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Progesterone for Endometriosis - advice needed

by Laura
(United States)

I'm really hoping someone out there has some insight into what I should do. To begin, I am 48 years old and I have had severe endometriosis my entire adult life. Several years ago I had a very extensive surgery which provided a lot of relief and gave me a few years of improvement. However, four years ago my endometriosis symptoms became much worse. I should mention that in addition to the endo-related pain I also experience nausea and other digestive problems, fatigue, general achiness, poor sleep, bruxism, fibrocystic breasts, small fibroids, and endo belly nearly all of the time.

My cycle has always been extremely predictable - 27 days. I don't drink or smoke, eat an organic and gmo-free diet, am at a healthy weight (or at least I was before the progesterone), have a good level of vitamin D, do not take any prescription medication, and try to stay active as much as possible. I have also tried abdominal massage therapy, pelvic floor exercises, various supplements, various food eliminations, and more surgery. Some things have helped a little.

Five months ago I started the Progestelle protocol which involved eliminating all xenoestrogens from use for three months. Strangely, I immediately started gaining weight (about 5 lbs). Then, I started Progestelle at about 60mg/day. The first few days were remarkable and I felt so much better, but then I began to feel terrible and I gained another 5 lbs in two weeks. I spoke with Dr. Eckhart and he helped me to identify and remove any tiny remaining xenoestrogens that I was using and I started to use the Progestelle again. It did not help at all this time. Now he thinks that I likely have cell wall rigidity that is preventing me from getting rid of the xenoestrogens already in my system and that this is due to low level fear/stress/anxiety. So, until I get over or am cured of this fear/stress/anxiety there is nothing more that can be done.

I was pretty discouraged and then came across this site and decided not to give up, but to try increasing my dosage of progesterone. I slowly increased from 60mg to 240mg/day (continuously - no breaks) and it still only made me feel worse. I ordered Natpro and started using that. I have increased my dosage of Natpro from 240mg to 550mg over the past 18 days (still using it continuously). It is still not helping. My breasts are huge and painful. I continue to gain weight. My entire body hurts. My skin and hair are exceedingly oily and I am very emotional. To make matters worse, I have started to have periods every two weeks or less; in the past 5 1/2 weeks I've had three periods. They are long and painful, sometimes with only 5 days in between without bleeding. I was somewhat anemic before I started the progesterone, so I am even more concerned about that now.

What should I do? Should I keep increasing the Natpro? If so, by how much? If I keep going at the same dosage, how long should I expect to remain like this before something positive happens? Or, should I taper down my dosage and then stop? Or is there something else going on here? I would really appreciate any and all advice here. Thank you so much for considering my situation.

Comments for Progesterone for Endometriosis - advice needed

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May 24, 2021
 Progesterone for Endometriosis
by: Joy

Hi Laura

Firstly you are in Peri-Menopause which is such a difficult time as it is. All your adverse symptoms definitely point to Estrogen Dominance. Bruxism as you know, is caused by Stress and Anxiety. Are you overly competitive by any chance?

I used to suffer with fibrocystic breasts many years ago, caused by excess estrogen. You can read more about this on the Breast Cyst page. By the way, the same applies to ovarian cysts which I also had. All my cysts cleared up with the correct use of progesterone. It is also clear that you are suffering from Inflammation due to oxidative stress which is why you are experiencing problems with Endometriosis and Fibroids.

All too often the incorrect advice is given about progesterone, nothing less than 100mg per day is needed, but in your case given your symptoms, you would need to use a lot more which I see you have started to do. So I am not surprised that you gained weight from Progestelle which does not contain the correct amount of progesterone. With all due respect to Dr Eckhart, cell wall rigidity? Huh?? I have only ever heard of that when referring to plants! So I would ignore that plus his advice about there is nothing more than can be done is incorrect. The correct use of progesterone is what you need. Please read the How to use Progesterone Cream page.

I am so pleased that you decided to switch progesterone cream and to increase the amount. Progesterone therapy is not an overnight fix, it can take anything from 2 to 6 months with the proper use before one notices any benefits. Time and patience is needed. I wouldn't use more than 550mg that you are currently using. Give it time to work, your body needs to adjust to the change in cream and amounts used. It will certainly interfere with the monthly cycle, but also do bear in mind that in peri-menopause the cycle changes. If you are concerned about the bleeding and anemia, then consider trying the heavy bleeding/continual bleeding protocol, it may help, but your cycle is changing, it is becoming more erratic due to the aging process sadly.

Heavy Bleeding Protocol
400-500mg NATPRO Progesterone Cream per day
2000mg N-Acetyl-Cysteine (NAC) per day
2000mg Taurine per day
5000iu's Vitamin D3 per day. Co-factors are vital when taking vitamin D3
1000mg Bioflavanoids per day

A note on Vitamin D3. It, together with the co-factors are vital nutrients that will help to build the immune system and help to fight this dreadful COVID-19.

I am confident that if you follow the above, you will notice a great improvement. REMEMBER - time and patience is needed. I wish it was an easy process but it's not. Ill advice has also set you back greatly.

Good luck.

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