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trouble using my progesterone cream

by Debs
(Seattle, WA)

I have always had terrible PMS (mainly bad mood swings and sweet cravings) about two weeks out of each month and a friend suggested progesterone cream. I used one called Angel Cream for two months. The first month was awesome, used the cream from days 12-26 as suggested, and had a period on day 27 which was amazing, my periods before stretched out to day 32 or 34 with very bad moods and food cravings for at least two weeks prior. This time I had no pms and a perfect 28 day cycle.


I used the progesterone again the next month but I may have been using it wrongly because I ended up having a period twice in a month. I did use 1/4 tsp twice a day but some days I used it much later in the day than others.

I bought Kokoro cream because I found it was cheaper, and planned to start all over again for my next cycle. Used it from days 12-26 and now it is day 32 and still no period. I have had major food cravings and pms the last four or more days after stopping the progesterone cream. What should I do??? Please help!!!

Comments for trouble using my progesterone cream

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Jan 19, 2013
 Wrong Progesterone Cream
by: Dan

That "cheap" progesterone cream could be the culprit. It sounds like you are estrogen dominant because the symptoms are as if you are on birth control pills. That cream does not have enough or any projesterone in it. Go back to the first one you used or try Puritan Pride's meno-ease cream as I know for a fact it works. I am taking it to balance my hormonal levels for prostate cancer, use the same dose (40mg)and see how it is, then adjust as nessessary. Use an accurate measuring teaspoon. Good Luck!
Jan 23, 2013
 trouble using my progesterone cream
by: Wray

Hi Debs Very pleased the progesterone helped you. When first using it it can make periods earlier or later than normal, including having two. It's nothing to worry about as it does settle down. Using it later in the day wouldn't have made any difference either. I don't believe you're using enough, I recommend 100-200mg/day, you must be using about 20-40mg/day. It could be your normal cycle length should be 32 days, in which case you are using the cream incorrectly. No fault of yours, but of the companies selling it. They all assume all women have 28 day cycles, nothing could be further from the truth. They vary between 21 days to 35 days, this makes the average 28 days. Unfortunately the makers of Contraceptives package the pill in 28 day cycles, I think this has confused women no end. Their doctors too. With a 32 or 34 day cycle you should be using the progesterone from day 18 or 20, not day 12. We have more info on our page How to use progesterone cream. It might be an idea to use the cream daily, through any bleeding for 2-3 months. This will ensure progesterone becomes dominant, and suppresses the excess oestrogen. Take care Wray
Jan 24, 2013
 Wrong Progesterone Cream
by: Wray

Hi Dan How kind of you to give her advice. Although I would of course prefer it if Debs used our cream! It's a very simple cream, we are not trying to sell a huge amount of ingredients, which don't actually assist in getting the progesterone into the skin. And after all that's the whole point of the exercise. We also know it's absorbed extremely well, as we run Saliva Tests on it periodically. A naturopath does them for us, a before and after, and you can see how the progesterone shoots up. I'm giving the link here in case either of you wish to see the ingredients. Looking through the ingredients and info on the one you use, it comes in a 90g container, dispensing 1.2g of cream, which contains 20mg progesterone. So the container has 1500mg progesterone. I must confess it has some ingredients I wouldn't put on my skin, i.e. Triethanolamine and RETINYL PALMITATE (VITAMIN A). It's also quite costly too. But each to their own! I also feel Debs will need more than the 40mg/day you suggest. I've found women do, in fact I have many using 1000mg/day and over. We seem to have much worse symptoms than men do! Take care Wray
Jan 24, 2013
 thanks!
by: Deb

I really REALLY appreciate both your comments, Dan and Wray!!! I will definitely take your recommendations and check back in. Wish me luck!
Jan 24, 2013
 where to find?
by: Deb

Also Wray you mentioned Puritans Pride meno-ease, but it is not available on their site and Amazon only has two left in stock - do you know if this means it will be discontinued? Thanks!
Jan 25, 2013
 Finding Meno-Ease Cream
by: Dan

I buy it in the Puritan Pride store in Bohemia NY. Call them and ask.
Jan 26, 2013
 thanks!
by: Wray

Hi Deb Pleased the info helped. Dan is wonderful, he often gives words of encouragement to women. And it was Dan who mentioned the Puritan's Pride, I said to him I'd much prefer if you used ours! Take care Wray
Jan 27, 2013
 question about quantity
by: Debs

yes thanks Wray, sorry I got that mixed up. I have done some more internet research and it seems like you guys are the only ones I can find who recommend such large doses of progesterone - 50mg to 100mg. Can you please tell me what research/findings you base this on? I read somewhere that Dr Lee (who from what I gather is quite an authority on the subject) said that too much progesterone can adversely affect one and he only recommends somewhere between 20mg and 40mg. While I would love to be balanced and have this estrogen thing all straightened out it does worry me to apply such a large quantity of hormones on my body without knowing for sure that it's a good thing.

Also, I know it was mentioned on your site that you can start out with larger doses and gradually diminish the, over what kind of a period of time should this be done?

Thanks again!
Deb
Jan 28, 2013
 question about quantity
by: Wray

Hi Debs Yes we are probably the only site suggesting much higher amounts, judging by advice given to women in general. I've looked at over 30 sites selling progesterone, to see how they compare with ours, and they all recommend 20-40mg/day, no more. But I don't go by what they say, but what I've read in medical papers. There are over 1000 of these on our site, I haven't found one on the other sites I've looked at. I can only assume they are going by what Dr Lee recommends and not reading the studies. There are now a few doctors giving higher amounts too. I was lucky enough to meet Dr Dalton before she died, who used progesterone in her practice from 1948, see here and here. So it's been used safely for over 60 years now. She used far higher amounts than I suggest, up to 2400mg/day for her patients with post natal psychosis. The amount needed is not dependant on 'dose', but on symptoms. The more severe they are the more that is needed to overcome the problem. Progesterone often works when it's first used, but as you found it stops working very shortly afterwards. Low amounts stimulate oestrogen, hence the return of symptoms or additional ones. 20-40mg/day doesn't raise levels to that found in the luteal phase, in fact it barely reaches follicular phase levels. I go into this on our page about Progesterone Misconceptions. This is the reason I advise using amounts no less than 100-200mg/day, often more if I know what's wrong. I wish I could tell you how long to use a high amount before reducing it, but its impossible, each woman is different. I did say we had women using over 1000mg/day, you might like to look at their comments, here, here and here, Scroll to 'Possibly Reconsider'. Finally you might like to read this page here. Because of this study, which only bears up using high amounts, I wouldn't recommend anyone with cancer use less than 500mg/day. Let me know how you get on. Take care Wray
Feb 02, 2013
 thanks!
by: Debs

hi Wray,

so appreciate your comments and feedback once again. I'll try for the higher dose and let you know how this month goes!!!
Feb 03, 2013
 thanks!
by: Wray

Hi Debs I would appreciate any feedback, even negative! It's invaluable to me. Take care Wray

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