Re: 40 and never pregnant and never any birthcontrol

Dr. John Lee, MD, has said that the xeno-estrogens in our poluted cities cause women not to make enough progesterone naturally. He wrote several books, including "What your doctor may not tell you about menopause" and did a lot of research on natural hormones. This is an excerpt from his health letter of Sept 98, now available for download at JohnLeeMD.com: "Correcting Luteal Phase Failure When supplementing progesterone for luteal phase failure, conventional physicians often use injectable progesterone or vaginal progesterone suppositories in doses of several hundred mg per day. They give so much in order to produce serum levels of progesterone similar to levels in the early pregnancy. But serum levels of progesterone are misleading. Most conventional physicians do not know that 90 percent of bioavailable progesterone is carried by red blood cells and not in the blood serum. Progesterone in the blood serum is protein-bound and less than 10 percent is bioavailable. Because of this simple lack of understanding, conventional medicine routinely gives excessive doses of progesterone to patients with luteal phase failure in order to raise serum progesterone levels. As a result, the success rates for this approach are usually less than 30 percent. It is much more effective to supplement with transdermal natural progesterone, which is carried in a bioavailable fashion by the red blood cells after absorption. Progesterone creams can easily supply the proper dose of 30 to 40 mg per day, or more if needed. The creams I usually recommend provide 450 to 500 mg of progesterone per ounce. One-quarter teaspoon of cream supplies about 20 mg. This dose can be applied at bedtime and in the morning to provide 40 mg per day. For this use, I recommend avoiding creams with wild yam (diosgenin), herbs or other active ingredients. As soon as pregnancy is confirmed by a blood test, a woman at risk for miscarriage should start using a progesterone cream that supplies that dosage. (Women who are already using progesterone cream should simply continue if they become pregnant, and increase the dose.) After the first month of pregnancy, the dose can be increased gradually to 60 to 80 mg per day. After the third month of pregnancy, progesterone production in the placenta increases so much that, in theory, supplemental progesterone becomes less important. However, most of my patients felt more comfortable continuing the cream throughout pregnancy, and stopping one week before their expected delivery date. At that time the baby triggers its own delivery by excreting cortisol in its urine. This reduces progesterone's uterine effects, and allows uterine contractions. In the mother's body, the steep fall in progesterone that occurs with delivery stimulates the production of the hormone prolactin, which stimulates the production of milk. Women who suffer from postpartum depression often find relief when they use a little bit of natural progesterone cream. " Tweet