Progesterone only female hormone pill

[mistygrey]

Morning all

Have any of you used a Progesterone only female hormone pill and also had Hashimotos/hypothyroid?

I want to know if this pill is any good for me and safe to use as I have read a few stories saying it isn't great for Hashimotos patients and also it weakens your immune system?

Any advice would be appreciated before I start this treatment. It has been prescribed by my Gp for extremely bad periods and hormonal symptoms that have become a real problem for me.

[WildDeer]

Hi Mistygrey,

Progesterone cannot be taken by mouth, and is different in many ways from the badly-named Progestogens that are in the pill.

Some women benefit from progestogens but others, particularly those with symptoms of PMS will be made worse. Dr Katharina Dalton, who first named PMS wrote about this.

I was made very ill by the high dose of progestogens in the pill in the 70's.It's good that you are checking out other peoples' experiences.Best Wishes.

[mistygrey in reply to WildDeer]

Hi thanks for your reply.

My gp has given me a progesterone pill called norethisterone which I have read bad reviews about, though a friend of mine is Hashimotos and hypothyroid and takes a progesterone pill called Desogestel and she does really well on this one.

I suffer from very bad pms symptoms to a point I have to take time off work for a week or more a month sometimes.

The pill she has given me is an oral pill to take by mouth. I see my Endo who is usually very good this Friday and was hoping to ask her what she felt about me taking the pill, but I am not sure she will offer much guidance as might not know enough about it. I need to take something to help with the pms symptoms and pills with estrogen are worse as I also suffer from high estrogen causing very sore breasts for a week on end before my period even starts which is also very painful.

[samaja in reply to mistygrey]

Both of these pills you mentioned are not progesterone but progestogens or synthetic progesterone-like meds which means that they should be treated like any any medication and can cause side effects like any medication. Progestogens also do not generally offer the calming benefits of natural progesterone and may not effectively counterbalance estrogen dominance.

[mistygrey in reply to samaja]

Hi samaja

Thanks for the info. What if they are in a low dose?

I think I need something or I will be really ill every month with my female hormones. I can't take estrogen pills as they will make me worse also

[samaja in reply to mistygrey]

Have you tried talking to any hormone specialists? I know they are few and far between but hormones are too important to leave it to chance or mess around with stuff that can distabilise the whole system especially when it is already unstable. You do need proper testing and somebody who can see the whole picture rather than just treating bits and pieces of you.

In my experience progestogens did not help in any way with my mood swings way back when I still had periods but real progesterone has certainly made a huge difference in my menopause. And apart from hormones there may be other issues like magnesium or vitamins deficiencies and definitely your thyroid will play a part.

[mistygrey in reply to samaja]

What real progesterone is an option? I haven't really been offered any other options but I am seeing my Endo this Friday at Hospital and hoping she can shed some light on all of this for me, she is very good and hopefully knows something.

Are combined pills even low dose ones such as Loestrin no good for thyroid Patients either?

[samaja in reply to mistygrey]

Real progesterone is generally not given out on nhs so you would need to go private for a prescription though there are creams you can buy on the internet.

Every thyroid patient is different so nobody will tell you whether a pill will be good or bad for you though if you have an autoimmune condition anything synthetic has more likelihood of upsetting your system. I'm afraid the short answer is you never know until you try it.

[mistygrey in reply to samaja]

Thank you for your advice your right, I might just have to try one.

There was one thing I wasn't sure of, say for example you had high progesterone and didn't know you had that, would taking a progesterone pill make you more sick? By increasing the levels or do they tend to work by balancing it out? That's a shame the NHS doesn't prescribe real progesterone however I will have to try one if I can try a lower dose one and see what happens maybe?

[mistygrey in reply to WildDeer]

Do you know why women who suffer bad PMS suffer worse on progesterone only pills?

[WildDeer]

Hi mistgrey, Here is a link to the National association for Premenstrual Syndrome's evaluation of different treatments based on research to date. Scroll down to Progesterone+Progestogens. As they say, many women benefit from transdermal progesterone for PMS. However the expensive trials required for NICE to approve it are never going to happen. The research done on progestogens by drug companies that can afford to do this show that it is not helpful for PMS, though it may be of use in other conditions:pms.org.uk/assets/files/gui...