The Mother of All Hormones — And Why Most Women Are Desperate for More
This Mother’s Day, I want to give you something different.
Not flowers. Not brunch. Not another reminder to practice self-care.
The kind of information I wish I had known 30 years ago. The kind that could change everything.
I want to talk about progesterone — the hormone whose very name means for life (pro = for, gesterone = gestation, meaning life and growth). It is the hormone that calms your brain, deepens your sleep, builds your bones, protects your breasts, and sustains your mood. And it is the hormone that begins quietly leaving women’s bodies years — sometimes decades — before most doctors ever mention it.
If you have been feeling anxious for no clear reason, waking at 3 a.m. wide-eyed and exhausted, gaining weight even though nothing has changed, or wondering why your emotions feel so much bigger than they used to — this post is for you.
You are not broken. You are not dramatic. Your progesterone may simply be running low.
The Man Who Was Laughed Off the Stage
In the early 1990s, Dr. John R. Lee began telling anyone who would listen that progesterone deficiency — not estrogen deficiency — was the primary driver of women’s midlife suffering. His two most important works — What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Menopause and What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Breast Cancer — were decades ahead of their time. Conventional medicine dismissed him. The science has since caught up. Women are still catching up. (1, 2)
I discovered his work early in my clinical career, and it changed everything about how I see and serve women. His legacy lives in every question I ask and every conversation I refuse to skip.
What Progesterone Actually Does — The Full Picture
Most women are taught progesterone is a “reproductive hormone” — useful for pregnancy, not much else. That is one of the most incomplete pictures in women’s medicine. Here is what it actually does:
- Brain: Converts to allopregnanolone (al-oh-preg-NAN-oh-lone — your brain’s natural calming molecule), activating GABA receptors (your “calm down” switches). Low progesterone = anxiety, panic, 3 a.m. wakeups. (3)
- Bones: Stimulates osteoblasts (os-tee-oh-BLASTS — bone-building cells). Estrogen slows bone loss; progesterone actively builds. Without it, you lose the building side entirely. (4)
- Breasts: Balances estrogen’s stimulating effect. Low progesterone relative to estrogen — estrogen dominance — drives breast tenderness, fibrocystic changes, and increased density. (5)
- Mood, sleep, and metabolism: Natural antidepressant through neurosteroid (nerve-calming) pathways. (6) Promotes deep restorative sleep. Supports healthy insulin sensitivity and fat burning. (7)
Earlier Than You Think — The 2025 Study That Changed Everything
A landmark study published in npj Women’s Health (a Nature portfolio journal) in February 2025 surveyed more than 4,400 American women about their perimenopause (pair-ee-MEN-oh-pawz — the hormonal shift leading to menopause) symptoms. Two sets of numbers. Both stunning. (8)
The symptom burden:
55.4% of women ages 30–35 were already reporting moderate to severe perimenopause symptoms.
64.3% of women ages 36–40 reported the same.
More than half. Nearly two thirds. In their 30s.
The medical confirmation:
Over a quarter of women ages 30–35 had already been told by a doctor they were perimenopausal.
40% of women ages 36–40 had received the same confirmation.
And critically: psychological symptoms — anxiety, depression, irritability — show up first. Before the hot flashes. Before anyone thinks to check hormones. The study measured symptoms only — no hormone levels. That is where my clinical opinion steps in. (8)
| In my professional opinion: those symptoms are a progesterone story. Progesterone is the first hormone to decline in perimenopause — often years before estrogen shifts or any other marker changes. The brain loses its natural calming molecule first. The anxiety, the sleeplessness, the mood changes — they are not stress. They are not “just getting older.” They are symptoms. And symptoms matter. Because when we know the cause, we can do something about it. |
If you are in your 30s and recognize yourself in those numbers — you are not too young. You are not overreacting. Progesterone may be exactly what your body has been asking for.
Why Progesterone Drops — The Modern Perfect Storm
Age alone does not explain what we are seeing. Three key drivers work together — and many are within your influence. (9)
- Chronic stress. Your body diverts its master hormone precursor (pregnenolone — PREG-nen-oh-lone) toward making more cortisol under sustained stress. This is the pregnenolone steal. Less pregnenolone = less progesterone. (10)
- Xenoestrogens (ZEE-no-ES-tro-gens). Synthetic chemicals in plastics, pesticides, and personal care products that mimic estrogen — tipping the balance without ever showing on your labs. (11)
- Poor sleep and nutritional gaps. Progesterone is produced during restful sleep. Magnesium, zinc, B6, and vitamin C are all required for synthesis — and most women are low in at least one. (12) Gut health matters too. [See my previous estrobolome blog.]
A Moment of Transparency — My Story
I was 18 when my mother took me to an OB-GYN. My younger sister had already started her cycles. I had not. The doctor put me on Provera — a synthetic progestin (PRO-jeh-stin). He said if I cycled every three to four months, my endometrium (en-doh-MEE-tree-um — the uterine lining) would be protected. I did it for two years, then stopped.
Today, knowing what we know, I am grateful I stopped. The Women’s Health Initiative found a significantly increased risk of breast cancer in women taking synthetic progestins. (14) The E3N French cohort study confirmed it: estrogen paired with synthetic progestins carried a much higher breast cancer risk than estrogen paired with natural bioidentical progesterone. (15) Your body knows the difference. Science now confirms it.
My cycles remained sparse — a few times a year. I also carry methylation SNPs— genetic variations that affect how my body processes and clears hormones. Low progesterone combined with impaired methylation meant my hormonal system was fighting an uphill battle for years before anyone named it.
By 42, I was in full premature menopause. I had osteopenia -low bone density, the step before osteoporosis). My sleep was horrific. I was living the very symptoms I now see in the women who walk through my door.
Then I started bioidentical hormone replacement therapy. Things improved — slowly, then dramatically. Today my bone health is in the 95th percentile.
I share this because I sat where you may be sitting — confused, dismissed, and running low on the hormone whose name means for life. You deserve better than I got.
What You Can Do Right Now
You do not have to wait for a crisis. Five evidence-supported starting points:
1. Protect your nervous system — consistently. The pregnenolone steal is real. Every chronic stressor taxes your progesterone. Zone Time (immersive single-focus recovery) is not a luxury. It is medicine. (10)
2. Guard your sleep. Progesterone is made during restful sleep. Honor your Digital Sunset ritual. What disrupts your sleep disrupts your hormones.
3. Eat for your luteal phase. The luteal phase (the two weeks after ovulation) is when progesterone peaks and needs the most support. Magnesium, B6, zinc, and vitamin C are your foundation. (12)
Grab your FREE Hormone-Supportive Cookbook — with luteal phase-specific recipes to help your body make more progesterone naturally.
4. Reduce xenoestrogen exposure. Glass over plastic. Fragrance-free personal care. Organic when possible — especially the EWG Dirty Dozen list. (11)
5. Ask for the right labs. Request a Day 21 progesterone level at your next appointment. If your levels come back “normal” but you still feel off, ask for a deeper look — or find a provider who specializes in hormone health. Your Free Vitality Assessment Call at ConsultLori.com is a great place to start.
To every woman reading this — whether you are a mother, or you mother something else entirely — this post is for you.
Progesterone is not a fringe conversation. It is foundational. Dr. John Lee knew it thirty years ago. The research is confirming it now. And you deserve to have this information — not at 50, not after years of suffering, but today.
Happy Mother’s Day. You deserve to feel as well as you give.
With care and gratitude for the difference you make!!
Lori Finlay, NP, CNS
| FREE RESOURCE — Hormone-Supportive Cookbook Grab your FREE Hormone-Supportive Cookbook — with luteal phase-specific recipes designed to give your body the nutritional building blocks it needs to make more progesterone naturally. Click HERE |
References
1. Lee, J. R., & Hopkins, V. (1996). What your doctor may not tell you about menopause. Warner Books.
2. Lee, J. R., Zava, D., & Hopkins, V. (2002). What your doctor may not tell you about breast cancer. Warner Books.
3. Brinton, R. D., Thompson, R. F., Foy, M. R., Baudry, M., Wang, J., Finch, C. E., & Bhavnani, B. R. (2008). Progesterone receptors: Form and function in brain. Frontiers in Neuroendocrinology, 29(2), 313–339. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.yfrne.2008.02.001
4. Prior, J. C. (1990). Progesterone as a bone-trophic hormone. Endocrine Reviews, 11(2), 386–398. https://doi.org/10.1210/edrv-11-2-386
5. Formby, B., & Wiley, T. S. (1998). Progesterone inhibits growth and induces apoptosis in breast cancer cells: Inverse effects on Bcl-2 and p53. Annals of Clinical & Laboratory Science, 28(6), 360–369. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/9846203/
6. Majewska, M. D., Harrison, N. L., Schwartz, R. D., Barker, J. L., & Paul, S. M. (1986). Steroid hormone metabolites are barbiturate-like modulators of the GABA receptor. Science, 232(4753), 1004–1007. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.2422758
7. Kalkhoff, R. K. (1982). Metabolic effects of progesterone. American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, 142(6 Pt 2), 735–738. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0002-9378(16)32480-2
8. Cunningham, A. C., Hewings-Martin, Y., Wickham, A. P., Prentice, C., Zhaunova, L., & Payne, J. L. (2025). Perimenopause symptoms, severity, and healthcare seeking in women in the US. npj Women’s Health, 3, 12. https://doi.org/10.1038/s44294-025-00061-3
9. Santoro, N., Roeca, C., Peters, B. A., & Neal-Perry, G. (2021). The menopause transition: Signs, symptoms, and management options. Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, 106(1), 1–15. https://doi.org/10.1210/clinem/dgaa764
10. Guilliams, T. G., & Edwards, L. (2010). Chronic stress and the HPA axis: Clinical assessment and therapeutic considerations. The Standard, 9(2), 1–12. https://www.pointinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/standard_v_9_2_hpa.pdf
11. Vandenberg, L. N., Colborn, T., Hayes, T. B., Heindel, J. J., Jacobs, D. R., Lee, D. H., & vom Saal, F. S. (2012). Hormones and endocrine-disrupting chemicals: Low-dose effects and nonmonotonic dose responses. Endocrine Reviews, 33(3), 378–455. https://doi.org/10.1210/er.2011-1050
12. Wyatt, K. M., Dimmock, P. W., Jones, P. W., & Shaughn O’Brien, P. M. (1999). Efficacy of vitamin B-6 in the treatment of premenstrual syndrome: Systematic review. BMJ, 318(7195), 1375–1381. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.318.7195.1375
13. Plottel, C. S., & Blaser, M. J. (2011). Microbiome and malignancy. Cell Host & Microbe, 10(4), 324–335. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chom.2011.10.003
14. Rossouw, J. E., Anderson, G. L., Prentice, R. L., LaCroix, A. Z., Kooperberg, C., Stefanick, M. L., & Writing Group for the Women’s Health Initiative Investigators. (2002). Risks and benefits of estrogen plus progestin in healthy postmenopausal women: Principal results from the Women’s Health Initiative randomized controlled trial. JAMA, 288(3), 321–333. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.288.3.321
15. Fournier, A., Berrino, F., & Clavel-Chapelon, F. (2008). Unequal risks for breast cancer associated with different hormone replacement therapies: Results from the E3N cohort study. Breast Cancer Research and Treatment, 107(1), 103–111. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10549-007-9523-x
