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What about Oral Progesterone for Sleep?

May 20, 2020 | 12 Comments | Clinical Tip Team

Many in our practices struggle with sleep. Have you considered the utility of oral progesterone specifically for sleep?

A great question – and opportunity to challenge your learning!  Do you know why oral progesterone might help sleep?  Do you know why oral intake (vs. transdermal) might be so much more effective for countering insomnia – but only in some women?

Absolutely some women may indeed benefit tremendously from progesterone supplementation (e.g. late perimenopausal years).  Unfortunately there’s a growing trend of practitioners recommending it without even assessing hormones at all (or any other actual root cause of insomnia).   Low progesterone relative to one’s estrogen level can definitely promote poor sleep (no shortage of data showing that!  here and here and here…)  But what if hormone levels are actually adequate:  what are alternatives that might address the same pathway that progesterone boosts?

We know that optimal sleep is a critical part of the functional medicine lifestyle!  No surprise to us, a Consumer Reports survey said that a quarter of people have trouble falling or staying asleep nightly, and more than 2/3 struggle at least once a week.  And this gap promotes depression, heart disease, lowered immunity, obesity, type 2 diabetes, and more!

Beyond the pearls for this unique situation in the video, I also want you to have a powerful toolbox for helping ALL of your patients and clients sleep better.  By far, the most important, foundational intervention I have found for optimizing sleep is what, at SAFM, we call “sleep hygiene”.  I’ve got a great handout summarizing the tenets, and I’m sharing it right here for you as a free gift.  Remember:  detailed education can create the inspiration and empowerment that finally allows a patient to make and sustain important lifestyle change.  You are also welcome to check out one of the several posts about sleep available here in our public Clinical Tips area.

I know you want the practical details!  There are other options for promoting GABA to help enable sleep.  Consider 500mg taurine (or one can use magnesium taurate and get the best of two key relaxation nutrients) taken an hour before bed.  L-theanine dosage to support sleep is typically 200-400mg (I usually recommend suntheanine, which is available in many brands).  N-acetyl-cysteine may also be quite helpful for this particular dynamic of GABA-Glutamate balance.

I hope this is helpful to you and the patients and clients you serve!

Warmly,

 

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12 Questions for “What about Oral Progesterone for Sleep?”

  1. 6
    Cheryl Schmid says:
    November 17, 2024 at 11:28 am

    I have a question! DUTCH (for 56 yr old in menopause) shows slightly lower Progesterone than Estrogen, taking nightly 300mg of Oral Micronized Slow Release Progesterone & it’s been a lifesaver. But desires not be beholden to pharmaceuticals.

    Tried Taurine but with a sensitivity to too much sulfur, taurine actually causes more rumination & anxiety. L-Theanine at 400mg is not enough support and GABA (chewed, swallowed, etc) doesn’t work. Have not tried Phenabut yet.

    If phenabut doesn’t do the trick, it seems like pharmaceutical progesterone has to stay, correct?

    And does the need for Progesterone slow or cease as we age or may the need be ongoing?

  2. 5
    John Castella says:
    April 9, 2020 at 9:01 am

    Hi Tracy,
    NeuroScience’s Kavinace is no longer available. Is there an alternative product you recommend?
    Thanks, John

  3. 4
    America Diaz says:
    February 28, 2020 at 6:11 pm

    I’m a new student at SAFM and I just listened to this clinical tip. Is Phenibut back on the market and available again? My clinic had stopped carrying it about a year ago because they had been informed that the FDA had pulled it for functional medicine use. Can you share share an update on this?

  4. 3
    sharon chud says:
    August 7, 2019 at 3:09 pm

    Hello Tracy. I have put a client on Phenibut and for the first time, something worked to help her sleep. She also has a declining kidney function. She is over 60. Yes, kidney function declines with advanced age but I think hers is going down relatively fast. My question is could Phenibut worsen her kidney function? I searched and could not find any information on this. What is your opinion?

  5. 2
    Leslie Flanigan says:
    February 23, 2019 at 11:24 am

    What about non-synthetic topical progesterone cream, i.e., extracted from Wild Yam?

  6. 1
    Kymberli Norman says:
    January 21, 2019 at 2:06 pm

    101 student. For intervention are the above supplements Tracy suggested recommended together? Or, trials to determine which help? Thank you!

    • 1.1
      SAFM Team says:
      January 21, 2019 at 9:55 pm

      Welcome to SAFM, Kymberli! Typically, supplement recommendations depend on each unique case and those described in the post are presented as potential tools for your (soon to be quite extensive) toolbox. Some of the presented supplements can be taken together, but rarely you would recommend all at once. I encourage you to start only with those that you understand and feel comfortable using. I know that you will gain more and more confidence and understanding with time, as you are going through the various SAFM required courses and clinical deep dives. Enjoy the learning process!

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