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help feel like i am literally going crazy low progesterone

Help me please I am a 36 year old woman who has been fighting this for three years I have had many tests done buy many specialist..... thyroid came back low but meds were not working on it heart problems now head hurts all the time eeg clean same with mri ....... severe anxiety depression I don't talk or hang out much with family or friends I can't sleep and when I do I am up and down all night...... I have even been to a phychitrist and he said its medical not mental ......but every minute of everyday I have on my mind I should be locked away because I am crazy then one doctor did a sylava test and my progesterone is really low so he put me on 200 mg at night ....... I have been feeling no different since taking them and its been 5 days ....... I just want help I have 2 children I can't provide for because I can't work due to how bad I am .......please anyone Ty jennifer

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Aug 04, 2013
 progesterone
by: Anonymous

Sorry that you are feeling so bad. I can relate...I had a total hysterectomy 3 years ago and still don't have my hormones right. As for progesterone and being off it can take 1-3 months for you body to start feeling normal. Don't give up just hang in there and give it a few months. I know that is hard but it does take a while to regulate hormones. Good luck and hopefully you will feel better very soon.

Angel
Aug 04, 2013
 get on the cream
by: mary in san diego

Hi-
I totally understand what you are going thru; I went thru it for 5 years (I got to the place where I just kept wondering what was the point here?!)and deep down I knew it was hormonal but because of breast cancer no Dr. would ever advise me to get on progesterone. A friend said she was able to sleep once she got on the cream (not sure what brand) and I knew sleep was part of my problem so I tried an OTC cream and it only took about one month to see how many changes were happening.
My life has been wonderful and I give this advice to any woman that I hear has some problem with sleeping, anxiety, depression, etc. Sometimes it falls on deaf ears!
Good luck; I do have to say that I do not have a uterus so that is not a concern with me (the cancer fear).
Mary
Aug 04, 2013
 I forgot to mention this!
by: Mary in San Diego

I did forget to tell you that you also need to have the right amount of vitamin D to make progesterone work. Recently I increased an OTC cholesterol reducing supplement (crs) and spent almost 4 months thinking my crazy years were coming back. I got on this site and wrote about my problem not even thinking about the crs. Several responses were: not enough vit d. I did more research and sure enough the crs reduced the absorption of the vit d so once I increased the vit d again I immediately felt well again.
Good luck and keep coming to this site!
Mary
Aug 05, 2013
 You're NOT crazy
by: Beansprout

Hello. You're not crazy. Not that long ago I was probably as worse, if not worse, than you. I, too, felt like I was going crazy. Sometimes I still do. As Wray has said again and again and again most people don't get the full benefit of progesterone or see a reduction in their symptoms unless they are getting a minimum of 100-200mg per day. The last 7 days before bleeding I boost that up even more to 300mg per day to stop intense hot flashes, anxiety, insomnia.

From what I have learned and understand oral progesterone taken in the form of a pill, as prescribed by your doctor, is destroyed as it passes through the gut and liver, so you're actually getting a much smaller dose than what you need to reduce all your crazy symptoms. In fact, it is probably exacerbating them explaining why you feel like you need to be locked away. Trust me, I know that feeling all too well.

If you're not wanting to use a progesterone cream, it's also been recommended throughout this forum to crush the progesterone pill and then mix it into a small amount of lotion that can deliver the full dose of progesterone directly into your blood stream. But I will let Wray advise you on that. She knows best and I've come to trust her and her wise advice immensely.

As for sleep what has worked beautifully for me is taking a 30 minute walk, followed by a long shower, sipping a warm mug magnesium drink (CALM), eating a small protein snack with a little bit of a healthy fat (smoked salmon slathered with a good quality organic cream cheese made without added hormones and antibiotics) along with taking 1,000mg of Taurine and 200mg of Theanine about an hour before I plan to be in bed. It does not sedate you and it does not make you wake up groggy with that hangover feeling. It simply calms and relaxes you naturally so you can fall into a restful sleep. I also use a little extra progesterone cream right before bed on the bottoms of my feet and on sides of my neck. White noise (a sound machine, a fan) will also lull you into a deep sleep and keep you there. And be sure your bedroom isn't too hot. Comfort-gel "cool to the touch" pillows also help regulate your body temperature while you sleep.

Beansprout
Aug 05, 2013
 help feel like i am literally going crazy low progesterone
by: Wray

Hi Jennifer It seems you are taking oral progesterone. If so this is the least effective Delivery system, "The liver and gut region removed a mean of 96 per cent of the progesterone entering these tissues", see here. Please open the capsules and empty the contents into a small amount of skin cream. Then apply that to your skin, you'll get the full benefit of the progesterone doing this, see here. For more info please see our page on How to use progesterone cream and here too. Progesterone should be used a minimum of twice a day, as levels begin dropping after 13 hours. But it sounds as if you could do with hourly amounts, and far more than 200mg/day. See these comments here, here, here and here. There are many nutrients which can help Anxiety and depression. They seem to have checked everything except your adrenal glands, these will be very stressed. As you don't sleep well either, one sign, please try taking 1/2tsp salt in some warm water at night. This should help if they are stressed, see here. The adrenals need sodium to function correctly. Thank heavens the psychiatrist said your problem was not mental, or you would have been given antidepressants, see Hormonal bipolar Menstrual psychosis the answer. Take care Wray
Aug 05, 2013
 Mirena and using Progesterone Cream
by: Wray

Hi Jessica I'm dismayed they made you have a Mirena! It does not release progesterone as many women are lead to believe, but a progestin called levonorgestrel. This has been shown to lower progesterone levels, plus impeding the blood flow in the uterine arteries, see here and here. Levonorgestrel is derived from testosterone, so has androgenic properties, which can cause Hair Loss. This is the prescribing information here, and please see here too. You might like to read these comments here from women who've used the Mirena. I take it it's because you have heavy and/or continual bleeding? Progesterone, with a little help from some nutrients, stops it. Please see our page on Menstruation for more info. I have found 400mg/day progesterone is needed to stop heavy bleeding, but if you take those nutrients too, you might find you don't need as much. I'm thinking of the cost, although we do give a 30% discount on 20 tubes. Bless you for those kind words! I would suggest you use the progesterone daily, through any bleeding, until things have calmed down. And you can apply it anywhere, the skin comprises 95% keratinocytes, these have many progesterone receptors. The vagina is another good place, I use it there every night, and apply it to my face, neck and breasts every morning and night. Let me know how you get on. Take care Wray
Oct 08, 2013
 Low Progesterone and Anxiety
by: Lauren

I had been having bad anxiety and panic attacks for 3 years. It was the same time I got on birth control. I developed full blow Panic Disorder with Agoraphobia. Have been in therapy every week for 2 years and have tried every SSRI, SSNI and everything in between. I took up meditation, changed my diet entirely ( no gluten, dairy, processed, etc...) I even tried more "out there" therapies like REIKI, energy healing, etc... Nothing gave me any relief. I went to several doctors because I just felt something was not right! My therapist seemed to be at a loss as well knowing that I was doing everything correctly, yet I was getting no relief. I then finally started doing additional research and made an appointment with a naturopathic doctor. She has been amazing. First order of business, get off birth control pills! What a roller coaster that was! After 60 days of having no birth control in my system I was able to take a hormone and blood test. A normal healthy range for a woman of my age is to have progesterone between 80-270. Mine was 2. My body had none of this very important feel good hormone---in addition my body was severely deficient in vitamin D (which is essential for progesterone to thrive). My adrenal system had failed as well, and was high in testosterone. The more research I have done I now know how important progesterone is for women. Once I looked at the signs and symptoms of low progesterone I felt like I just discovered the holy grail: Hair Loss, Acne, Anxiety, malaise, weight gain, panic attacks, mood swings, low energy, insomnia, high cholesterol, etc.... the list goes on and on---but each one of these directly correlated to me and everything I had been saying. It amazed me that not one doctor thought to check my hormones. Did I mention that my hormone tests, the naturopath doctor and the progesterone prescription all are not covered by Insurance? Funny though that I can get any SSRI for about 4.99. I think Xanax is even cheaper. I am not better yet, I have only had one round of progesterone, and due to my low levels it will take a few months to even out. But there is hope at the end of this. It will take longer for my mental brain to catch up because for 3 solid years I have literally been made to go crazy, so even though I will start to feel better soon I honestly will probably have some sort of post traumatic stress left over from all of this. I asked my naturopath doctor why no one ever looked at this before...her answer was medical doctors don't test for what they won't treat. If anyone wants to talk about this, etc... I would so love to hear from you
Oct 10, 2013
 Low Progesterone and Anxiety
by: Wray

Hi Lauren Your naturopath is so right, 'medical doctors don't test for what they won't treat'. They know so little about it too, and their first line of attack are the anti-depressants. Shocking too all the drugs are covered by insurance, but none of the nutrients are. I used to have permanent anxiety, but I never had panic attacks thank heavens. Progesterone is excellent for these, a stable blood glucose is also most important. By the way the range of any hormone is not important, it's the ratio of each. All drug based Contraceptives have the potential to harm. I'm pleased you had a vitamin D test done, a lack of this leads to too many problems to go into here, but the page I've given does. We do have pages on some of the symptoms you've given, Hair Loss, Acne and Anxiety Weight gain is caused by oestrogen. It causes cells to proliferate, including fat cells, see here, here, here, here and here. Insomnia is probably a lack of vitamin D, see here and here. I do hope you're taking at least 10,000iu/day vitamin D to get your level up high quickly, a lack of it reduces the benefits of progesterone, see here, here and here. And I do hope you're using enough progesterone. From the symptoms you have I'd recommend about 400mg/day. Continued below
Oct 10, 2013
 Low Progesterone and Anxiety part 2
by: Wray

Hi Lauren You might like to read these comments for encouragement, here, here,here, here and here. In particular this comment here. Scroll to 'Hormonal bipolar Menstrual psychosis the answer'. Take care Wray
Jan 11, 2015
 Low progesterone
by: Loriann

How do you know if your getting too little an amt of progesterone cream. I have 100 mg of bio identical compound pharmacy made cream. It doesn't help. I use 50 'ml am And 50 ml in the evening
Jan 11, 2015
 Low progesterone
by: Loriann

How do you know if your getting too little an amt of progesterone cream. I have 100 mg of bio identical compound pharmacy made cream. It doesn't help. I use 50 'ml am And 50 ml in the evening

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