Lizab - some of the symptoms do overlap. However the endocrine control of oestrogen is though LH and FSH. Progesterone is produced by the corpus luteum after ovulation and is not controlled by oestrogen. The article here explains what happens in a normal menstural cycle and at peri-menopause:
http://www.menopausematters.co.uk/article-perils-of-the-perimenopause.phpIt's important not to get too hung up over specific symptoms - especially as there are transitory symptoms caused by increase and decrease of one or the other hormone!
If your hot flushes and sweats are decreased/eliminated and your mood is positive most of the time - then oestrogen is likely to be sufficient. Sudden increase in oestrogen can cause headaches and nausea but these usually settle once the body acclimatises. Low progesterone will not cause any symptoms apart from bleeding due to womb lining build up in the absence of ovulation. As dangermouse says (
by the way - perhaps you would like to introduce yourself in new members section and tell us something about yourself and your menopause?) high progesterone can cause those symptoms - but some women seem able to tolerate their own prog just fine. Decreasing progesterone also causes pmt symptoms, as in the menstrual cycle - headaches, tension, irritability, rage - but this is temporary and once the withdrawal is over and progesterone remains low - these symptoms disappear.
When you are peri-menopausal it is difficult to attribute a particular symptoms to a particular hormone. it is also the dramatic fluctuations which can give rise to unpleasant symptoms and there is not a lot you can do about that expect for perhaps starting the BCP - which will suppress your own cycle.
Hurdity x
