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Using 20mg of progesterone cream. Do I need more?

by Shelli
(IL)

I'm 46 yrs old and have been having trouble with shortened time between periods and a lot of spotting both at the beginning and the end (more at the end) of my period.I have other perimeno symptoms like sleep problems and fatigue. I do have fibroids but we believe they are external as I do not have the heavy bleeding or pain. I had saliva testing done (progesterone and estradiol).
Estradiol 1.3 (1.3-3.3 range)
Progesterone 21 (75-270 range)
I am working with a compounding pharmacist. He put me on 20 mg of progesterone on days 14-28 of my cycle. My cycle very rarely goes 28 days by the way. I'm lucky to go 25 days. I told him I'm still having the same problems after 3 cycles of the cream. Since I talked to him I am getting more water retention. I use the cream twice a day, splitting the dose (10 mg twice a day). I have been taking vitamin D (2000-4000 i.u.)for several years but have never had it tested. I did make it 27 days this month. When I called the pharmacist last month, he said this last time to try waiting until day 17 to start the cream. I did that but still had spotting. To be clear, I started the cream on the 17th day of my cycle, and I started on day 27 with spotting for a day or so, started a regular period with more blood but not heavy by any means for about 3 days, then spotted for at least another week. All in all ended up with some sort of bleeding/spotting for 13 days.
I think I should call him again and discuss this. However, I'm wondering if he will maybe only up the dose a little and I'm reading on this site that I may need a much higher dose. I'd appreciate any input anyone has.
Shelli

Comments for Using 20mg of progesterone cream. Do I need more?

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Jul 24, 2014
 do i need more
by: PETE (UK)

PLEASE CHECK OUT YOUR IODINE STATUS.THE DELICATE BALANCE BETWEEN ESTROGEN AND PROGESTERONE CAN NEVER EVER BE ESTABLISHED WITHOUT THE PRESCENCE OF SUFFICIENT IODINE.
Jul 24, 2014
 shelli
by: Deborah

Hi Shelli

Yes, you definitely need more progesterone - at least 200 mg a day.

Read around on this site some more and it will explain a lot. You might even consider starting out with more than 200 mg just to get rid of some symptoms if they're bad.
Jul 24, 2014
 iodine
by: Anonymous

Pete,
I have just recently started taking iodine. Up to about 12 mg/day.
Jul 24, 2014
 Upping the dose
by: Anonymous

Deborah,
Thanks. I'm just worried about how to go about it since I'm working with this pharmacist and a nurse practitioner, although it's the pharmacist that knows more about it. NP is just open to what he says. I'm afraid they'll say it's too much. Are there studies or something I can refer them too?
Shelli
Jul 25, 2014
 shelli
by: Deborah

Hi Shelli

Here's a little snippet from Wray:

'All the successful studies done on progesterone use between 100mg to 200mg per day. This equates to 3ml to 6ml of Natpro per day. Some go as high as 400-600mg/day, one as high as 1200mg/day as it was the oral variety'.

Read more at: Peri-menopause

I know your pharmacist will want more than that of course, and I've found that whenever Wray or Joy answers a question, they usually include a lot of references to medical papers and studies.

If you go to the top of the page that I included the link for, you'll see a search box. Just type in 'progesterone perimenopause' and you can start reading some of the questions that people have written in, and Wray's answers.

Like I said, in the replies there will quite likely be a lot of links to references that you can then print out and take to your doctor and pharmacist.

Medical people like studies. So even though yours have been taught wrong about progesterone, they won't want to argue with studies.

Keep reading throughout this site too - there's a real wealth of information!

And don't let them talk you into staying at such a low amount. It's your body and your health and they don't have to live with the consequences of being wrong.

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