Progesterone Levels Chart: Normal Ranges by Cycle Phase

A normal progesterone level is below 1 ng/mL in the follicular phase and 2 to 25 ng/mL in the luteal phase. Levels peak about 7 days after ovulation. After menopause and in men, normal levels are below 0.5 ng/mL. Always compare your result to your own lab's range.

A mid-luteal progesterone level above 10 ng/mL confirms that you ovulated, according to Mayo Clinic Laboratories. This is usually measured on day 21 of a 28-day cycle. A level below 10 ng/mL may mean no ovulation or that the test was timed wrong. Your doctor reads it with your cycle history.

Low progesterone symptoms include irregular periods, spotting, mood swings, fatigue, and trouble getting pregnant. It is common during perimenopause and in cycles without ovulation. In pregnancy, low levels can raise the risk of miscarriage. The Cleveland Clinic lists these as the main signs to watch for.

A normal progesterone level in pregnancy is 11 to 44 ng/mL in the first trimester, 25 to 83 ng/mL in the second, and 58 to 214 ng/mL in the third. Levels rise each trimester to support the pregnancy. ACOG notes that low early levels can signal a higher miscarriage risk. Doctors read it alongside ultrasound and hCG.

The estrogen-progesterone ratio matters because balance between the two hormones drives a healthy cycle. When estrogen is high relative to progesterone, you may feel estrogen dominance symptoms like heavy periods, bloating, and mood swings. This is why doctors check both hormones together, not progesterone alone.

Not on its own — progesterone rises after ovulation in every cycle, whether or not you become pregnant, so a single mid-luteal level looks the same either way. If you don't conceive, the corpus luteum breaks down around day 26–28, progesterone drops, and that drop triggers your period. If you do conceive, rising hCG signals the corpus luteum to keep producing progesterone instead of declining, so levels continue climbing rather than falling in the days before your expected period. Because the difference only shows up as a trend over several days — not a single number — a home pregnancy test (which measures hCG) answers the pregnant-or-PMS question faster and more reliably than a one-time progesterone level. For a broader look at how progesterone and estrogen interact throughout the cycle, see our estrogen vs progesterone comparison.

Low progesterone, not high, is the pattern most often linked to PCOS. Polycystic ovary syndrome frequently causes anovulatory cycles — cycles where an egg isn't released — and progesterone is only produced by the corpus luteum, the structure formed after ovulation. Without regular ovulation, progesterone stays low throughout the cycle instead of rising in the normal luteal-phase pattern. This is a major reason irregular or absent periods are a core PCOS symptom: without progesterone's monthly drop to trigger shedding, the uterine lining can build up unpredictably. See our PCOS guide for how this connects to the condition's other hormonal and metabolic features. High progesterone is not a recognized feature of PCOS — persistently elevated levels outside the expected luteal-phase or pregnancy range point to a different cause and are worth discussing with your doctor.

OTC progesterone creams can raise blood levels somewhat, but absorption through skin is inconsistent from person to person and much lower than an oral or vaginal prescription dose, so the effect is generally too small and unpredictable to reliably treat a confirmed low-progesterone diagnosis. They are most often used for mild, self-managed perimenopausal symptoms rather than for a specific lab-confirmed deficiency. If you have a documented low progesterone result, or you are using progesterone for fertility or pregnancy support, a prescription form with a known, tested dose is the more reliable choice — discuss it with your doctor rather than relying on an OTC cream alone.

Progesterone is the molecule your body naturally produces, and "bioidentical" progesterone is a lab-made version with the identical molecular structure; synthetic progestins are chemically different compounds designed to activate the same receptor but with their own distinct side-effect and risk profile. This distinction matters most when choosing a hormone therapy or birth control option, including differences in safety considerations like blood clot or breast cancer risk that vary by formulation and by whether progesterone is combined with estrogen. See our bioidentical hormones vs. HRT comparison for how that choice — and those risk differences — are typically framed.

Treatment depends on why your progesterone is low. In fertility care, clinics often add prescription progesterone — vaginal or oral — as luteal support when a monitored-cycle level comes back low, as described in the IVF section above. Outside of fertility treatment, options range from cyclic prescription progesterone to combined hormone therapy that pairs progesterone with estrogen — see our bioidentical hormones vs. HRT comparison for how that choice is typically framed. There's no single standard prescription — your doctor chooses the approach based on your specific goal (fertility support, cycle regulation, or symptom relief) and your overall hormone picture, not the progesterone number alone.

No. Low progesterone is one factor that can contribute to difficulty conceiving or an early pregnancy loss, but it doesn't mean pregnancy is impossible. Many underlying causes, including irregular ovulation, are treatable once identified, and in a monitored fertility cycle a confirmed low level can be corrected with added prescription progesterone, as described in the IVF section above. A single result also isn't the whole picture — your doctor reads it alongside your cycle history, other hormone levels, and any ultrasound or hCG findings before drawing conclusions about fertility.

The most common side effects of prescription progesterone are drowsiness or sedation, dizziness, bloating, and breast tenderness. Drowsiness is common enough that oral progesterone is often deliberately prescribed to be taken at bedtime, turning that side effect into a practical benefit for people who also struggle with sleep. Mild bloating and breast tenderness tend to track with the dose and often ease after the first cycle or two. Contact your prescriber for any side effect that's severe, doesn't improve, or worries you — dosing and delivery method (oral, vaginal, or topical) can often be adjusted to reduce a specific side effect.

A single in-range progesterone value doesn't rule out a real hormonal problem, because timing and other causes can both hide it. If the test wasn't drawn on the right cycle day for your personal cycle length, as covered above, a genuinely low luteal-phase level can come back looking normal simply because it was measured too early or too late. It's also possible your symptoms have a different, equally real explanation — thyroid dysfunction and perimenopause both commonly produce overlapping symptoms like fatigue, mood changes, and irregular cycles. Persistent symptoms alongside a normal lab result are worth a follow-up conversation with your doctor about retiming the test or checking other causes, not a reason to self-diagnose or self-treat with an unprescribed hormone.

No, a normal progesterone level does not rule out PMDD (premenstrual dysphoric disorder). PMDD is currently understood as unusual brain sensitivity to normal hormone fluctuations across the cycle, not a sign of abnormal progesterone (or estrogen) levels themselves — people with PMDD generally have hormone levels in the typical range, but their nervous system reacts to the normal rise and fall more intensely. That means a standard progesterone test, timed correctly, can come back completely normal in someone who genuinely has PMDD. See our hormone imbalance guide for a fuller explanation of how normal hormone levels can still produce real symptoms.

Normal progesterone in adult men is below 0.5 ng/mL — the same low baseline seen after menopause, since men don't have a menstrual cycle driving the hormone higher. Progesterone in men comes from the adrenal glands and testes and functions mainly as a precursor molecule the body uses to make testosterone and cortisol, rather than serving a major independent role of its own. Because of this, progesterone isn't a hormone doctors typically test or treat in men as a standalone concern — a result outside the reference range in a man is usually followed up by looking at the broader adrenal or testicular hormone panel (including testosterone and cortisol) rather than treating progesterone itself as the primary finding. If you're a man with an unexpected progesterone result, that context is worth bringing to your doctor rather than interpreting the number alone.

There's no supplement or lifestyle change proven to reliably raise a lab-confirmed low progesterone level — progesterone is produced by the corpus luteum after ovulation, so the main lever is supporting regular ovulation itself. Chronic stress, very low body weight, and excessive high-intensity exercise are all associated with irregular or absent ovulation, which is the most common reason healthy premenopausal progesterone runs low; addressing those factors (adequate sleep, moderating training volume, maintaining a healthy weight) supports normal ovulatory cycles more than it directly "raises" the hormone. Chasteberry (Vitex agnus-castus) is a commonly cited supplement for this, but the clinical evidence for it is mixed and it hasn't been shown to reliably normalize a confirmed low level. If you have a lab-confirmed deficiency — especially in a fertility or pregnancy context — prescription progesterone support, discussed in the IVF section above, is the evidence-based option; talk to your doctor before starting any supplement alongside it.

There isn't an established way to lower progesterone the way there is a range of options for raising a low level, and in most cases you don't need one. Cleveland Clinic notes that high progesterone levels don't typically harm your health on their own. When a level comes back elevated outside the luteal phase or pregnancy, the usual driver is exogenous progesterone. Hormone therapy, hormonal birth control, and progesterone supplements or creams are the most common sources. A doctor treats this by stopping or adjusting that source. Diet and lifestyle changes do not move a progesterone level that is elevated for this reason. A corpus luteum cyst is another common, benign cause, and cysts like this one usually resolve on their own within a few menstrual cycles. Cleveland Clinic flags one rare exception. High progesterone can occasionally be a sign of ovarian or adrenal cancer. A level that stays elevated with no clear medication, cyst, or pregnancy explanation is worth a direct conversation with your doctor rather than something to try to fix yourself.

Yes, progesterone levels are generally higher in twin pregnancies because a multiple pregnancy has more placental tissue producing the hormone. A 2024 study in the International Journal of Molecular Sciences found maternal progesterone at delivery was roughly 75% higher in twin pregnancies than in singletons, at 0.831 micromol/L compared to 0.468 micromol/L. Dedicated twin-specific reference ranges are not standardized the way singleton trimester charts are. A clinician managing a multiple pregnancy interprets an individual result in that specific context rather than against the singleton chart.