Tested during Luteal phase

by Victoria
(TX)

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 and my mother found me passed out on the floor before school due to no iron. The cure all for that was the pill. It made me feel SO much better... I was able to function like a normal teenager would.

Now that I am 27 and married, I got off the pill to get pregnant. After a year I started having panic attacks, high anxiety, and mood swings. I really felt like I was going to lose my mind and my body was going to shut down any day. My mother felt that it was my hormones... with that went to get them checked and found out I had no progesterone in my body whatsoever. I should have been at a 20 and I was at a 1.

Now I have been taking bioidentical progesterone cream for about a month. I have noticed some changes like sleeping better... but the stressful anxiety has really not let up that much. Doc said it could take up to three months. Is this true and is high anxiety related to low progesterone?

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Tested during Luteal phase

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Nov 11, 2009

Tested during Luteal phase
by: Wray

Hi Victoria. Pity you were given the pill, as it suppresses all ovarian function, which means you were not making any progesterone. This is born out by the absence of any in your last test. It's unfortunate they didn't give you progesterone instead, as that would have stopped the heavy bleeding. Anxiety is related to lack of progesterone, it's also related to blood sugar disturbances. The pill has probably caused insulin resistance or reactive hypoglycaemia. Please see this web page on anxiety.

It can take 3-6 months for progesterone to really have an effect, please persevere! But the dose you need should be about 200mg/day for the first month or two, if you're not using this much, please increase it. It's easy to reduce once symptoms have calmed down. When you next consider contraceptives, please think about using a copper T, and not the one impregnated with a progestin. You might like to look at this web page on the pill. Take care, Wray