Menu

Progesterone boosted my 'Quality of Life'

by Greg Naylor
(Victoria, Australia)

I have final stage prostate cancer with bone metastaces. I am now 'castrate resistant' to Zoladex hormone implant treatment and there are no further treatment options available except pain management.

I have been using natural progesterone cream for over a month and it has turned around my poor quality of life.

Before using progesterone, I awoke every morning in pain and distress requiring liquid morphine (ordine) and oxycodone tablets. These took a couple of hours to take effect.

My comfort zone was between noon and 5 pm when the pain and distress hit again and carried on into the night.

Since using progesterone, I rarely wake in pain or distress and have no real need for the breakthrough pain medication. I have also been able to reduce the strength of the fentanyl (opiate) from 100 - 75 mcg/hr patches.

My doctor is witness to the improvement in my quality of life as he has seen me continuosly over the two+ years of the disease.

If you know any cancer patient with a degraded quality of life, please show them this story or have them contact me by email.

Comments for Progesterone boosted my 'Quality of Life'

Click here to add your own comments

Oct 13, 2010
 Progesterone boosted my 'Quality of Life'
by: Wray

Hi Greg Bless you for sharing this with us. We'll certainly let them know, particularly as we have many men asking about progesterone for BPH, rising PSA levels, cancer too. In fact many men are using it successfully for prostate and libido problems. I'm surprised you were given Zoladex, in view of recent research indicating testosterone is not implicated in prostate cancer. There is evidence that low testosterone might cause an increase risk in prostate cancer, see here and here. In fact there is little evidence that testosterone treatment causes either prostate cancer or it's progression, see here. And that oestrogen is a possible the culprit, see here, here and here. There's some evidence high prolactin increases the risk. Although in men with PCA the addition of testosterone does cause a rapid progression if they have been castrated, but not in hormonally intact men, see here and here. An analysis of 44 studies using testosterone treatment showed no evidence in an increased risk in PCA, see here. A 1941 study on one man initiated the androgen deprivation therapy for PCA, see here and here. There is also a possibility that epidermal growth factor receptors are involved, see here. Unfortunately there are few studies done on progesterone's effects in men, and none I can find on progesterone and cancer. Plenty for women, where it's been used successfully in a number of cases. These two papers are worth reading (apologies but links no longer active online) You'll notice one mentions blocking gonadotropin secretion, which ultimately Zoladex does. I'm not sure how much you are using, but please consider at least 100mg/day. It's safety level is very high, over 1200mg/day is given via IV transfusion to men who have suffered traumatic brain injury. Take care Wray
Nov 05, 2010
 Dosage
by: Greg Naylor

I am achieving this improved 'quality of life' using about 10mg progesterone a day - or two measuring spoons. What more could I expect by using a higher dose of 100 mg day?

I have a middle aged male friend with traumatic brain injuries that render him confined to a wheelchair and full time caring. He has been in this condition for about three years. Where can I find more about progesterone and traumatic brain injury?
Nov 08, 2010
 Dosage
by: Wray

Hi Greg I find higher amounts of progesterone more effective. For instance I would hope you could reduce the drugs further still, but have no idea if this would be the case with you. One thing I forgot to mention was vitamin D, please have a test done. A lack of this is implicated in many cancers, for more info please see the Vitamin D council website. And please see these papers too, here, here, here, here, here and here. This is an excellent paper with info on prostate cancer, by Prof. Hollick, see here. One study gave the serum level of vitamin D as low <50 nmol/l (20ng/ml), to high >80 nmol/l (32ng/ml). The authorities are now saying the min level should be 50ng/ml, up to 80-100ng/ml. I don't believe the progesterone will help your friend now, as it needs to be given within 24hrs after the injury. But please see these papers here, here, and here. They've since found adding vitamin D to be of greater benefit, see here, here and here. Take care Wray
Dec 17, 2010
 Progesterone dosage
by: Greg Naylor

Hi Wray,

I had the mathematics wrong with the dosage I have been using. I am applying a 4% cream at the rate of 1 gram cream both morning and night. That equates to 80 - 100 mg progesterone a day.

A neighbor with metastised prostate cancer in the upper skeleton (shoulders) having seen the results I have achieved has also started using progesteron cream. He says that it has stopped the bone cancer pain but is ineffective on muscle pain.

Between us all, we will get the world to better understand the benefits of progesterone
Jan 02, 2011
 Progesterone dosage
by: Wray

Hi Greg I'm relieved the amount I suggested is the one you are using. I have women using up to 600mg/day for severe pain, there's no doubt it won't harm you or your friend if you increased the amount. 600mg/day is 30 times the 'normal' recommended 20mg/day women are told to use. Please look into the vitamin D I mentioned, this does help muscle pain. Progesterone normally does too. Vitamin D is so important, I can't stress it enough. Please have a test done, and ask your friend to have one too. And yes, with your support, and that of others, I do hope the word spreads. We are up against the establishment, and they don't like natural substances! Take care Wray
Jan 19, 2011
 Progesterone calculations.....
by: Anonymous

Wray, hi there. Just came to your page and have been reading alot.

I am a medical doctor working in family practice. I will be starting some progesterone and possibly testosterone creams. I am 49, libido is good but i am sure it can improve, have mild to moderate BPH, PSA is normal from last october.

I am planning to travel to philippines soon to meet my fiance and we may attempt to make a baby while i am there. Does progesterone decrease semen production ?

Is taking tesosterone and progesterone simultaneously redundant or unnecessary ?

Also could you explain how one calculates the amount of progesterone cream they are using based upon on the percentage of progesterone in the cream and how that compututes to mg/progesterone per day.

Thank you. Sanemind
Jan 21, 2011
 Progesterone calculations.....
by: Wray

Hi Sanemind I'm not convinced that men need extra testosterone, never mind the many women who are given it! We have many using progesterone to increase libido, reduce BPH, for stress, depression etc. There is evidence progesterone does increase libido and correct erectile dysfunction, if this should be causing them a problem too, see here, here, here and here. I have found no papers indicating progesterone reduces semen or sperm counts. But oestrogen does, particularly the endocrine disruptors. It has an affect on the acrosome reaction, which could affect fertility, see here and here. And the sperm concentration, see here. If you use progesterone and testosterone concurrently, you will not find out which is helping. An either or approach would be better. There are so many creams on the market, most are 1.6% strength, some higher. I recommend 10-100mg/day for men, higher if need be. So a 1.6% cream would contain 16mg/ml progesterone, which works out at 10mg progesterone per 1/4tsp cream. Most creams are 60g or 2oz cream per container, so a 1.6% would say it contained 960mg progesterone. A 3% cream would have 1800mg progesterone in the container. Often the container doesn't say the strength, only the amount of progesterone. So you would divide the 960mg by 60g to find the mg/g or mg/ml. The specific gravity of a cream is slightly lower than water, round about 0.96, so I find it easier to think of them as the same. There's more info on our page How to use progesterone cream, scroll to the very bottom. Take care Wray
Apr 10, 2013
 CURIOUS
by: Anonymous

HI...im writing this for my husband who is having a low libido problem..let me see if I can try to explain this. he has no problem at all with foreplay and is very aroused with it but when it comes time to have sex he has a problem he cant stay erect.hes 41yrs. of age and has never has this problem before. I told him im sure he can start taking progesterone cream for this but how much should he take and would taking NAC or something else with the cream help him also. if so what and how much? we would really love to put this problem behind us as fast as possible...thank you and we will be waiting anxiously to hear back from you as soon as possible.
Apr 11, 2013
 CURIOUS
by: Wray

Hi there Progesterone is very important for Libido. But there could be other problems causing his erectile dysfunction. For instance does he have high blood pressure? Funnily enough progesterone can help this too, see here. One paper says "Penile erection is a hemodynamic process involving increased arterial inflow and restricted venous outflow, coordinated with corpus cavernosum and penile arterial smooth muscle relaxation. Any problem in this mechanism results in Erectile Dysfunction and its etiology is generally multifactorial." It could be one or more of the following, or a combination of them, stress, an unstable blood glucose, diabetes, lack of arginine the precursor to nitric oxide, lack of vitamin D, high blood pressure, a lack of dopamine, radiation or surgery for prostate cancer, psychological, varicocele, hypogonadism, hyperprolactinemia, possibly hyperthyroidism, benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), obesity, endothelial dysfunction, heart disease, periodontitis, smoking, epilepsy, impaired adenosine signalling, I could go on. These are a few papers here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here and here. It doesn't appear that a lack of testosterone is implicated in ED. The one thing which stands out amongst all the above is oxidative stress which ultimately leads to Inflammation and tissue destruction. Continued below
Apr 11, 2013
 CURIOUS Part 2
by: Wray

Hi there Nitric oxide is vital, it's a vasodilator, i.e. it causes smooth muscle to relax. The precursor to nitric oxide is the amino acid arginine, a lack of arginine needs to be addressed if it's low. Viagra works on the principle of increasing nitric oxide. Progesterone increases NO, with none of the adverse side effects of viagra. It also relaxes smooth muscle too. A high salt intake suppresses nitric oxide, sugar is detrimental too. In fact it's the most damaging of all 'foods', as it causes glycation. Glycation occurs when a sugar molecule binds to a protein or lipid molecule without the control of an enzyme. This impairs the function of the molecule, leading to advanced glycation endproducts (AGEs), resulting in many of our inflammatory diseases. AGEs cause damage to the vascular lining. Vitamin D prevents the damage AGEs do to vascular endothelial cells, see here. In fact there's increasing evidence a lack of vitamin D is behind diabetes, heart disease, prostate cancer, an unstable blood glucose, high BP, obesity, etc.
Stress causes a cascade of inflammatory cytokines to be produced. Interestingly arginine is a potent antioxidant. One paper points to the recently discovered importance of adenosine in erectile function, it's also a potent vasodilator. It's a nucleoside, and comprises part of the energy molecule ATP. It appears progesterone stimulates it's production, see here. We do have a few comments from men you might like to see here, here here, here, here and here. Continued below
Apr 11, 2013
 CURIOUS Part 3
by: Wray

Hi there Please could you check through the list of possible causes and address this as soon as possible. He might require high doses of antioxidants to help, definitely vitamin D. Please could he have a vitamin D test done. For more info on vitamin D levels, test kits etc see the Vitamin D Council, GrassrootsHealth and Birmingham Hospital. Blood levels should be 70-100ng/ml (175-250nmol/L) and not the 30ng/ml (75nmol/L) most labs and doctors regard as adequate. The minimum daily dose should be 5000iu's per day, although recent research indicates it should be 10,000iu's per day, see here. If he should consider progesterone I would suggest he starts on 50mg/day, he might need more. If he should have an adverse reaction, please ask him to look through our page on Oestrogen Dominance. Take care Wray
Apr 11, 2013
 CURIOUS
by: Anonymous

hi..we looked at the symptoms and we figure its the dopamine. he doesn't have high blood pressure or sugar and as far as stress he has no more than most people dealing with everyday life. the dopamine stood out and he said that's what its gotta be.we read that tyrosine is good for this. so how much would he need to take of that if we tried it?.we are both ordering a few tubes of the NATPRO today. he said that the biggest problem he was having was telling me about this and was ashamed and now that we have talked he says he feels a lot better about it and is hoping this is also going to start to help him.
Apr 13, 2013
 CURIOUS
by: Wray

Hi there Mind does play a huge role and I'm sure now he's told you it will help greatly. Dopamine is the most important nutrient for libido, there's no question in my mind. I would always start low with the tyrosine, 500mg/day and gradually work up. Too much can have the reverse affect. Please make sure he has enough protein too, I mean animal protein, levels are too low in veggies, unless you eat vast quantities. But then you will be getting too many carbs. He could consider looking at our Nutrition page. I find the Paleo Diet the best for me, less complicated! Or he could look at the Basic Ketogenic Diet, which is similar to the Paleo except dairy is eaten. Both these diets keep blood glucose low and stable, which is what it should be. Too many carbs are not a good thing. I suggest he starts on 50mg/day progesterone, if he experiences adverse symptoms, he should increase it. It's not a female sex hormone as many believe, but is made by both sexes and all vertebrates. It's safety is without question, see here. It's used in Traumatic Brain Injury cases, over 70% are men. If you wish to use it too, I normally recommend 100-200mg/day, but this depends on how severe symptoms are. You could both experience Oestrogen Dominance when first starting it, please increase if you do. Decreasing will also lessen the response, but defeats the purpose. Please bear in mind it's not a quick fix using natural methods for healing, but it does work. As evidenced by so many turning away from drugs. Do keep in touch. Take care Wray
May 06, 2013
 progesterone for men
by: Anonymous

Hi I have been contacting you about progesterone cream for me and have placed an order... but I have been reading these articles on here for men and progesterone and wondering if this could help my husband. He is 34 yrs old and has low testosterone levels around 320.. and now on testosterone shots.. also suffers some with ED and fatigue.. but he does have a vericocele and we are debating on getting that fixed to help this situation.. What are your thoughts on progesterone cream if we get the vericocele fixed? Also, since his testosterone levels are low would you recommend coming off that and just trying progesterone?? The Testerone shots has helped his libido some and his fatigue some but it hasnt been a huge difference but noticeable. I read you also suggest 100-200mg for men also if symptoms are not severe.. I do without the shots he does experience quite a bit of fatigue which in turn affects libido also.. Thank you!!
May 07, 2013
 progesterone for men
by: Wray

Hi there I believe it could help him, it's helped many men. You have hopefully read the page on libido I gave above, which shows dopamine to be the most important factor in libido. So he could try the tyrosine to see if that helps. And please get his vitamin D level checked. A low level reduces the benefits of progesterone, plus it decreases testosterone levels, see here and here. If he gets his level up high it will raise his testosterone, so he might not need the shots. His level of 320ng/dL is on the low side of normal, so I don't know why he was given the shots, see Hormone Testing. Both Progesterone and Vitamin D also help fatigue, including myopathy. Did they check his oestrogen levels, as this might account for the fatigue and ED, which progesterone can reverse. There's info and papers about ED on the libido page. Another cause of fatigue is Insulin Resistance, he might like to look through this page to see if there are any clues. I've no idea if progesterone and vitamin D will reverse the varicocele, but I don't think it's worth playing around with this, better to have it addressed unless it's not severe. I do recommend higher amounts for men if problems are bad, like women it is trail and error to find the correct amount. As with women, it doesn't matter where it's applied, although I've found applying it directly to the area with the problem does speed things up. You might like to read these comments here. Testosterone shots can cause Man Boobs, progesterone reverses them. Let me know how you get on. Take care Wray
May 10, 2013
 progesterone therapy for men
by: Anonymous

Thank you for commenting back. The doctor gave him the shots because he said for someone his age 34 yrs. old it is really low.. He should be on the higher side. I'm just worried about side effects long term for the shots..The dr. said there is not any long term effects but I just dont know.. And have read that progesterone can help libido and fatige I'm contemplating on this. Also, I dont think he wants man boobs! I think the shots have cause him some body acne also. We have already have his vericocele looked at.. its not anything serious but def. can cause ED and infertility.. so without getting that fixed I dont thnk the ED will go away.. Thanks!
May 13, 2013
 progesterone therapy for men
by: Wray

Hi there Pity about the shots, as they do cause adverse side effects, although they are reversible. Please have that vitamin D test done, as a high level of this does increase testosterone. Why not try that first, before resorting to the shots. It might help the varicocele too. And if he should try progesterone that too needs a high level of vitamin D to work. Testosterone does cause acne, see here. We also have a page on Acne you could look through. Let me know how he gets on. Take care Wray
May 15, 2013
 progesterone therapy for men
by: Anonymous

Thank you..Well, he has already been on the shots for going on close to 6mos. He has already exp. acne on his back and chest from these shots.. I dont see how vit. D could help his vericocele.. its is a vein that is twisted in his scrotum.. he needs surgery to correct it if thats what he chooses though its not something that HAS to be done but I think he might. I do have him on vit. D right now to see if that helps him.. Maybe he could try that instead of shots for his testosterone.. I didnt know vit. D could raise that hormone.. Thats good to know. Maybe he could try 100-200mg..Thank you!!
May 17, 2013
 progesterone therapy for men
by: Wray

Hi there Oh I didn't realise he'd been having them for so long. I wasn't suggesting the vitamin D would cure the varicocele, but there is bound to be some inflammation which it could help with. If he does try the vitamin D instead of the shots, it will obviously help the Acne, but it's always best to have a test done first. Unless you know the level you won't know the dose to take. The minimum should be 5000iu per day, but if the level is low much more is needed to raise it. I think you've got muddled with that and the progesterone, as vitamin D is given in iu and progesterone in mg. the 100-200mg per day refers to progesterone. Let me know how he gets on. Take care Wray

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 for men.

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...