Progesterone ! Can any one help me please ? - Thyroid UK

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Progesterone ! Can any one help me please ?

C70rol profile image
11 Replies

I have been using Progesterone cream (Elan Organics ) ,for 4 weeks now and have just started to have the few days break that's required, before starting the cream again for another month.

However, I have had Oestrogen Dominance symptoms, during the past month, in particular, inclined to be tearful at times, tired and exhausted, plus other symptoms . However I do know that the dominance symptoms get worse until the Progesterone takes a hold.

My question is :- Can anyone tell me please, how long it took them before they felt really well ?

Thank you !

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C70rol profile image
C70rol
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11 Replies
FancyPants54 profile image
FancyPants54

Who told you that you had oestrogen dominance and what did they do to come up with this conclusion? Was the cream prescribed or self-bought? How old are you?

marigold22 profile image
marigold22

I used to use Serenity progesterone cream, when I was peri menopausal and for a few years post menopause. It took 2 to 3 months of use before things settled down. As long as you are not using more than directed. You could check the ingredients to see if there are any 'nasties' included. I got on really well with Serenity which is still on the market, only available online.

C70rol profile image
C70rol in reply to marigold22

Thanks Marigold22.

Yes I know about Serenity, but I opted for the Elan Organics product, as apart from recommendations on HU, I was also quite impressed with their list of ingredients ( more natural)! The Elan product also cuts off the amount of cream that you need . But thanks for the info on the length of time it took for the Progesterone to get into the receptors !

Guess I'll have to be more patient ! - thanks again !

phoenix23002 profile image
phoenix23002

The natural progesterone you are taking is making your body's cells more sensitive to all your hormones, even your own estrogen. As another responder mentioned, it can take a few months for everything to start balancing out and for you to be experiencing less estrogen dominance or unopposed estrogen. Be patient and it should get better.

A really good book to have and read is "What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Menopause" by Dr. John Lee, the pioneer doctor in using and applying natural progesterone cream to treat female symptoms. If you do get your hormone levels checked, Dr. Lee suggests testing by saliva and not blood.

Dr. Lee recommended that women take 20 mgs of natural progesterone cream each day for 10 - 12 days until just a few days before their period would be due to start up again. In the intervening years since his landmark experiments and book publication tho, it has been found that most of us do very well with just 1/2 as much progesterone... that is, approx. 10 mg. So, you might try halving your dosage if you are now taking 20 mgs daily?

And finally, there is a very small segment of women who just don't do well on the progesterone cream for whatever reason. This is a rare occurrence but it is a possibility that you might be one of those? Do buy the book (new on Amazon or used on Ebay) and get some real guidance and information.

phoenix23002 profile image
phoenix23002

ps.. forgot to mention that the cream can be important. Some creams may not contain enough USP grade progesterone and some have oils or creams that can impede absorption of the progesterone. Dr. Lee has some approved brands listed in the back of his book.

C70rol profile image
C70rol in reply to phoenix23002

Thanks phoenix23002, for your carefully considered and thorough reply! Actually your first sentence was a reminder to me as to what was going on. I had forgotten that, and was just a bit fed up with how I was feeling!

Yes , it clearly is going to take some time. I'll just have to put up with it for a couple more months . I have read a couple of books of Dr Lee's one of which is :- Dr Lee's Hormone Balance made simple,- all about dosage and timing etc. So I am quite read up on it all , but I also wanted to hear from some members , of their first hand experience of the length of time they found it all took !!!

Thanks very much

vocalEK profile image
vocalEK

I'm a bit confused by the term "estrogen dominance". When I started growing a beard and mustache and my pubic hair got so bushy that it looked like I had a cod piece tucked into my panties, I never thought about hormones being the cause. But it was the almost hemorrhagic periods, complete with clots, that got me to the doctor. I was informed that my estrogen levels were low, and I was put on hormone replacement (both estrogen and progesterone). I was 40 years old at the time. Years later, these symptoms became named PCOS (Polycystic ovary syndrome -- even though cysts are not a necessary symptom). I've also seen this referred to as estrogen dominance. Considering the effect on hair growing all over my body, it seems more like testosterone dominance to me.

C70rol profile image
C70rol in reply to vocalEK

Thanks for your reply, but I most certainly don't have Testosterone dominance. Our bodies make the testosterone from Progesterone. So I'm hoping that taking Progesterone will strengthen the other hormones like Testosterone!!!!!

Thank you .

Murphysmum profile image
Murphysmum

Hi,

I’m on moth 3 of using serenity pg cream.

Although not officially diagnosed (my results were within range 🙄) I realised I had a lot of signs of oestrogen dominance, very sore boobs about 10 days before period, headaches in the same time frame and for the last 6 months incredible pain during my period. I believe this is due to cervical hyperplasia which my gp mentioned casually on removing a mittens coil, but I have never felt pain like it.

So, I started using the cream and from the first month my sore boobs disappeared. I still had the headaches but I think this may have been due to the slight estrogen dominance increase that it can cause. Period pain was much improved. It has come to the point it would waken me and I’d be doubled in agony but now it’s bearable. Month two much the same, no headaches either and again, pain improved.

So it’s working for me within quite a short time, now I wonder how long I should continue to use it but I think as long as I’m not overdosing it won’t do any harm.

Good luck and stay patient! 😉

C70rol profile image
C70rol in reply to Murphysmum

Thank you for replying, you do seem to have had an uncomfortable time , but it's good to hear that you're beginning to feel much better now . You seem to be yet another person who has told me it takes about 3 months for the Progsterone to settle in. So thanks for that.

I was told by a clinician at Elan Organics, that you can get Progrsterone dominance, if using the cream for a long period of time without (saliva) testing ! I thought that was worth remembering ? - thanks again

Murphysmum profile image
Murphysmum in reply to C70rol

Interesting! Thanks.

Although there was a big difference after three months, there was a definite improvement after 1 - fingers crossed for u 🙂

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