Hi, I stumbled across your web site & read through some of the posts and there seems to be some great info here. But I am new so I don't understand some of the acronyms yet.

I am struggling with symptoms of high progesterone that are really interfering with my day and looking for cause/how to reduce the symptoms.

Background info:
Female - early 50s, workouts are cross fit type - barbell, tires/sledgehammers, body weight like pullups/pushups/dips, kickboxing with heavy bag, kettlebells, ropes, tire flipping - etc. Focus on more weighted exercises than body weight or cardio only exercises.

I eat real clean - grass fed lean beef, pasture chicken, eggs, greek yogurt non fat, veggies, a little fruit, starch carbs as needed (average 1-2 servings a week).

I have high cortisol - been tested and confirmed. I manage it with PS and Schisandra Adrenal Complex these days, as well as taking high levels of magnesium & Vit B complex & Vit E which high cortisol depetes. I also lower it by doing weighted exercises (vs intense cardio unweighted) and higher protein meals - both make a big difference in lowering cortisol.

I am significantly overweight (resulting from undiagnosed food allergies and high cortisol), losing it slowly, but I know the extra fat increases my estrogen.

I tested sex hormones for the first time a few months ago:
My estrogen is high but only by about 20 points (not bad for my weight). The tests also confirmed that when I think cortisol is controlled it is, when I think it is getting high, it is.
My progesterone is in the normal range but at the low end.
My testosterone tested thru the roof BUT I was taking keto-7 which I didn't realize was really dhea and it can both falsely and actually raise testosterone. I believe I have always been low testosterone and this has dropped over menopause. I have always has sparse hair on arms and legs and don't bulk even when at ideal weight & doing 3 hours of weight lifting at decent weights several times a week, and my leg hair had thinned noticeably after menopause.

My blood sugar is typically low, I tested it this last week, 106 shortly after a meal, 90 when I hadn't eaten for 5 hours. This has always been normal to me, though I can go up to 120 after a meal. I don't eat sugars or even much fruit (only low sugar ones), sugar kicks my cortisol up high.

As menopause progressed, symptoms took a chunk worse here and there and I responded by upping what I do to manage cortisol.

But I have hit another chunk of new symptoms - clenched muscles and deep vibrating, bad enough to interfere a lot with my day. I have confirmed this is from too much progesterone (part of my trail and error was adding progesterone cream and the symptoms match closely).
I also have confirmed what is making the symptoms (other than the progesterone cream).
There are a few possibilities going on:
I increased workouts to twice a day (one heavy, 2nd one lighter, kickboxing or kettlebells with medium weights), 6x a week. My trainer was gone spring break, I kicked down in my workouts. He came back and the workout was doozy and voila my symptoms came back about 30 hours after this workout.
So possible causes:
1) The more intense workouts effects something.
2) The more intense workouts kick up cortisol (sore or uncomfortable symptoms will do this, but I took extra PS today and the symptoms didn't reduce).
3) I am losing fat and have some progesterone previously stored in my fat that is being released in the blood stream. I am not sure of this, I have not taken a lot of progesterone cream in my life and most of it was directly for vag dryness where it is not absorbed into fat, so while I might have some in my fat.. I am just not sure.
4) Could be something else being released from fat, but I lose weight slowly so should not be a huge dump, I didn't always eat a clean as I do now.
5) who knows.

Any ideas of what increasing muscle intense exercises or having more sore muscles or even cortisol being high - Does any of this increase progesterone?

How can I lower progesterone or at least the symptoms?

Thanks for any help.