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Taking Progesterone Everyday?

by Em
(Maryland)

After researching this epidemic of low progesterone I can now see that this has been a problem for generations in my family on my mothers side. Besides the crazy stories of Aunts, Great Aunts, and Cousins, I grew up watching my mother experience painful menses as well as totally irrational behavior. Childhood Anxiety was my expression of the low progesterone gene that I inherited. I made it through most of my life with few symptoms, my mother raised us on whole grains and organic meats with home grown vegetables, and I never used BCP. After I had my first child at 27, I became hypothyroid. It took me 18 months to lose the baby fat and I started to notice that in order to keep my figure, I had to either work out like crazy or eat practically nothing. After my 2nd child at 36 all hell broke lose. I COULD NOT LOSE WEIGHT. I exercised for a year, ate well, but lost no fat. I experienced violent rages, depression, lethargy. I knew something was very wrong cause I had always been high energy and very motivated so I started researching hormones like crazy. I decided to do the Wiley Protocol but the problem was that my doctor didn't really understand the difference between peri-menopause and menopause so along with the progesterone, I was taking estrogen. That's what caused all the problems and I spiraled downwards. It took me over 2 years to get off of it because there is so much mis-information out there and the doctors don't seem to know what to do either. When I finally was able to get the hormones, I experienced such extreme fatigue that by 3pm I was comatose and sometimes couldn't make it up the stairs when I got home from work. All this time, I was working a full time job with 2 kids at home. So I kept reading and researching. I bought Progesterall and took the recommended amount, but with all that extra Estrogen from the Wiley protocol, you know what happened. I bloated up and gained even more weight. For over a year I would do this off and on. One month on and then I'd think, this isn't working so i'd quite the next month. Then I'd feel terrible, so i'd take it again the next month. All the while taking no more than 20-40mg per day at the most. After going off the Whiley protocol besides all the horrible symptoms which there is not even room here to share, one of the worst things that happened to me was my hairline started receding. I lost about 1/4" of my hairline. So this summer as I was researching, I kept ending up on your page and realized how important dosage was. So I tried to obtain from progesterall how much progesterone was in their product and increased my daily intake to maybe 50-80mg per day. After my first month of that, i noticed that my hairline was growing in. I thought, OK this is working. Well, 2 months ago was my first month trying to take large amounts of Progesterone. It was terrible. My estrogen skyrocketed. I developed symptoms of estrogen dominance that I had never experienced before. I know, I know, I didn't take enough. But my hairline has grown in almost entirely and my hair is super shiney. Hasn't been that way since I was pregnant. This past month, I didn't think ahead to order enough progesterone. I wanted to order natpro but it was out of stock so i used progesterall, which I'm fine with but I go through a tube in 3.8 days, and I used Elan Organics progesterone cream, which I do not like, I think i might be allergic to it actually. Well I was running low on cream so I tried to skimp and ended up causing my period to start on day 21. I'm typically a 28 day girl. As a result of skimping on the progesterone, I now have a horrible case of acne, my joints are starting to ache a little like before, and I have no motivation. I feel like I should have just pushed through and taken the cream until day 28 but I stopped. When I'm off the cream, I spend all my time counting down the days until I can go back on again. On days 1 to 14 (actually I start feeling absolutely nuts by day 10 and usually have to start progesterone by day 12) I get blurry eyed, walk around in a trance(grocery shopping is a real challenge at that point), can't remember anything, yell alot at my poor kids, can't take loud noises, and get startled easily. I'm now on day 8 and I don't think that I can wait until day 12 to start taking the cream. If I start taking the cream early will I get my period before 28 days? I can see myself trying to find ways to prolong that 2 week period where I am taking the cream because the days without progesterone cream are so unbearable for me, I was wondering if I should try to take progesterone straight for a few months until I feel normal again? Would you recommend taking 100mg/day on days 1 to 14 and then increasing to 200mg/day for days 14 to 28? or should I just take a stronger dose than I have been on days 14 to 28 (like 250+mg/day) and just take nothing on days 1 to 14? Also, I did just start taking Vit D about 1 month ago and I take 5000IU a day but I have not had a test so I don't really know what my levels are. Thanks for answering this for me.

Comments for Taking Progesterone Everyday?

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Oct 02, 2015
 Take Progesterone Everyday?
by: Joy

Hi Em

Thanks for sharing your story with us. It is so wonderful to read just how you understand progesterone and how it works. I am rather gob smacked that your doctor did not know the difference between Peri-Menopause and Menopause, that is scary! You are in Peri-Menopause hence your symptoms. It can be a difficult time for some women but progesterone, if used correctly will help you through and prepare you for Menopause.
The creams that you tried and are using really do need to be double in amount used. They do not contain the correct amount of progesterone concentration. For example, Natpro has 2000mg of progesterone where as Progesterall has 960mg and Elan, also known as Serenity has 1260mg of progesterone. That is a huge difference, one would need to adjust accordingly. Now using these creams without increasing amount would have aggravated the estrogen receptors causing Estrogen Dominance symptoms which you clearly experienced.

It is recommended that when in Peri-Menopause, in fact, when first using progesterone therapy, that the cream be used for 2-6 months with NO BREAKS, longer maybe needed. Ignore any spotting/bleeding/clotting that may occur, just continue using the cream until your cycle returns to normal and you feel stable enough to reduce the amount of cream used. Please read How to use Progesterone Cream. When in Peri-Menopause the cycle becomes erratic and using the cream while following the cycle can become rather difficult, for this reason, it should be used every day. At 48 I started to use progesterone cream and have done so every single day with no breaks at all, I am now 60 and will never stop using it.

Natpro stocks are starting to arrive now and we apologise for it not being available. I suggest that you adjust the amount of cream used and suggest that you use nothing less than 200mg per day, that would be slightly more than double of Progesterall. Please read the Anxiety and Hair Loss pages, they may interest you.

I am pleased that you are taking Vitamin D3 however, if your level is low you may need to use 10 000iu’s per day for 3 months, then drop down to 5 000iu’s. A deficiency reduces the benefits of progesterone. The co-factors are important too, please read up on them.

I hope this helps.
Oct 02, 2015
 taking progesterone everyday
by: Em

Thanks so much, Joy, for your response. I am going to start taking progesterone everyday for now. I just ordered a few tubes of Natpro when it came back in stock. The progesterall is fine but I have to use so much of it to get the right dosage that I feel like I run out of skin surface. I can't tell you how helpful this website has been to me.

On the Wiley Protocol, my doctor allowed me to take huge amounts of Estrogen which frankly I don't think any woman needs to take but certainly not someone in Peri-Menopause. I have journals of those years where I wrote down how I felt almost every day. I would document my symptoms but I never had anyone to interpret what those symptoms meant. So I spent those years living cycle to cycle hoping that next month I would get the does just right not realizing that the simple solution was to use progesterone cream. I noticed that I always felt better on the beginning of the month when I was taking Oestrogen so I figured that the Oestrogen was what made me feel better so my doctor increased my Oestrogen dose. I'm so lucky that I don't have breast cancer. I was taking dangerously high amounts of Estrogen.

Towards the end, I got so fed up I decided to get some lab tests done. My doctor forwarded the results to me and didn't even give me any feedback. Want to know what the results were? Day 12 of my 1st lab test cycle was 12:1 and day 21 was 4:1. On my second month of blood tests, day 13 of my cycle was 13:1 and day 21 was 36:1.

At that time, I didn't know how to take the results in my lab tests to get these ratios and since my doctor didn't seem worried, I didn't know what to do. Looking back, knowing how crazy I felt, I can't believe that I was able to carry on with family and job as well as I did. I'm so proud of all the women out there who have persevered through times of horrible hormonal imbalance like this and instead of accepting the verdict from friends and family that they are just "crazy" or allowing their doctor to give them this weeks drug of choice for depression, have continued to search until they found the answer.
Oct 03, 2015
 Perimenopause
by: Diane

Hi Em~
I read your story and it was like reading mine... I can look back at least to my grandmother's years and now see how estrogen dominance ruled the women on my mom's side. I too suffered especially after my daughters were born with terrible flexuations in mood. The first two to three weeks I was happy and calm and then all hell would break loose for the last 10 days of my cycle. It was like I was two different people:(:( God how I wish I had progesterone cream through out those years.. It would have save me and my family a lot of grief. But the wonderful thing is the last three years (Im now 49) I have been saved by this website and by Dr Michael Platt's book, THE MIRACLE OF BIOIDENTICAL HORMONES. Em, I highly recommend you get his book... So informational about hormones, weight, etc.. He also has his own line of Progesterone cream that has 50mg per pump... So between Natpro and Plattpro you should always be able to order it.
I am on 250mg EVERY DAY.. Also, I'm on 10,000iu Vit D, iodine 12.5mg amongst other minerals to ward off osteoporosis such as strontium and boron...
Thank God we can break the cycle of horrid estrogen dominance for our daughters and their future daughters.. Pass the knowledge and they will not suffer as our grandmothers, mothers and we did. The key is educating yourself from RELIABLE sources such as this website and Dr. Michael Platt's book above. I wish you all the best!
Diane
Nov 24, 2015
 How Much Progesterone should I be taking?
by: Em

Hi Wray, I am writing in to get your feedback. I have been taking at least 200mg of Progesterone since late August of this year (2015). My first month was an absolute roller coaster, not sure how i made it through. I was barely taking 200mg and it made the Estrogen so active, I felt like I was living in an alternate universe. So out of it, in pain, headaches, and plenty of other horrible side effects. Anyway, after the first unpleasant month, I decided to take progesterone everyday until I could get some relief.

At least at this point after years of trying to figure this out, I do know how to recognize symptoms of too much estrogen and/or not enough Progesterone so even though there are a lot of good things happening like my hairline growing in 1/4" and my hair becoming glossy again, I am having some issues that I hoped you could help with and at least point me in the right direction.

Since taking progesterone everyday, my period has gone a bit crazy. One month it was 27 days, the next 21 days and this last month, I started spotting around day 11 and it was a dark brown color. Not sure if this is a problem or if it will resolve itself but thought I should mention it. Anyway after the first month or so, I found that my preferred amount of Progesterone is 600mg/day. I feel like that is so much. I also noticed that when I get past day 14 and especially closer to day 21 that i need more like 800 to 900/day. Anyway, i take between 8,000 to 10,000 IU's of Vitamin D but am not really good at taking my multi because it gives me a headache. I also am working really hard staying up until about 2am, while the kids are sleeping, so that i can get my work done. I'm sure that I should be taking care of myself better but I can't see how to get it all done any other way.

So here's my problem...I am freezing cold between applications of Progesterone. Of course after applying the cream, i feel that all over warmth and relaxation but within 8 hours, I'm freezing cold. So cold that I have to keep a space heater next to my desk set at 80 degrees. Sometimes when I'm sitting at my desk my right hand becomes so cold, it's almost numb. If I go put on more cream it's better but don't you think that 900mg a day is excessive? I'm wondering if I need to be adding that magnesium that I see other talking about.

I do have low thyroid but have been taking a thyroid suppliment for years. I know the cold extremities seems like a low thyroid symptom but with the addition of the Progesterone, I didn't experience that fatigue that I had in the past when i forgot to take my Nature-throid. Could you please help. I'm really getting tired of feeling chilled to the bone. This really just started about 3 to 4 weeks ago and I'be been taking the progesterone for over 3 months. Thanks!

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