Progesterone
Progesterone is the second principal ovarian hormone in cycling women and a key context marker in perimenopause and luteal-phase evaluation. In hormone optimization, micronized progesterone protects the endometrium when estradiol is used.
What Progesterone measures
Progesterone is the principal hormone of the luteal phase. In men and post-menopausal women it is low; in pre-menopausal women it rises after ovulation and falls if pregnancy does not occur.
Clinical significance
Progesterone is the counterweight to estradiol. Insufficiency drives heavy or irregular cycles, sleep disturbance, anxiety, and breast tenderness. In perimenopause, progesterone declines years before estradiol, producing the characteristic early symptom cluster.
How oMeds reviews it
Always drawn in cycle context (day 19-22 of a 28-day cycle, or symptom-driven in perimenopause). Provider-reviewed wellness pairs progesterone with estradiol and FSH for women's hormone review and with the symptom profile in BHRT optimization.
Standard clinical reference intervals
Lab-reported reference ranges from established standards bodies. These are diagnostic thresholds — they do not represent optimization targets.
Source: Quest Diagnostics luteal-phase reference (day 19-22); follicular phase <1 ng/mL
Cycle timing is critical.
oMeds optimization targets
Editorial bands that inform provider-reviewed conversations. These are wellness targets, not diagnostic thresholds.
Mid-to-upper luteal-phase progesterone aligns most consistently with symptom resolution (sleep, mood, cycle regularity) in provider-reviewed wellness.
oMeds optimization ranges are editorial targets that inform conversations with a licensed provider. They are NOT diagnostic thresholds and do not replace lab reference ranges.
Progesterone — frequently asked
When in my cycle should progesterone be drawn?
Day 19-22 of a 28-day cycle (about 7 days after ovulation). Drawing outside the luteal window produces uninterpretable values.
Why is progesterone low in perimenopause?
Ovulation becomes inconsistent before menses stop. Anovulatory cycles produce no luteal progesterone, which is why early perimenopausal symptoms (sleep, anxiety, heavy cycles) often respond to progesterone support before estradiol changes.
Source literature
How this entity relates
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Co-reviewed biomarkers
Bring this entity into your optimization pathway
Every condition, symptom, biomarker, and medication on oMeds is reviewed by a licensed provider and recalibrated against the standardized biomarker panel.