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Bilateral testicular cancer survivor in need of progesterone therapy

by Jim
(Virginia)

Wray,
I am a 33 year old male. I successfully recovered from bilateral testicular cancer 10 years ago. I’m happy to be alive but due to my condition I had a bilateral orchiectomy in 2002. This means that I’m on permanent Testosterone replacement therapy. My physicians have tried several modes of transportation for the HRT. Currently I’m taking 75mg of testosterone/ 75mg of Chrysin in a compound cream. I feel that I’m in desperate need of progesterone replacement therapy since the loss of the ancillary supply which was once produced by my testes 10 years ago. Through the past 5 years my progesterone serum levels have drop from .8 ng/ml to .4 ng/ml. I feel this loss and drop in progesterone has contributed to my symptoms tremendously. These symptoms are described throughout your website. What is your recommendation in amount of progesterone I should initially use and the amount that should be used for maintenance? Also since I’m on topical testosterone replacement therapy I have a tendency to have slightly high estradiol reading (50 to 70 pg/ml). This is due to the increase aromatase activity in the adipose tissue where the topical testosterone is held in a reservoir fashion as it is slowly released into the blood vessels throughout the day. This is also why I’m on chrysin in hopes to inhibit the conversion. Would a matching 75 mg per day to equal the testosterone therapy be appropriate? Your advice is appreciative

Comments for Bilateral testicular cancer survivor in need of progesterone therapy

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Jul 13, 2012
 Bilateral testicular cancer survivor in need of progesterone theapy
by: Wray

Hi Jim It's interesting you should ask me about this, as I've just had correspondence with another man on his success with using progesterone. He was lucky and didn't have cancer, but the TRT is causing unwanted side effects, all of which the progesterone has helped. You might like to read his comments here. Foolishly I haven't asked him how much he's using, but I do know most men seem to find 10-100mg/day suits. It is trial and error finding the optimal amount, which can vary too, especially if stress occurs. I did wonder if you were using the chrysin as an aromatase inhibitor, as it seems much faith is put in it, but I can't find any papers showing that it is. This is a good site here with many papers. Although he does end by saying "Unfortunately, there does not appear to be any effective natural inhibitor of aromatase." But there is some evidence that progesterone is an aromatase inhibitor, see here, here, here, here, here, here and here. I feel your 75mg/day progesterone is a good start point. But as your oestrogen is quite high, it normally ranges from 10 - 50 pg/ml in a man, you will probably experience Oestrogen Dominance symptoms. Many make the mistake of blaming progesterone and reduce or stop it, ironically this does help, as it's no longer stimulating oestrogen. But it defeats the purpose which is to suppress it. We do have more info on our Progesterone Misconceptions page. We also have a page on Hormone Testing too. Please let me know how you get on, I always value input from men, they seem reluctant to share their experiences. Take care Wray
Jul 30, 2012
 Follow up on comment
by: Jim

Hi Wray,
Thanks for the information. Started using 60 to 100 mg of progesterone a day and I’m starting to feel better. Read all the studies that you have attached to your comment and also studied the post from the previous gentlemen. I have a couple of questions. I feel a lot of my symptoms are due to the aromatization of testosterone to estradiol. I think since I use a transdermal testosterone cream that a lot is being metabolized into estradiol and leached into the circulatory system. I read the study showing progesterone inhibiting FSH production and therefore reducing the expression of the aromatase enzyme in the testes but I was wondering if it also reduced the expression in adipose tissues. This seems to be my primary problem, if you have any studies showing a direct inhibition of aromatase enzyme in the adipose tissue, or a down regulation of expression in the adipose tissue due to progesterone then please pass them along.
Also I tried to order some natpro last week and I got a message that supplies were on back order. So I’ve been using a cream that contains glycerin. I believe that this is the substance that is responsible for the tacky layer left on the skin after application. Let me know your thoughts on this. Does this inhibit full absorption of the progesterone? Does Nat Pro have this? This cream also just contains 20mgs of progesterone per ¼ tsp. Thanks for your help
Jul 31, 2012
 Follow up on comment
by: Wray

Hi Jim I'm delighted the extra progesterone is having some benefit. And bless you for reading the studies, I don't think many do. I get so many repeat questions, all answered by the studies I give. Talking of which I do have one, I'm surprised I didn't give it to you. But I have so many folders now I'm losing track, although I do try to keep a cross reference. This is the paper here. Unfortunately it is on women. These are more papers on men, women and aromatase, although none on progesterone. It's so rarely taken into account. See here here, here, here, here. This is another on progesterone's inhibitory action, but in breast cancer, see here. I'm so sorry you've been affected by the stock out too, many have. It's causing me much stress, as we've had many this year. A combo of late arrivals of raw materials, delays at the lab and miscalculating demand. But I'm happy to say it's over now and should never occur again. The lab makes a batch a month, I like it to be fresh in spite of the preservative. We made three batches this month, and a fourth will be started next week. Glycerine is very sticky. We used to use it but saw no point many years ago when we changed to the current emulsifier, which has beneficial affects on the skin. We do have a list of ingredients on this page here. The carrier oil is critical for delivery of progesterone, drugs too for that matter. Any addition beyond the bare essentials will lessen the delivery of everything, hence the simplicity of Natpro. I've been looking into it and it seems the caprylic/capric triglycerides we use is one of the best, lauric acid appears excellent too. So I've obtained a sample to play about with. We also run Saliva Tests periodically to check delivery, efficacy too. You'll notice the progesterone levels shoot up, when comparing the before and after only a month later. Also proof we use progesterone and not a progestin or yam extract! I would love to run tests on men who've never used it too, to see the how it increases. Take care Wray
Jul 31, 2012
 Yam extract
by: Jim

Wray,
Thanks for your quick reply and the additional info. Just a quick question on the progestin or yam extract. Correct me if I’m wrong but progestin is the synthetic version of progesterone right? Therefore will carry harmful side effects. As for the Yam extract, what’s wrong with this option? I know I’ve read it somewhere before but refresh my memory. Also how is Nat Pro progesterone synthesized? And what are these benefits? I plan on ordering some Nat Pro this week but just had these last lingering questions.
Aug 06, 2012
 Yam extract
by: Wray

Hi Jim You are right, progestins are synthetic versions. Progesterone is first synthesised from a plant sterol, there are over 250 different types of sterols, known as phytosterols. Some of them are stigmasterol, diosgenin, beta-sitosterol, campesterol, hecogenin, sarsasapogenin, solasodine. Plants such as the soy bean, Dioscorea species of yams, fenugreek, sisal, calabar bean, some lilies, yucca, some solanum species, maize and many more contain phytosterols. Animals only have one sterol, or zoosterol known as cholesterol, and fungi only have one mycosterol known as ergosterol. Once progesterone is made, all the other hormones are then synthesised from it, and in the case of the synthetic versions, the molecule is changed slightly to make it patentable. This changed molecule does cause harm in many instances, or doesn't have the full effect progesterone has. None of them are metabolised into the progesterone metabolites, some of which are of greater importance than progesterone itself, one such is allopregnanalone. Yam extracts are nothing more than the plant sterol, prior to it's synthesis into progesterone. It's not possible for the body to change the plant molecule into progesterone. We get a progesterone synthesised from yams, but how the manufacturing company does it, I don't know. There is more info on all this on our page The History of Progesterone. As for the benefits of Natpro as opposed to other brands I can only speak from my experience of it. I haven't tried the others for over 15 years now, as I only use the Natpro! As I said previously, we run saliva tests on it, and have found it is absorbed very well, which is the main objective. Take care Wray
Jan 17, 2013
 Natural progesterone
by: Anonymous

Arbonne's Prolief is a great source. It is from soy, all their products are pure and safe. Been a great product for my husband and myself and others I know.
Jan 23, 2013
 Natural progesterone
by: Wray

Hi there Thanks for the tip. Although I of course would prefer it if people used Natpro, the cream we make, see here. All the ingredients we use are natural too. We changed from using a soy based progesterone, as too many wrote in saying they couldn't use it, as they are allergic to soy. No amount of persuasion on my part could convince them that there is no soy in the product. The progesterone assay is 99.9% pure. Unfortunately Arbonne do not give the ingredients they use on their website, pity as I do like to know. Take care Wray

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