Menu

Does Progesterone Disrupt other Hormones, and Dermal Fatigue?

by K
(Central time zone)

Hello Wray,

My girlfriend and I are debating the safety of progesterone, especially dermally applied.

Here's a recent writing (don't know by whom) that she found:

"Dermal fatigue from long-term skin application - Used in the short-term, the transdermal method has been employed for the past several years with much success. HOWEVER, a problem, identified as “dermal fatigue”, has become apparent with its long-term use . Being fat-soluble, fat cells in the skin store the hormone, which is fine at first, since fat stores are low. Unfortunately, after a few weeks of applying cream to skin, the skin tissue fat cells become saturated with PROGESTERONE (or any other steroid hormone used), which results in disruptions to adrenal hormones, such as DHEA, CORTISOL and TESTOSTERONE. This not only stops the effectiveness of the hormone, it may even make symptoms worse.

Users of transdermal PROGESTERONE cream long-term can have excessively elevated levels of this hormone - those with excessively high PROGESTERONE levels from using transdermal supplementation may need to go off the cream for up to two years, to allow the excess PROGESTERONE to leave their body."

Could you address these issues for me and perhaps direct me to any papers that show these assertions to be false?

Thank you very much.

K

Comments for Does Progesterone Disrupt other Hormones, and Dermal Fatigue?

Click here to add your own comments

Nov 20, 2013
 Does Progesterone Disrupt other Hormones, and Dermal Fatigue?
by: RJ

Sounds like Mercola. LOL Estrogen is the disruptor lol. I weigh 280 pounds...have lots of fat cells that the progesterone can build up in...have been using Natpro for almost two years, daily, 400-1,000 mg a day....with no saturation. If this so called saturation that they are speaking of was happening within my body, everything in my body would be off kilter and I wouldn't be able to function That was my state of affairs two years ago before using Natpro. Finally, things are becoming normal. Type in fat saturation in the google bar on Wray's front page. All your concerns will be answered. Oh let me add that when Wray runs out of stock and I have to miss a week or so of cream my whole body reverts back to the way it was two years ago. If all these 280 pounds of fat cells were saturated with progesterone things would go along smoothly as though I was still applying the cream daily. You are the best judge. Use it and see how you feel and respond. Then go off it for a week or so and see how you feel and respond. You'll be able to tell within a day or so if progesterone is the disruptor. God Bless! RJ
Nov 21, 2013
 Thank you
by: Anonymous

Thank you, RJ, for your comments.

I know Wray has addressed the issue of so-called dermal fatigue many times. Just want to see if she knows of any new info on that front.

Also, the concerns about it disrupting other hormones.

K
Nov 22, 2013
 Does Progesterone Disrupt other Hormones, and Dermal Fatigue?
by: Wray

Hi RJ Brilliant reply! I do wish the writers of blogs would read a few papers, or experiment themselves. Instead of misleading people or worse, making them fearful of it’s use. Although progesterone is made in many cells, the skin also has the ability to make it too. There are many receptor sites, see here. Even the hair follicles absorb it well, see here. A friend of mine says he uses it as a hair conditioner! I find this of particular interest as vitamin D is also made in the skin. Both Progesterone and Vitamin D are made from cholesterol, the molecule is very similar. Vitamin D is of course a fat soluble vitamin, in fact it is eventually converted into a steroid too. And from the skin the vitamin D is transported around the body, much as progesterone is. RJ please try the Ketogenic Diet. It really does work. The higher the fat intake, the lower the carbs, the quicker the fat drops off. I’ve tried it and I know it works. Take care Wray
Nov 22, 2013
 Does Progesterone Disrupt other Hormones, and Dermal Fatigue?
by: Wray

Hi K As RJ says it sounds like Mercola. It says “employed for the past several years with much success”. It’s actually been used for 35 years, hardly ‘several’, more like a great many years. And as RJ says she uses a great deal, which still works. I’ve used it now for 17 years and I can assure you it still works. Yes it does enter the fat cells, it’s not water soluble, but capillaries flowing through the fat carrying red blood cells pick up the progesterone and distribute it to other tissues. This paper says "However, one explanation is that after absorption through the skin, the lipophilic ingredients of creams, including progesterone, may have a preference for saturating the fatty layer below the dermis. Because there appears to be rapid uptake and release of steroids by red blood cells passing through capillaries, these cells may play an important role in transporting progesterone to salivary glands and other tissues.”, see here In other words saturated or not it still gets around the body. In most instances the people who use progesterone do so because their hormones are already disrupted. With high levels of cortisol, DHEA, testosterone and oestrogen. Progesterone can safely redress this issue. It doesn’t require 2 years to get it out of the system either. Levels begin dropping after about 13 hours, necessitating using it at least twice a day, see here. You mustn’t forget that if a problem is severe a great deal will be needed to overcome it. So in effect the progesterone does leave the body, without recourse to stopping it. I’ve also done a page on Progesterone Misconceptions you could look through. I see from your answer to RJ, that you wondered if there was any new info. If there is I haven’t had time to look for it. If you want to try progesterone, please see our page on How to use progesterone cream. Take care Wray
Nov 24, 2013
 Does Progesterone Disrupt other Hormones, and Dermal Fatigue?
by: RJ

Hello Wray,
Believe it or not I can follow that Ketogenic plan up until about 3 or 4 o'clock and it's all downhill from there. I don't know if it's the trigger that goes on within the brain when I start making dinner for everyone else....five other people living here, plus the dogs too. I can't forget them. So frustrating to do so well all day and them bam. But let me say I have been adding 2 tbsp of apple cider vinegar the organic one with the "mother load" as they call it....never could figure out what that meant...well I guess I could but I won't. Anyway for some silly reason that is curbing the appetite. If I just could skip making supper I'd be okay, but there isn't anyone else to do it. Mom's hands just don't want to cooperate anymore. You know I read, ironically on Mercola's page, that they are doing a study on men and woman who fast before they eat their first meal of the day. It is recommended that a person wait for 16 hours before eating anything. Generally, they eat the Ketogenic Diet, but only between the hours of noon and 7-8 at night. But they will let no woman participate if they are in.......guess........perimenopause. Really...go figure....that was news to me LOL. That tells us just how out of whack our bodies really are during this phase. So messed up that our bodies can't even do a fasting correctly. Oh the wonders of this ever changing change. Sounds like you're doing better. Closing that computer is good for you. Working on that book yet? ;) Have a blessed Thanksgiving and here's to slathering on the Natpro to help us get through the stress of the coming days!! God Bless! RJ
Nov 27, 2013
 Thank you
by: Anonymous

Hi RJ and Wray,

I doubt your wonderful responses will have any positive effect on my partner. And, all the same, I want to thank you for taking the time to do so.

Happy Thanksgiving to both of you.

K
Nov 29, 2013
 Does Progesterone Disrupt other Hormones, and Dermal Fatigue?
by: Wray

Hi RJ I do so enjoy your missives! If you have problems with appetite, then you're not eating enough fat in the diet. It should be a minimum of 50% fat. Is it not possible to persuade the other family members to eat it too? It is after all a better diet than the one we all normally eat. Someone I know in the UK asked for help for her husband with prostrate cancer. I of course suggested the keto diet, as it cuts glucose to a minimum. She decided to go on the diet too, to help her husband. This is her reply….
"Meanwhile we both followed the ketogenic diet as you suggested and so far have lost lots of weight!! We are very vigilant about keeping our carbs limited to below 10 per cent and limited protein so there is no chance of the body producing glucose from carbs or protein. We take no extra sugar at all. Strangely we quite like this diet and feel good on it now - didn't at first until we became ketosis etc." Please try and persuade the others, put your foot down, both feet! And say you can't cook supper unless they follow the diet, or just give them a keto diet for supper, they probably won't realise it. Yes intermittent fasting is all the rage now. I suppose I do it. inadvertently I might add! I don't have breakfast, for years now. Only eat at lunch time, but do have coffee with cream in the morning. The cream keeps me going. There is another coffee which one wit has invented, called Bullet Proof coffee. He blends in butter and MCT oil into his morning cup, that last him to past lunch time. It's all the more important to try to eat the keto way when in Peri-menopause, as our glucose becomes very unstable with all the excess oestrogen we have, see here. Try to persuade them on it's benefits! Blessings, take care Wray
Dec 26, 2013
 For RJ
by: Anonymous

Hello again,

I'm just wondering - although I think I know the answer, if you wouldn't mind sharing any downside you've experienced in using as much as 1,000mgs a day? And did you use that much consistently, or just on and off for a short time?

Thanks very much.
Dec 27, 2013
 Does Progesterone Disrupt other Hormones, and Dermal Fatigue?
by: RJ

Hello!
I use the 1,000mg...sometimes more...I don't measure as good as I used too, just glob it on....most the time because I have spotting that annoys me and the high dose is the only thing that stops it, but once I get the progesterone high enough and the spotting stops, I back down to about 600mg day, until the process starts all over again. The only reason is the savings, otherwise, I'd stay on the high dosage....it does get so very costly. The only downside I have seen is the smell of my urine. The progesterone is eliminated through the urine and it can smell like...oh...I'd say green grass after it's just been cut. I just increase my water intake and it stops that smell, but it can get very pungent. Otherwise, I can honestly say I haven't had anything happen negatively and it has been two years in March. I would be honest with you also and tell you if I experience something. I will say there are times I do wonder if taking this high amount for so long is doing long-term negative effects on me, but then I read about woman over 50 who aren't on progesterone and they are having heart attacks, cancer, thyroid problems and then I look at my mom who was so low in progesterone for years and all the trouble she is having now at her age. What would I rather go through the chance the high dose is going to cause negative effects down the road or all the negative things that happen to us after 50 without it. I'll take my chances, because without it it's really noticeable because it's only when I don't keep the progesterone high that I notice negative effects. Bleeding of course, but I get extremely crabby...I mean bite the head off and the anxiety gets really bad with my heart racing and I do not like that, it's scary. That's what led me here. I went to the hospital thinking I was having a heart attack and the doctor said nothing was wrong...sent me home...well he gave me an IV of morphine...go figure...which really felt weird...the next day I started my period and it all went away. I haven't had that feeling since I started the creme. Hope that answers it! God Bless! RJ

Click here to add your own comments

Join in and write your own page! It's easy to do. How? Simply click here to return to Progesterone faq.

Share this page:
Find this page helpful? Please tell others. Here's how...

Would you prefer to share this page with others by linking to it?

  1. Click on the HTML link code below.
  2. Copy and paste it, adding a note of your own, into your blog, a Web page, forums, a blog comment, your Facebook account, or anywhere that someone would find this page valuable.

Search over 8,400 pages on this site...