Re: Progesterone cream

 I'm 55 and use "natural" progesterone cream with DHEA, Progesta-Care from Life-flo. I noticed you told a young woman it was dangerous. Did you mean dangerous or young women or for all women?

All women.  There are some VERY RARE circumstances where I will recommend progesterone, such as extreme cases of endometriosis.  Even at that I only recommend small doses, and for no longer than 28 days over a two month period.

By the way, I don't like DHEA either. I have seen women really screw up their hormones with this stuff.  Also keep in mind that substituting hormones for the body's production will shut down the glands producing those hormones.  As an example, Synthroid used to treat hypothyroidism.  As the Synthroid shuts down the thyroid the Synthroid dosage has to be gradually increased.  It is always best to allow your body to generate its own hormones.  Your adrenals are your DHEA source, so focus on keeping them healthy.  I posted all sorts of information on this subject on the adrenal support board.

Here is a write up I did previously on progesterone, including safety issues:

Saliva testing and progesterone creams are some of the biggest marketing gimmicks to come around in a long time. 

Saliva testing is nowhere near accurate.  Studies have shown that saliva levels of progesterone DO NOT correlate with applied levels of progesterone.  The primary reason for this is that what people are not being told is that most of the applied progesterone does not go right in to the bloodstream. Instead, as with topically applied estrogens, the majority of these hormones are stored in the body's fat tissue.  From there they are slowly released in to the bloodstream.  This is why saliva testing does not correlate with actual progesterone levels. 

I also have a major problem with the term bio-identical.  There is no real way to determine that these hormones are 100% identical to the body’s own progesterone.  These hormones are not natural, they are synthesized in a lab from plant sterols.  When a substance like this is synthesized there is no way to make sure all the atoms are in the same position and all the bond angles are the same.  Many sugars for example are all written as C₆H₁₂O₆, yet they are totally different sugars because of the different positions of atoms and bond angles.  Many vitamins, such as vitamin E, that are synthesized are said to be identical to their natural counterparts.  Yet natural vitamins have a more pronounced effect on the body than their synthetic counterparts.  So there is obviously differences. 

Progesterone creams present a host of problems that the sales sites don’t want to mention.  For example, the fact that I mentioned earlier about hormones storing in the fat tissues of the body. Because progesterone is cleared so slowly from the fat tissues the progesterone is cumulative with regular use.  Women using progesterone creams long term actually accumulate extremely high levels of progesterone in their fat tissues leading to a condition known as progesterone dominance. In fact it has been estimated that many women that used progesterone creams on a regular basis can have up to a 6 year supply of progesterone stored in their fat tissue. 

Progesterone dominance has many of the same side effects as estrogen dominance.  These include weight gain, energy loss, insomnia, and depression, which can become sever enough to lead to suicidal thoughts.  Other side effects include increased aggression, breast tenderness, loss of libido, acne, acid reflux, gallstones and fertility problems.  Progesterone also promotes a number of cancers as it is known to activate human papilloma viruses.  These viruses are best known for causing cervical cancer.  What most people are unaware of is that they have also been linked to breast, prostate, nasopharyngeal and skin cancers. 

Progesterone creams should only be used in very rare cases, such as extreme cases of endometriosis.  And even with these rare cases these creams should only be used on a very short term basis.  Using them long term or in high doses will only get a person from the frying pan in to the fire as they create a completely new and very dangerous hormone imbalance. 

The most important thing someone can do if they have a hormone imbalance is to cleanse their liver. And I do not mean with the olive oil, lemon juice and magnesium flushes.  All these do is allow people to create pseudo-gallstones from the chemical reaction of the olive oil and lemon juice.  When I say liver cleanse I mean with digestive bitters.  Bitters are bitter tasting herbs that stimulate the bitter receptors on the tongue.  When this happens the vagus nerve is stimulated, which causes the liver to flush.  For this reason it is important to drink plenty of water throughout the day when using them to prevent from getting sick.  Large doses are not needed.  You only need to be able to taste them, so a small amount on the tongue several times a week is sufficient.  The reason that cleansing the liver is so important is that the liver is a primary regulator for the hormones.  If hormone levels are too high this indicates that the liver is not doing its job of breaking them down properly. 

A couple of other suggestions include maintaining the intestinal flora, eating more phytoestrogen rich foods, and avoid foods that tend to have actual estrogens like beef, chicken, and dairy.  The intestinal flora are aided by fiber sources, which it feeds on.  The flora help to further break down estrogen metabolites and aid in their elimination.  Phytoestrogens are extremely weak estrogen-like compounds.  They antagonize stronger estrogens by locking up estrogen receptors.  This blocks the actions of stronger estrogens produced by the body, and those from the environment and foods. In fact that is what the DIM you are taking is doing. 

Focusing on the adrenals is also important as they also produce estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone to help cushion the hormonal shift that occurs with menopause, either natural or surgical. 

Vitex and wild yam are also good choices.  Vitex helps the body to produce the progesterone the body needs rather than overloading it with progesterone like progesterone creams can do.  Vitex is slow to take effect though.  You have to be consistent with it for at least a couple of months to start seeing benefits.  Wild yam has a very weak progesterone-like effect.  It is also very supportive to the adrenal glands.