If you’ve been struggling with mood swings, anxiety, poor sleep, weight gain around your midsection, irregular cycles, worsening PMS, or feeling “on edge” for no clear reason, you may be dealing with something most women have never heard of: cortisol stealing your progesterone.

This concept isn’t talked about enough in traditional healthcare, and many patients are left wondering why they suddenly feel overwhelmed, wired-but-tired, emotional, or completely unlike themselves. The truth is that stress—physical, emotional, or even hidden—can dramatically impact your hormones. And when cortisol rises, progesterone is often the first hormone to suffer.

Let’s break down what this actually means, why it happens, what symptoms it causes, and most importantly, how to get your hormones and your nervous system working together again instead of against you.

What Is “Cortisol Steal”?

Cortisol steal (sometimes called “pregnenolone steal”) refers to the body diverting hormone-building resources toward cortisol production and away from progesterone. Your body does this because cortisol is your survival hormone. When your brain perceives stress, it prioritizes cortisol above almost everything else—including reproductive hormones.

In simple terms:
If your body thinks you’re in danger, it’s not going to focus on balanced cycles, calm moods, or fertility. It’s going to focus on survival.

This means progesterone levels drop not because your ovaries “forgot” to make it, but because your body is using hormonal resources to produce more cortisol.

Why Does the Body Do This?

Your adrenal glands sit on top of your kidneys and produce hormones like cortisol, DHEA, adrenaline, and aldosterone. When you're stressed, your adrenals release cortisol to help your body stay alert and get through the situation.

The problem is that today’s stress isn’t usually one major event—it’s constant.

Chronic stress sources include:

Overworking and exhaustion
Lack of sleep
Inflammation or illness
Blood sugar instability
Undereating or skipping meals
Perimenopause changes
Long COVID recovery
Thyroid dysfunction
Emotional stress
Trauma
Caffeine overload
Chronic pain
Toxin exposure

When this happens every day, cortisol becomes elevated far too often. And when cortisol stays high, progesterone starts to fall.

What Happens When Progesterone Drops?

Progesterone is your calming, soothing, anti-anxiety hormone. It helps with sleep, mood stability, cycle regulation, fertility, and keeping estrogen in balance.

When progesterone falls due to chronic stress, several symptoms may appear:

Anxiety or irritability
Insomnia or waking up in the night
Feeling overwhelmed or overly emotional
Shorter menstrual cycles
Mid-cycle spotting
PMS or PMDD symptoms
Breast tenderness
Headaches
Weight gain (especially around the stomach)
Brain fog
Low libido
Bloating
Trouble relaxing
A feeling of “internal buzzing” or restlessness

Many women describe this phase as “I don’t feel like myself anymore.”

How Cortisol Impacts Estrogen and Progesterone Balance

Progesterone and estrogen should work together in a delicate rhythm. When progesterone drops, estrogen becomes dominant by comparison—even if estrogen numbers are technically normal.

This estrogen-dominant pattern contributes to symptoms like:

Mood swings
Bloating
Breast tenderness
Heavy or painful periods
Water retention
Weight gain
Cramping
Headaches
Brown discharge before periods

Sometimes women in perimenopause assume all of this is “just hormones changing,” but often these symptoms appear because stress has been overwhelming your hormonal system for too long.

Why Women Are More Affected Than Men

Women rely on progesterone for far more than fertility. It influences your nervous system, thyroid, metabolism, and emotional balance.
During perimenopause, your ovaries begin making less progesterone even before estrogen drops—so stress becomes an even bigger disruptor.

This is why many women in their late 30s, 40s, and 50s feel the effects of stress more intensely. Their reserves are already shifting, and cortisol is competing for resources.

The Cortisol–Thyroid–Progesterone Triangle

This part often surprises patients: cortisol doesn’t just steal from progesterone—it also impacts thyroid hormones.

High cortisol can:

Slow thyroid hormone conversion
Increase reverse T3 (the “blocked” thyroid hormone)
Create symptoms of hypothyroidism even with normal labs
Disrupt ovulation, which lowers progesterone further

So now you have a three-part hormonal storm:

High cortisol
Low progesterone
Thyroid slowdown

This combination is one of the most common patterns I see in women who feel exhausted, anxious, irritable, and overwhelmed.

Signs Your Cortisol Is Too High

Feeling tired but wired
Waking up between 2–4 AM
Cravings for sugar or salty foods
Racing heart or internal jitteriness
Afternoon crashes
Difficulty winding down at night
Feeling overwhelmed by small tasks
Weight gain around your belly
Difficulty concentrating
Elevated blood pressure
Feeling hot more easily

When these happen alongside progesterone symptoms, it strongly points to cortisol steal.

How to Tell Whether Your Body Is Stealing Progesterone

Testing is essential. I evaluate several markers to understand the full picture:

Cortisol levels
Progesterone
Estradiol
DHEA
Thyroid markers
Inflammation markers
Insulin and blood sugar patterns
Nutrient levels
Sleep quality
Cycle patterns
Stress load

The goal is not just to see one number—it’s to understand how your hormones and stress systems are interacting.

Can You Fix Cortisol Steal? Yes—And Often Faster Than You Think.

Once we identify the underlying factors, we can begin to rebalance your hormones and adrenal patterns. This is where functional medicine truly shines, because we treat the why, not just the symptoms.

Here are the areas we work on:

Stabilizing blood sugar
Calming inflammation
Optimizing sleep
Lowering hidden stressors
Balancing estrogen and progesterone
Supporting the adrenals
Correcting nutrient deficiencies
Improving thyroid function
Addressing gut health
Adding BHRT when needed

When cortisol lowers and progesterone rises, women usually report:

Feeling calmer
Thinking more clearly
Improved sleep
More stable moods
Regular cycles
Better stress tolerance
Less bloating
Fewer headaches
Better PMS
Weight improvement

The entire system becomes more resilient.

Where BHRT Fits In

Bioidentical progesterone can be incredibly helpful for women experiencing cortisol steal. It supports:

Sleep
Calmness
Mood balance
Cycle regulation
Uterine health
Hormone balance with estrogen

For women in perimenopause or menopause, progesterone therapy often becomes a cornerstone of feeling like themselves again.

For women not yet in perimenopause, supporting natural progesterone production (and lowering cortisol) may be enough.

What Most Women Don’t Realize

Your hormone symptoms are not random.
Your anxiety is not a personality flaw.
Your exhaustion is not normal aging.
Your irritability is not you being “dramatic.”
Your inconsistent cycles are not just bad luck.

These symptoms often have a clear root cause—and cortisol steal is one of the biggest contributors.

How We Treat Cortisol–Progesterone Imbalance at Glow Health & Wellness

My approach with patients includes:

A full hormonal and adrenal evaluation
Advanced thyroid testing
Cycle tracking and symptom mapping
A personalized nutrition plan
Stress and sleep optimization
Targeted supplements
Inflammation reduction
BHRT when appropriate
Telehealth support for ongoing care

Our goal is simple: get your hormones, nervous system, and metabolism working together again.

You Deserve to Feel Like Yourself Again

If you’ve been dealing with unexplained mood changes, insomnia, anxiety, weight gain, or hormonal chaos, cortisol steal may be the missing piece.

You’re not imagining your symptoms.
You’re not doing anything wrong.
Your hormones may simply be overwhelmed—and you don’t have to stay stuck there.

If you're ready to understand your hormones and feel balanced again, I’m here to help guide you every step of the way.