Progesterone & Your Brain: The Missing Link

In Episode 2 of this deep-dive hormone series, Dr. Brendan McCarthy—Chief Medical Officer of Protea Medical Center in Tempe, AZ—breaks down the part of progesterone almost no one talks about: its powerful role as a brain hormone.

Most women are only taught that progesterone is about fertility and uterine lining. But the truth?
Progesterone is a neurosteroid that influences your amygdala, hippocampus, and prefrontal cortex—three key brain regions that shape your stress response, emotional stability, sleep, memory, and self-trust.

This episode covers:
✔️ Why perimenopause makes your brain feel “out of control”
✔️ The link between progesterone decline and anxiety, irritability, depression, night sweats, and brain fog
✔️ How progesterone converts to allopregnanolone (your brain’s natural calming signal)
✔️ Why women under chronic stress or in their late 30s–40s feel symptoms more intensely
✔️ How hormonal imbalance impacts memory, decision-making, and emotional regulation
✔️ Why you’re not broken—and what real validation and proper care looks like

 

Dr. Brendan McCarthy is the founder and Chief Medical Officer of Protea Medical Center in Arizona. With over two decades of experience, he’s helped thousands of patients navigate hormonal imbalances using bioidentical HRT, nutrition, and root-cause medicine. He’s also taught and mentored other physicians on integrative approaches to hormone therapy, weight loss, fertility, and more. If you’re ready to take your health seriously, this podcast is a great place to start.

 

👇 Tap Subscribe to learn more about what’s actually happening in your body, and what to do about it.

 

📘 Read Dr. McCarthy’s Book: Jump Off the Mood Swing – A Sane Woman’s Guide to Her Crazy Hormones https://www.amazon.com/Jump-Off-Mood-Swing-Hormones/dp/0999649604

 

📲 Follow Dr. McCarthy:

Instagram: @drbrendanmccarthy

TikTok: @drbrendanmccarthy

Website: www.protealife.com

 

💬 Got a question or topic for a future episode? Let us know in the comments!