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Elevated anger and sleep issues after beginning-is dosing the issue?

by Dionna Marie Prestera
(20187)

Hi. I am reaching out on behalf of my daughter. She is 26 and has very high levels of Anxiety as well as depression at times which is partly due to toxic overload (mold and others). Some natural therapies have helped (cannot do drugs -more harm than good) and her period symptoms keep getting worse-plus her anxiety goes up during and after. She fits the symptoms of estrogen dominance, so we have started using progesterone cream (clean product) developed by a doctor for about three weeks now. First week was a big help (she started on it a few days before her period and the cramps were less and overall felt much better) but after that, things got worse. She has been taking 60mg a day. One very bad effect has been severe anger at night and difficulty sleeping-which was already a problem.

Will taking 100-2000 mg or more a day resolve this? What you have explained here on this site about taking more to get ahead of the estrogen dominance makes sense but just want to be sure it can't make things even worse than they are now. We were so encouraged by the early effects!


Please advise ASAP!


Thank you

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Oct 31, 2023
 Elevated anger and sleep issues after beginning-is dosing the issue?
by: Joy

Hi Donna

As a mother I can understand your concern. Your daughter unfortunately hasn't been advised on how to use progesterone cream correctly. As mentioned ad nauseam on this website, nothing less than 100mg is needed. The 60mg that she is using is making things worse. It is aggravating her estrogen receptors making her Estrogen Dominance worse Please note, that unless we supplement with progesterone, we ALL suffer from estrogen dominance. Our Environment alone makes sure of that! Perhaps this paper on mold will help. I too prefer the natural route rather than drugs.

Please read the Anxiety page and consider trying some of the nutrients mentioned. Please read the How to use Progesterone Cream page if you have not done so already. As mentioned nothing less than 100mg per day is needed. However, in your daughter's case I suggest starting at 200mg per day using a good organic cream such as Natpro which is a 3% cream. Please make sure that the cream that your daughter is using equates to that of Natpro. It can take 2-6 months before one notices a difference provided it is used correctly. Use half the amount in the morning and the other half at night. This allows for progesterone levels to remain stable. As we are all different, your daughter will have to experiment to see what works for her best. She may even have to use more cream to get her over her adverse symptoms. She can then reduce to a level that suits her but only when she feels stable enough to do so and not before.

Sleep/insomnia issues is a common symptom these days with more and more people suffering from it. Her adrenals are taking strain, the adrenal fatigue cocktail will help her greatly. Google it for the recipe.

Did the doctor test her Vitamin D3 level? It should have been tested, if not, ask why. A deficiency reduces the benefits of progesterone. It is connected to every single functioning cell in our bodies making it vital. It is most important for those suffering from anxiety/depression. Cofactors are equally important.
Oct 31, 2023
 Elevated anger and sleep issues
by: Dionna

Hi Joy thanks so much for your reply. Sorry for the double posting I had the impression the first one did not go through. I came across your website after ordering the first cream so we have learned quite a lot since then. The dosing instructions with the cream we bought were definitely too low-and she was actually taking a bit more than they recommended. Only reason she hesitated to increase it was because many people have posted here that Progesterone cream caused even greater insomnia for them even at high doses. Last thing she needs for sure.

She went ahead and took the gamble- as the anger thing was just terrible-so she upped her dose last night. The anger went away within about 10 minutes and she also slept better! She used a total of 120mg last night split in two doses.

She is a bit low on cream now so taking it slow on increasing until the order we placed for Natpro with you arrives. I am hoping it will get here in a few days.

As for the D3 levels she has been on 10,000IU a day along with Zinc, K2, Selenium and a few others. She does use a really good (but expensive) GABA cream which helps her sleep that she just ran out of. Will arrive on Thursday-so it should help her sleep even better with the NatPro right?

Also using an essential oil blend that is designed to release extra estrogen from the body.

Diet is very clean and organic-which we have been on for a long time.

There are a few other things on your list for Anxiety that she wants to try.

She lives at home - unable to drive due to ocular migraines and the anxiety. She has social anxiety which is why you are getting all this from me (but jointly with her input here). She is in charge of her own health journey, but I am supporting her all the way.

I think the hormone imbalance has been an issue for a long time and a missing piece of the puzzle we are so happy to finally know about.

Learning a lot from you and all the posts here.

You are a blessing to find-very much appreciate all you are doing to help women find answers, relief and support!

God Bless!
Nov 01, 2023
 Elevated anger and sleep issues
by: Joy

Hi Dionna

Thank you for your kind words. Unfortunately what people do not take into account and as mentioned, if progesterone is not used correctly it will make matters worse and that includes insomnia. They also expect overnight fixes, well that will never happen. Time and patience is needed. "Getting there in a few days" will not happen as her hormones are going to go through a roller coaster of emotions. Please suggest to your daughter that she tries the adrenal fatigue cocktail. It helped me greatly and is inexpensive. Her cortisol levels are battling, the cocktail will help. I am so pleased that she is taking 10 000iu's D3 per day. I always took 5 000iu's per day and upped it to 10 000iu's and it helped my sleep as well.

By increasing the amount of progesterone used she will only be benefiting herself. As suggested, I believe she needs 200g per day, perhaps more. This is going to upset her monthly cycle as the body adjusts, things will soon revert to normal once the body is ready to. I should have also mentioned that high testosterone levels can cause anger so too can Insulin Resistance. Have these been tested?

Anything that helps to reduce estrogen is first prize. Many use Calcium G Glucarate (CdG) but if she feels the oil is working, she must continue with that. I am pleased that your daughter is willing to try things, others don't bother sadly.

Carry on supporting her.

Love and light to you both.
Nov 06, 2023
 Elevated Anger and Sleep Issues
by: Dionna

Hi Joy,

We now have the Natpro and the GABA. My daughter increased her dose to 200mg a few days ago. Sleep seems a little better- not worse at least. Anxiety is still a bit high off and on but not extreme.

So it went fairly well for a few days but the anger came back big time yesterday. She took just a little extra at bedtime last night but had some bad nausea wee hours of the morning - don't know if that is related-probably not.

Today she did not experience the extreme anger! Will this just happen off and on? You mentioned this would be a roller coaster of emotions so I assume she should just keep titrating up based on the symptoms. Is it better to make small jumps -or what amount increase would you recommend at a time? From what I understand you can't do too much right?

She is not likely insulin resistant - has none of the symptoms and is very lean-actually a little too lean. Lost a lot of weight with covid and continue to have long covid symptoms including difficulty eating. Has normal hunger but very little is appealing to her to eat. Lucky to get more than one good meal in a day. We both lost a lot of weight with covid but I have recovered better (it has taken over a year) and regained most of it but it is taking her longer. Her salivary glands are messed up and her anxiety of course is a part of the eating problem as well. Before covid it was never this bad. She could eat most anything but had to work the timing with her anxiety levels. Fight or flight = no digestion.

I am going to purchase a home test today (saliva) to check all her hormones and cortisol.
If her testosterone is high will the progesterone help with that or are there other ways to address it?

In terms of managing expectations (I know this varies with each individual) but generally speaking, if she continues to up the amount of cream based on symptoms-does it typically take on average a few weeks, a few months or much longer to see a less roller coaster/more steady benefit?

Also, how does one know if and/or when to reduce or titrate down the amount? If for example-300mg is the amount that works consistently- would you just keep it there indefinitely or for just a certain period of time?

Thanks so much for your support!
Nov 07, 2023
 Elevated Anger and Sleep Issues
by: Joy

Hi Dionna

Do be careful with GABA it can have an opposite effect on some people, others thrive on it. Just thought to mention that. However, if she is benefiting, then great.

A few days is not going to help at all. As mentioned it can take 2-6 months, she may even need longer, of the correct use of progesterone before one notices a difference. During this time she must expect all sorts of changes, ups and downs as mentioned. I can't tell you how long things will take. It is all dependent on how severe her symptoms are. Not forgetting that we are all different and react differently. Time and patience is needed. She has been suffering for a long time, one can't expect overnight fixes.

Once your daughter has found a level of progesterone that she is happy with and symptoms cleared, I suggest that she stays on that for at least a week. Let the body get used to it. She can then SLOWLY reduce the amount of cream to a level that suits her. If any of her symptoms come back then she has either reduced too soon or by too much. You have the Natpro dispenser which delivers 50mg of one full pump, I suggest she reduces by 50mg, stay on the reduced amounts for a week, then reduce again and so on. The beauty of a cream is that it can be used as needed. Progesterone helps to balance all hormones.

You mentioned COVID. Now that is a totally different animal altogether. No one exactly knows what the side effects are, again it affected people differently as with the vaccines. My son is also battling from it's effects. I must also make mention that there has been much talk about COVID/vaccines affecting the monthly cycle, see here. Things could take longer given the fact that COVID is/was involved so please take that into account.

If you are sure that she isn't insulin resistant that is great, I am just mentioning things as possible reasons. Please consider getting her on fermented foods. In fact we should all be consuming it. We all suffer from Inflammation and fermented foods are of great benefit. If the gut isn't healthy neither will you be. Fermented foods may just help her. It's worth a try. I have kefir milk, kefir water, sauerkraut and other fermented veg and kombucha. Kefir milk and sauerkraut daily for me. I have recently started to make coconut kefir water, it is delicious. YouTube it all. All excellent for the gut and the best probiotic one can get, better than any OTC ones at a fraction of the price and delicious.

Have you considered liver and parasite cleanses? I will leave you to do your own research on this. It may be just what is needed.
Nov 07, 2023
 Elevated Anger and Sleep Issues
by: Dionna

Hi Joy,

Thanks for your reply.

I am praying the "roller coaster" won't be too severe for fear of her giving up. She has suffered for most all her life and can only take so much.

Do the ups and downs get slowly better over time or is it constantly that way until at some point just stops?

We both were detoxing from parasites using CellCore (Doctor Watts & Dr. Davidson's excellent protocol-which includes complete drainage system cleansing first-lymph, liver, kidneys, colon etc). We were making very good progress and her anxiety and other symptoms were better until c19 hit us both very hard. We had to pause all the detoxing. Fortunately we never took the jab. We got over the initial virus but the long haul symptoms are really throwing a wrench into thing. I am hoping if we can get her hormones in balance she will be able to resume the parasite detox. We will also need to do a heavy metal cleanse after that. She is extremely sensitive so everything is done slowly.

I agree probiotics are essential. We take MegaSpore by Dr. Kiran from Microbiome Labs. Also like fermented foods. Cocobiotic from Body Ecology is really good. I make my own yogurt from raw A2 milk.

We used to have food sensitivities and leaky gut. All that is better now but still have to keep up with it.

Still wondering about the testosterone. If elevated will the progesterone cream resolve it or are there other treatments required?
Nov 20, 2023
 progesterone
by: Anonymous

Hi Dionna How is your daughter now? is it helping? What dose is she up to? I'm really worried about water retention on progesterone.
Nov 20, 2023
 Elevated Anger and Sleep Issues
by: Justine

Hello Dionna,

I am just going to jump in here and respond to your last correspondence.

As Joy said it is hard to say exactly how or when things will calm down as every body is different and thus respond differently, some within weeks, some months but using progesterone correctly and persevering will yield results.

Magnesium would also be a supplement she could take, Magnesium being a vital a co-factor in the metabolising of Vitamin D. By the sounds of things your diet may already contain good sources of magnesium (greens, seeds, nuts) although supplementing further given her symptoms may be necessary.

I will also repeat what Joy stated about GABA, GABA is difficult to administer, as it's easy to exceed what is needed and then symptoms come back, so managing the quantity of GABA used is something to pay attention to. It's far easier to use progesterone instead, as this activates the GABA receptor sites.

With regards to your query about testosterone, as Joy has stated, Progesterone helps to balance all hormones.

Warm wishes,
Justine

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