higher (see ZRT Labs below).

When a test for progesterone levels is performed it is essential to realise two things...

what unit of measurement was used... SI or conventional? The two cannot be compared unless a conversion is made
was it a serum test or saliva test? These also cannot be compared

Many women are told their progesterone levels are far too high. This is usually the case if supplemental progesterone is used and a saliva test has been taken.

However, this is no cause for alarm. The main concern should be whether or not all symptoms of oestrogen excess have gone? If so, then the amount of progesterone used can be reduced until the optimum dose is achieved.

It is the fluctuating progesterone levels, together with the rise and fall of oestrogen, that result in changes of mood, sleep patterns, cravings/appetite, PMS etc.

It is the ratio between these two hormones which causes problems. If there is too much oestrogen in relation to progesterone then all hell breaks loose!

Oestrogen is an excitatory hormone, causing cells to divide and multiply, including fat cells. It's implicated in inflammation, cancer, endometriosis, fibroids, PMS, migraines/headaches, cravings, incontinence, generalised aches and pains, flaking nails and weight gain.

Progesterone, on the other hand, is a calming hormone, reversing or preventing the above symptoms.

There are now over 90 oestrogen mimics found on earth, in our food, air, water, plastics, skin care, to name a few. All these have a bearing on our health and how we feel, men are not exempt either.

It is now more important than ever to make sure the balance between these two hormones is correct.

Progesterone levels

The following reference ranges are given in SI units.

Institute of Bio-Medical Science

Salivary 17ß-oestradiol, progesterone and testosterone reference ranges...

.	17ß-oestradiol	Progesterone
Follicular	2.0 - 8.0 pmol/L	53 - 193 pmol/L
Midcycle	6.0 - 17.1 pmol/L	142 - 522 pmol/L
Luteal	5.5 - 13.2 pmol/L	259 - 979 pmol/L
Non-ovulating	3.00 - 12.0 pmol/L	50 - 325 pmol/L
Male values	2.80 - 8.80 pmol/L	24 - 104 pmol/L

The following reference ranges are given in Conventional units.

Fertility Plus (excellent site showing all hormone levels)

Follicular phase	<1.5ng/ml
Mid-Luteal Phase	>15 ng/ml
First Trimester	10-90 ng/ml
Second Trimester	25-90 ng/ml
Third Trimester	49-423 ng/ml

Medline Medical Encyclopedia

Serum progesterone	.
Female (pre-ovulation)	less than 1 ng/mL
Female (mid-cycle)	5 to 20 ng/mL
Male	less than 1 ng/mL
Postmenopausal	less than 1 ng/mL
Pregnancy	.
1st trimester	11.2-90.0 ng/mL
2nd trimester	25.6-89.4 ng/mL
3rd trimester	48.4-425 ng/mL

ZRT Labs

The tables and figures that follow indicate how the progesterone reference ranges were determined.

Classical vs. Optimal Ranges for Progesterone

Group	Classic Range	Observed Range
Premenopausal	0 - 275 pg/ml	75 - 270 pg/ml
Postmenopausal	0 - 133 pg/ml	12 - 100 pg/ml*
Male	0 - 146 pg/ml	15 - 100 pg/ml**

Classical vs. Optimal Ranges for Estradiol

Group	Classic Range	Observed Range
Premenopausal	0 – 5.0 pg/ml	1.3 – 3.3 pg/ml
Postmenopausal	0 – 3.6 pg/ml	0.5 – 1.7 pg/ml
Male	0 – 3.6 pg/ml	0.5 – 2.2 pg/ml

Classical vs. Optimal Ranges for Testosterone

Group	Classic Range	Observed Range
Female	0 – 74 pg/ml	16 – 55 pg/ml
Male	0 - 146 pg/ml	44 – 148 pg/ml

The Progesterone levels paradox...

Salivary hormone levels are often higher than serum levels when hormones are delivered topically

One of the most perplexing issues surrounding saliva testing is the odd phenomenon that topically delivered steroids cause a dramatic increase in salivary hormones without a concomitant increase in serum levels.

For example, 30 mg topical progesterone supplementation results in an average rise in salivary levels from about 50 pg/ml (0.05 ng/ml) to 500 to 3000 pg/ml (0.5 to 3 ng/ml), a 10 to 60-fold increase.

This increase is proportionally even greater when progesterone is supplemented at 100 to 200 mg per day, a common topical dose used by many doctors, resulting in salivary progesterone levels rising to as high as 10,000 to 100,000 pg/ml (10-100 ng/ml).

Under the same conditions, serum progesterone levels only increase about 4-fold, from about 0.5 to 2-3 ng/ml. The same disproportionate increase in salivary hormone levels is seen with topical delivery of all the other steroid hormones (eg. estradiol, testosterone, DHEA etc).

Click here for more information on progesterone levels, and how best to use a topical progesterone cream.

You'll find below a link to an an excellent website for converting Conventional units into SI units, which is the internationally recognised system of measurement.

“All systems of weights and measures, metric and non-metric, are linked through a network of international agreements supporting the International System of Units. The International System is called the SI, using the first two initials of its French name Système International d'Unités. The key agreement is the Treaty of the Meter (Convention du Mètre), signed in Paris on May 20, 1875. 48 nations have now signed this treaty, including all the major industrialized countries. The United States is a charter member of this metric club, having signed the original document back in 1875.”

SI Units for Clinical Data

The following table provides factors for converting conventional units to SI units for selected clinical data.

Conversion...

to convert from the conventional unit to the SI unit, multiply by the conversion factor
to convert from the SI unit to the conventional unit, divide by the conversion factor

Component	Conventional Unit	Conversion Factor	SI Unit
Progesterone	ng/mL	3.18	nmol/L
Estradiol	pg/mL	3.671	pmol/L
Estriol	ng/mL	3.467	nmol/L
Estrone	ng/dL	37	pmoI/L
Testosterone	ng/dL	0.0347	nmol/L

For some specifics on low progesterone levels click here.

Do you have a story about progesterone levels?

We'd love to hear it. Sharing it will help us all get a better understanding of just how important it is to optimize progesterone levels in the pursuit of good health.

Enter Your Title (ex: "How I discovered the right progesterone levels")

Tell Your Story... [ ? ]

Author Information (optional)

To receive credit as the author, enter your information below.

Your Name	(first or full name)
Your Location	(ex. City, State, Country)

Submit Your Contribution

Check box to agree to these submission guidelines.

(You can preview and edit on the next page)

Here's What Others Have Said

Click on the links below to see contributions and comments from other visitors to this page...

How much progesterone should I take? I was on HRT for several years and switched to the estriol/progesterone cream. Then, my doctor prescribed estrio vaginal cream and I took that on and ...

Could progesterone therapy have saved my pregnancy? I'm 41 years old and found out 2 months ago I was pregnant. It was unexpected, as I have two teenagers and was not preparing for a baby, however, my husband ...

Confusion, cannot take drugs, menopausal An early in life thrombosis led to at age 25 not being able to ever take the pill or HRT when time came. The time did come age 57, it seems no one knows ...

How much progesterone should I use? Dear Wray, I'm 44 and since puberty I have suffered from painful breasts, my right breast in particular. The pain starts after my period and leading up ...

13 Year Old Girl with Asthma Hi Wray, my 12 year old daughter has suffered from allergic rhinitis, constant sinusitis and asthma for 4 years since she was quite sick with a virus. Now ...

What should my levels be? I'm a 42 year old female. I learned about Natpro and began using it October 2009. This was after being diagnosed with Endometriosis and having the surgery ...

Cramping a week before period starts I'm 48 and have not had any change in the length of my cycle (either how long I bleed or the number of days between periods).

My period has also not ...

Help! Major estrogen dominance I am 37 years old and been trying to figure out my hormone issues for years with no results. I have tried lots of birth control and I feel awful on all ...

Overbalanced on progesterone? Hello Wray, I've been taking about 200mg of progesterone cream for the last 1 1/2 months trying to get relief from my inability to fall asleep until 4 ...

I want a second child The thing is that I want a second child as I have a daughter two and a half years old so I have been planning for the second kid for one year but couldn'...

Epic hormone imbalance I am a 27 year old female. After having been on the oral contraceptive pill for 10 years I suffered what is known as OCP induced psychosis which caused ...

Night sweats I'm 52 and I seem to need quite a bit of progesterone cream. My Dr. prescribed 25mg twice a day for 2 months. I've found your site recently and I've ...

How I discovered I was progesterone deficient I was on the birth control pill (bcp) for 20 years. It was masking my symptoms of severe PMDD for all those years. My first saliva test was done while ...

Very painful breasts Five years ago I had a hormonal problem, very painful breasts especially the left side and I lost my appetite. Lost my energy, in my legs, etc.

But ...

Do I need progesterone? Hi Wray! I am a 34 year old female. I started using Zoloft 6 months ago as I was experiencing anxiety, 'foggy head' and depression.

Zoloft is an antidepressant....

Question about my saliva test results I'm 41 and still menstruating (when my body feels like it). I used to always have a regular 28 day cycle but I just started bioidentical hormones recently ...

Wondering what to do I am a 20 year old female. For the past three months I have not seen my period. I went to my doctor and he said that the cause is my hormones but he did ...

Hot flashes I just started using the cream 2 weeks ago. Everything was great for the first week then I started having hot flashes all the time and this has continued ...

How I thought I discovered the right progesterone level I'm 53 and have been on estradiol and progesterone cream for about 5 years.

I thought I was estrogen dominate and discontinued the 0.5 mg I was taking ...

Hormone help I have been feeling misrable for the past 5 years. I just showed a doctor my saliva results for my hormones and he said everything looks fine. He only ...

Hormonal Imbalance... help! I'm currently experiencing estrogen dominance symptoms and have my period so have used triple the dosage of progesterone cream to abate the symptoms but ...

I am not sure if I need the Progesterone cream or not Here are the results of the new test that I requested to have from my Doc's office...

Progesterone: 4.2 ng/ml
Testosterone: 42 ng/dl
T4 1.1
TSH 0....

How I took responsibility for my own health with natural progesterone cream I commenced menopause at 40 and was advised synthetic HRT by my doctor. I struggled with this for six years feeling angry, depressed, anxious, bloated ...

Still trying to find the right amount My hormonal story is depressingly long and complicated. I've never had a normal cycle and was put on the pill at 16. I stayed on it for a few years and ...

Balancing with bio-identical hormones I am 61 and have been using bio-identical hormones for almost 2 years in the form of troches that are placed in the mouth between the upper check and gums....

Increased state of well-being I scored 26 on your test, so I thought I would start off very slowly, in my fattest areas (although I'm not fat) that being my stomach and hips.

The ...

Tested during Luteal phase I'm 27 and was tested during my Luteal Phase and my progesterone was at a 1. I have been on the pill all my life. When I was 11 I had very heavy periods ...

Could this be caused by low progesterone levels? I am 36 years old. Lately, I have been having night sweats, trouble staying asleep, fatigue, weight gain and increased facial hair. Also, I have begun ...

The miracle progesterone worked for me! I have been suffering and I mean suffering with migraine headaches for the past 5 years. I have been on every medicine possible. In desperation I have ...

Did the pill cause Psychosis? Many years ago I was advised by my GP not to take the hormone contraceptive pill as I have an adverse mood reaction to it. There is an allergy warning ...

How much wild yam progesterone cream is too much? I have found myself being very irritable and impatient lately, very easily overwhelmed and stressed out. My hot flashes and night sweats have returned....

Is progesterone the reason I'm out of sync? After 16 years of anxiety, and an ectopic pregnancy I discovered my progesterone was low and was put on natural progesterone.

Initially I felt really ...

I am on progesterone cream and trying to get pregnant! I on Progesterone cream and have been for almost a year. I was prescribed to take it days 16-25, then my doctor said every day and right now days 11-25 ...

Hair Loss and Progesterone I have been having hair loss and hair thining for about 15 years now. I had my thyroid removed in 2004 and I am taking thyroid medication to replace the ...

Help for progesterone levels I have had 3 miscarriages all before 12 weeks and 3 boys. I have had to take progesterone suppositories for the first 3 months for all 3 boys.

I ...

Low progesterone but my doctor did not care I am 26 years old, female, and have been experiencing anxiety, poor sleep, tiredness/sleepiness, exercise aversion, heart palpitations, perceived difficulty ...

Progesterone levels before my period Could a rise in progesterone levels just before my period be causing sensations of feeling unable to walk?

I'm a 23 year old with a 2 year old son. When ...

Excessive bleeding and progesterone I was putting on 200mg a day for 10 days. I have had excessive bleeding for a month and a half now. This is supposed to stop the bleeding and it hasn't....

What are signs of low progesterone? The doctor put me on 200mg of Prometrium. I show no outward signs of infertility and no tests were done. Can someone please explain any signs or sympoms ...

Low or High Progesterone Levels? I am 50 years old and have been suffering from several pre-menopausal symtomes for many years. For a year now I have been suffering from extreme exhaustion ...

Can I use too much progesterone cream? Can I use too much progesterone cream?

I am feeling great after using your cream for 1.5 months, I have been using it twice a day, a couple of squirts ...