Progesterone, Stress and Sleep
Written By: Trish Green B.Ed., DiHom(Pract), Cidesco Diplomat
In today’s world of women’s health, we are finally acknowledging and understanding how and why we age and the power that our hormones have given us over the years to have children, raise them, work and still have ten balls in the at all times, lovingly known as multitasking and dam, we were good at it.
However, once we reach Perimenopause our world begins to change, our bodies change and all kinds of symptoms suddenly start to appear. This change signals the decline our hormones that have kept us healthy and strong.
Understanding that change, acknowledging how it looks and feels and how to manage it, is our pathway to good health. Stress doesn’t just affect the mind; it alters hormone function, which can lead to restless nights and visible changes in the skin.
Health and Stress
As we age, stress and how it affects our forever changing hormone levels needs to be at the forefront of our mind in our daily life for us to age well and live our best lives through Perimenopause and Menopause.
We need to remember that these hormonal changes can begin as early as age 35 as we begin to leave our reproductive years behind.
Stress, health and hormone balance are closely linked, with high stress contributing to not only the increasing imbalance in your hormones but also chronic diseases, weight gain and other health concerns that seem to magically appear as we journey through our hormonal years. Recognising and acknowledging that stress and then developing a stress management plan is crucial to ourselves and to our health.
Chronic stress can come from many sources. It can be:
- Emotional: Past trauma related to loss of a loved one.
- Financial: Loss of a job or insufficient household income.
- Relationship problems. Family or partner concerns. For menopausal women it can be connected to the care of our parents or our partners. Care for the ones we love can be deeply concerning and no one knows how hard it is until we do it.
- Physical Stressors such as nutrient deficiencies, toxin exposures, poor sleep and dehydration or other lifestyle behaviours.
- A personal injury or a chronic disease can cause constant ongoing personal stress.
Lower Thyroid hormones levels.
When the body is under threat, it wants to conserve energy, so it turns down the thyroid hormones, which in turn determine the metabolic rate.
Therefore, low thyroid is associated with weight gain and difficulties with the menstrual cycle.
How Does Stress Work?
When we are stressed, our body produces Cortisol. Cortisol is known as the alpha hormone, it dominates over all other hormones. Our body prioritises producing Cortisol over pretty much everything else. The problems begin to arise when we produce too much of it.
Cortisol is our motivating hormone but at the wrong time and the wrong levels it leaves us feeling anxious and on edge. Now this is common in our hyper driven lives.
Cortisol levels rise to help us deal with the challenge (Fight and Flight) When Cortisol levels are high the body cannot shut down and sleep.
The Power of Sleep
While you sleep your body heals itself. Your adrenal glands repair and restore themselves between 10pm and 2 pm. Adrenal glands produce hormones that help regulate your metabolism, immune system, blood pressure, response to stress and other essential functions. Increased cortisol suppresses Melatonin and Seratonin, the hormones important for sleep and mood.
• If you are not sleeping, you are biologically aging.
• In a small study of 2000 women, it was shown that insomnia accelerated their biological age.
• Poor sleep isn’t just correlated with aging it appears to explain aging itself
Stress is the gasoline on the fire of aging, its an accelerant. The biological clock is influenced by cortisol and further research suggests that it is actually more impactful than anything else driving the aging process.
One of the big changes that starts to appear early on are changes in our skin. Magically those pesky fine lines and wrinkles start to appear that were not thre yesterday, the shape of the jawline begins to change shape becoming a litlle more square and the skin seems to be less vibrant. WHY?!
The extra Cortisol produced by stress also cause a biochemical reaction that depletes vitamin B and C. During chronic stress B vitamins in general are the fist to be used up and depleted leaving you with that constant feeling of feeling tired and fatigued, also reflected in your skin. But… back to your skin, what is the outcome?
- Vitamin C is required for Collagen production and so the skin becomes less elastic forming wrinkles over time.
- Elevated cortisol due to high stress signals more oil or sebum to be produced leading to acne and inflammation. Yes !! so you thought your acne days were over and now as a maturing woman you are in break out hell!!
There is something to be said about:
Getting Your Beauty Sleep
How Does All This Affect Our Progesterone Levels
As I said earlier our bodies protect our Cortisol pathways at all costs. When we are constantly stressed your body needs and uses more cortisol than you can produce, so it looks for another source to help produce it.
Both cortisol and progesterone are made from a pre-hormone called pregnenolone.
Under stress, pregnenolone diverts away from progesterone production in order to make cortisol.
The downside is also that when your cortisol levels are high it blocks your progesterone receptors. You might be producing enough progesterone depending on your age, but your body will not be able to use it. While this cortisol steal is happening our resilience to stress plummets and we begin to feel really unwell and unable to calm our selves down, hence the added concern about not being able to sleep and repair our body.
So, what is the outcome of depleting our progesterone levels or having our receptors blocked?
As we journey through our hormonal change towards Menopause many of these changes start in our early to mid forties but some as early as 35. It is important to note that Progesterone production is naturally one of the first hormones to drop.
What Does Progesterone Do For You?
Progesterone is warming, calming and sleep promoting. It’s definitely a hormone that you want on board for overall health and wellness. Yet so many women suffer from the effects of low progesterone. It is the symptom associated with this drop that often signal the beginning of Perimenopause
The main point here that you have to ovulate in order to produce Progesterone – there is no other way. Some would call it:
The Hormone Star
of the second half of a woman’s cycle
once she has ovulated
Symptoms May Include
- Irregular cycles
- Anxiety
- Fatigue
- PMS Symptoms to include irritability, sore breasts, water retention.
- Low fertility or infertility
- Possible miscarriage
- Low Libido
- Headaches and Migraines
It sounds like no fun at all. Yet, as a woman, you’ve likely experienced these symptoms at one at one point or another. Of course, many of these symptoms can have other causes as well but it is important to consider the role that Progesterone function plays.
So now you should be a bit of an expert on both progesterone and Cortisol. My hope is that this article will help you have some understanding of your body and some of the connections within, just a little more and helps you on your path to wellness.
I do highly recommend that if you are experiencing symptoms of low progesterone that you seek advice from a Naturopath.
