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Does progesterone help with blood sugar and anxiety?

by Teresa
(Waco, Tx)

I am 42 and according to blood work I am post menopausal. I started experiencing anxiety and panic attacks one year ago, shortly after my diagnosis of Menopause.

I am taking Be-est 2.5mg. I tried to add 20mg of natural progesterone but it increased my anxiety. I also am unable to go for very long without eating. I get what feels like blood sugar crashes. However my blood sugars are normal. After I eat something I feel better again. Don't understand this all of a sudden. Please advise.

Comments for Does progesterone help with blood sugar and anxiety?

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Apr 28, 2008
 Blood sugar dropping and anxiety
by: Wray

Hi Teresa. It sounds very much like you have insulin resistance. Blood sugar can be normal, but insulin can be high, as the cells are not responding to the insulin. Eating something and feeling better after it is one of the signs.

A drop in blood sugar can cause anxiety and panic attacks. Progesterone does help stabilise blood sugar and helps with panic attacks, as it activates the GABA receptor sites. GABA is our most calming, inhibitory neurotransmitter, and if the receptor sites are not active, little GABA can enter the cell, hence the panic attacks.

Progesterone levels start dropping from about the age of 35, so by the time you reach menopause they are very low. By taking the Bi-est you are adding to the problem, as it contains two oestrogens: estriol and estradiol. Oestrogen suppresses progesterone production, yours is very low as it is. If you have a naturally high level of oestrogen or taking extra oestrogen as you are, then when first starting using progesterone, it will make you more sensitive to the oestrogen in your body.

This is caused by progesterone activating the oestrogen receptors, which in turn causes oestrogen dominance symptoms, one of which is anxiety.

Insulin resistance can be reversed by supplements containing the B vitamins, especially inositol, amino acids, especially glutamine and carnitine, plus milk thistle, alpha lipoic acid and CoQ10. Hope this helps Take care Wray
Jul 28, 2009
 Does Progeserone raise Triglycerides?
by: Anonymous

I have been told Progesterone will raise my Triglycerides. My last test shows my LDL good my triglycerides high at 224 I have been takeing Progesterone for about 2 months now. I am 60 years old.
Jul 29, 2009
 Does Progesterone raise Triglycerides?
by: Wray

It's actually quite the reverse. Oestrogen raises triglycerides, progesterone lowers them, please see this web page.

And this one.

It's also effective against atherosclerosis, please see this.

And this.

And lipid peroxidation.

Take care, Wray
Nov 26, 2010
 great i'll try these
by: Anonymous

I have the same problem with blood sugar and panic attacks. I had a nervous breakdown last year. I feel much better because of Lexapro 10mg but would like to feel better during and before my period too. I hope progesterone helps as well as the other things you mentioned here.

Thank you for posting these
Dec 05, 2010
 great i'll try these
by: Wray

Hi there We do have a page on Anxiety. Please read through it, as there is a list of nutrients which all help. Keeping blood glucose stable is critical, you might like to look at our page on Insulin Resistance, it gives a list of nutrients which help this. Take care Wray
Mar 27, 2012
 I totally understand
by: Lexie

You are a mirror of me. I eat every 2-3 hours and sometimes still feel shaky. I am taking natural Progestrone and testoserone from my naturpathic doctor. I seem better and I would advise to visit a good naturpathic doctor or holistic doctor and not do this on your own...we will get through this. It just is an adjustment our bodies are having to go through.
Mar 30, 2012
 I totally understand
by: Wray

Hi Lexie It seems your blood glucose is unstable. It could be a result of Insulin Resistance. This is caused by lack of vitamin D, excess oestrogen and testosterone. I would avoid the testosterone, it should never be given to women, see here, here, here, here here, here, here, here, here and here. Take care Wray
Apr 23, 2012
 severe anxiety and hot flashes
by: barbara

I was on prometrium and estradiol gel for 18 months and thru it all in the garbage about 2 months ago. Just felt it was no good for me as i had extreme anxiety, always up at 3 am and hot flashes thru the night. I also had 2 episodes of bleeding. ( i am 54 and no period for over 2 years) Then i sufferred up to 30 extreme hot flashes , continued anxiety etc. I found book "what the doctors will not tell you about menapause" and it made much more sense to me. Took book to my family doctor and he gave me a perscription for natural progesterone that was compounded for me right at the clinic. This is day 11 and i have noticed a reduction in hot flashes to about 15 a day! But the nights are very difficult to get thru with interrupted sleep fro hot flashes . However , the horrible anxiety is the worst.I know things are to get worse before better .. but how do I know if i should continue or progesterone is just not the right thing to do. I rub 1 gm of cream on 1 time a day. I take ativan daily just to cope but am almost ready to give up and take perscription for anxiety. Is it too soon to see a reduction in anxiety. What if it continues to get worse? How will i know if i need to stop progesterone? Thank you so much!
Apr 24, 2012
 severe anxiety and hot flashes
by: Wray

Hi Barbara I can understand why you felt awful on the combo prometrium and oestradiol gel. I don't think any of us need extra oestrogen, see our page on HRT for more info. Giving a menopausal woman oestrogen, in a dose that causes the lining to build and therefore bleed, is daft!
You don't say how much progesterone you're using, but I've found for Hot Flushes about 400mg/day is needed. Progesterone does help Anxiety, as do a number of nutrients, all listed on the page. If you should increase the amount, please read our page on Oestrogen Dominance first. I'm puzzled you feel the need to get a prescription drug, Ativan is a prescription schedule lV drug. It should only be used for 2-4 weeks and is highly addictive. It is too soon to see any reduction in anxiety, particularly if it's a low strength cream. Often compounded creams are 10%, which means the 1g is giving you 100mg/day progesterone. This will help the hot flushes but not stop them, and is far too low to help anxiety. I've found it takes 3 months if problems are severe, sometimes far longer, before any lasting relief is felt. Please get your copper and zinc levels checked, high copper/low zinc can cause anxiety and depression, plus psychosis. Excess calcium also causes anxiety and depression. Please have a vitamin D test done, if low this too can lead to depression. For more info on vitamin D levels, test kits etc see the Vitamin D Council, GrassrootsHealth, Birmingham Hospital and Vitamin D Links websites. Blood levels should be 70-100ng/ml or 175-250nmol/L and not the 30ng/ml or 75nmol/L most labs and doctors regard as adequate. The minimum daily dose should be 5000iu's per day, although the latest research indicates it should be 10,000iu's per day, see here. Take care Wray
Aug 08, 2012
 my sugar and questions
by: Anonymous

What both of these ladys said about having to eat every 2 hours is how I felt.Anxiety is awful. Thanks to the happy hormone cottage, I drink I scoop of Glycemic Foundation - Chocolate, and just in one day,I could tell a BIG diffence, like night and day!! But Im still estrogen dominance. I used enjuvia for 10 months. Then switced doctors got on Biest Cream and Progestone. The biest mekes me feel overly crazy, moody,every sign of esterogen dominace, AND and made my anxiety WORSE.. that never happned when I was on enjuvia. So i stoped using the Biest cream, but I notice the 4 days I was on the Biest, the morning dose was done tranvaginally (is that even a word..lol)and it helped with vaginal dryness, could I just use the Estriol ingredient or would that too make my estrogen levels rise??? Also they want me to take CDG EstroDIM to "flush out" the excess estrogen, but will "flush out" all of them? back hystory, my body went in to surgical menopause to fast!
Aug 19, 2012
 my sugar and questions
by: Wray

Hi there A high protein diet does stabilise blood glucose, it could be you need more protein than you're currently getting. Dr Mercola has a questionnaire you can do on his site, which will let you know. The link can be found on our Nutrition page. You are right about using the cream in your vagina, although I've found progesterone alone does the trick too. Progesterone is an anti-inflammatory hormone, whereas oestrogen is an inflammatory one. Oestriol is supposedly a safe oestrogen, see here. DIM doesn't flush out oestrogen. Oestrogen is broken down into 2 principle metabolites, 2-hydroxyestrone (2-OHE1) and 16-alpha hydroxyestrone (16alpha-OHE1). 16alpha-OHE1 is regarded as a potent oestrogen, whereas 2-OHE1 is a weak oestrogen. DIM increases levels of 2-OHE1, by doing so it also increases the ratio of 2-OHE1:16alpha-OHE1. This increased ratio is associated with a lower risk for breast cancer, see here. Other studies have found a protective role too. You could try taking calcium D-glucarate, which does help get rid of oestrogen. Oestrogen is metabolised in the liver by glucuronic acid, the process is known as glucuronidation. Glucuronidation is one of the major detoxification pathways of the liver. It removes carcinogens, toxins, tumour promoters, the sex hormones ie, the androgens and oestrogens, mineralocorticoids and glucocorticoids, aromatic and heterocyclic amines, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, various nitrosamines, drugs, fungi etc. It's then excreted in the bile, but an enzyme in the intestine called beta-glucuronidase reverses the glucuronidation process. It breaks the glucoronide bond between a toxin and glucuronic acid, and releases carcinogens, toxins and excess steroid hormones back into circulation. There's evidence beta-glucuronidase activity is increased in breast and prostate cancer. Calcium D-glucarate inhibits beta-glucuronidase, see here, here, here and here. Incidentally this enzyme is produced by undesirable gut bacteria, supplementing with probiotics suppresses the bacteria, and subsequently the beta-glucuronidase. Silymarin from milk thistle also inhibits beta-glucuronidase, plus it helps the liver detox. We also have a page on Menopause you could look through. Take care Wray
Aug 16, 2016
 Prog - T in 80 year old woman
by: Good Son

Mom at 80, T and preg not registering. Was put on biest with T added in as single deliverable.

Question #1: I had her hold off on taking progesterone oral, 100mg's at bed thinking that supplementing with pregnenolone would affect the down chain and express as progesterone. Obviously from reading here the estrogens in the bi-est are causing her to have jitters and anxiety. Will the progesterone help quell the jitters and anxiety?

Question #2: I see the post where testosterone is to never be exogenous supplemented. I read every one of the studies linked. HOWEVER, the studies while focusing on certain health issues such as metabolic syndrome, insulin resistance, etc., never seem to address post-menopausal women that had a radical hysterectomy where there are no more ovaries.

As you know, post-meno ovaries will continue to produce small amounts of T. Mom has severe osteoporosis, here D levels are fine and K is interupted due to anticoagulation with coumadin, testosterone was added to her bi-est because she was not even registering.

I am sure that when you mean women are not suppose to be supplementing you mean in women who are still producing and registering some kind of T level. The lab range had a high of 70 and it has been advised to try to get Mom to a 30-40 level.

Any insight is appreciated.


Jun 01, 2018
 Anxiety awful just started 2 months ago
by: Amy

Hello
I’m so grateful for this website. It has been very informative. I have a very specific question that my hormone doctor didn’t have an answer for. 2 months ago I had a very bad case of hives lasting a week. It happened a few days after my period. About a week later around the time of ovulation I began having severe anxiety. Didn’t have any before this. The anxiety lasted until my period started. I then had a full month of recovery and finally no more anxiety with a normal period ( heavy bleeding). Then the next month a few days after my period I got burning tongue. A week later the severe anxiety came back and has been going on for 3 weeks.

I had my hormones checked on day 25 of my cycle, my progesterone was 1.3 and my Oestrogen was 71. Doc said I need 100 mg a day of progesterone. I have severe constant anxiety. Does this sound like Oestrogen dominance and will 100 mg cream fix it?

Please help I am desperate. Thank you.

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