Women AND Men need progesterone to sleep soundly
Both men and women have estrogen and progesterone. In men, these hormones are naturally at low levels and progesterone is a precursor to testosterone. As men decline in age, testosterone and progesterone decline and estrogen rises.
In women, progesterone helps balance estrogen.
As We Age
Estrogen and progesterone levels in a woman’s body start decreasing starting 15 years before menopause. Estrogen helps prevent hot flashes and leads to sound sleep. Progesterone is the first hormone to disappear with menopause. When progesterone is too low in women, symptoms can be breast tenderness, poor sleep and heavy bleeding at periods. This is called estrogen dominance.
As men and women get older and find it is harder to sleep, supplementation with bio-identical progesterone can improve sleep.
How does supplementation for sleep work?
Using bio-identical hormones is preferable to using synthetic hormones. Bio-identical hormones bind to the hormone receptors in the body and are easily recognized and absorbed by the body. Find a good functional medicine practitioner to understand your diminishing hormones as you age. 
With the right bloodwork and testing, you can get a prescription for bio-identical hormones that are applied as a cream. For women that would be estrogen and progesterone and for men it would be testosterone.
Oral Progesterone for Sleep
But for SLEEP, an oral progesterone works better for men and women. This is a capsule that is made by a compounding pharmacy. Bio-identical progesterone is not to be confused with synthetic progesterone, which can cause a number of side effects. They are not the same. There are no known side effects from bio-identical progesterone, with the exception of sleepiness.
Oral progesterone must be taken at bedtime, and greatly improves sleep quality. It has none of the side effects of sleep remedies like Ambien, Lunesta or the benzodiazepines (such as Ativan, Klonopin, or Xanax to name a few). Many sleep aids are habit forming and intended only for short term use. Oral bio-identical progesterone may be used indefinitely until no longer needed and is not habit forming.
Learn More
Reach out to our health coach at Rest Refreshed if you have questions on how to find a good functional medicine doctor in your area.
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