The Crucial Difference Between Progesterone and Progestins

by Lara Briden
March 8, 2022

“Progestins such as drospirenone, levonorgestrel, or medroxyprogesterone are not progesterone.

That’s because progesterone is not a generic term like estrogen. Instead, progesterone refers only to the hormone made by the corpus luteum or taken as oral micronized progesterone.

Consider the structural difference between progesterone and the progestin drug levonorgestrel, which is used in many oral contraceptives, implants, hormonal IUDs, and the morning-after pill.

Levonorgestrel is actually more similar to testosterone than it is to progesterone, which is why it can cause hair loss and weight gain.”