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Post by minnie on Apr 2, 2009 8:20:55 GMT -5
Quite what the above garbage is meant to be is anyones guess? Can one of the mods delete it?
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Post by ouchy on Apr 2, 2009 11:50:54 GMT -5
Yah. It's been removed now. We delete quite a bit of it every day it seems. New controls were supposed to be in place to prevent this. But I guess the change didn't take. Thanks for drawing our attention to it.
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Post by Karen on Sept 3, 2009 19:15:20 GMT -5
I'm reviving this thread...
I've been going the alternate treatment route since April and went from having mostly bad days every day and have gradually gone down to only a handful of kind-of-bad days every month where I only need ibuprofin. I'm THRILLED about that! But, now that I know it's even possible to feel this well, I'm looking for that little extra something to push me over the edge and have even more wonderful days.
I have a friend using progesterone creme to help regulate her irregular and often heavy cycles and has responded very well to it, and after talking to a few others about it, I'm going to look into it further and give it a shot for a few months. I've been tracking my cycles and know that I have a luteal phase of 8-9 days, which is short. I'm in no way ttc, but find that my pain is almost non-existent before ovulation, and seems to be more of a nuisance until my period. My first 3 days of my period are sucky. I am hoping this might be the last piece of the puzzle for me. If not, I'll be back to the drawing board, but figured I'd see if anyone had anything new to report on progesterone cream. Anyone try it recently? Any new experiences to share?
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Post by Karen on Sept 3, 2009 19:37:22 GMT -5
Oh, I also meant to ask - did anyone notice any other side effects from prog cream with the exception of their luteal phases/periods? (My friend said her libido is through the roof right now because of it, but she and her husband are also on the verge of a divorce and have been having a lot of hot make-up sex, so I don't know if she can really attribute the libido to the cream...)
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Post by Karen on Sept 7, 2009 11:14:59 GMT -5
So I've been doing some reading again - " Dr. John Lee's Hormone Balance Made Simple - The Essential How-to Guide to Symptoms, Dosage, Timing and More" by John Lee and Virginia Hopkins. It's a broad overview of hormone imbalance. Not as in-depth as I would have liked, but gave a good overview of the basics, including pre-menopause, peri-menopause, and menopause (including surgical menopause). Their info on endo is quite comical and very brief, but they discuss how the use of progesterone cream can potentially be beneficial. I started doing some research on progesterone cream in an attempt to help with endo pain, but I read that hormone imbalance can also at least partially be to blame for foggy thinking, weight gain, fatigue, allergies, acne, cold hands & feet, lower libido, depression, headaches, hypoglycemia, memory loss, weepiness, the list goes on and on... I’m not completely sold that using progesterone cream will help me in a lot of these areas – the book stresses that these can also be due to underlying issues - but I’m willing to try things out and see what happens. My main goal is to see if there’s a measurable difference in my pain levels, and if there are other side effects of it, great! Here's a website for a hormone balance 'test': www.virginiahopkinstestkits.com/womentest.htmlPlease forgive me if this is posted elsewhere already, but since I didn’t find much about it in the progesterone cream thread, I felt it would be beneficial for anyone considering progesterone cream in the future.
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Post by omaklackey on Oct 4, 2009 22:54:35 GMT -5
So I guess my information on Dr. Lee's book should go here on the Progesterone thread. He is so hilarious like Progesterone is going to cure every thing that ails every one! Not very helpful... I just read through all five pages of this thread trying to decide if anyone had been helped by the Natural Progesterone. Its kind of hard to decide with people only trying it for a few months and then quiting. I would recommend reading the book though If you are thinking about Natural Progesterone so the questions that came up on this thread he deals with in a LOT of detail. The book is Menopause - What your doctor didn't tell you
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Post by Karen on Oct 5, 2009 17:37:08 GMT -5
To clarify, I certainly don't believe that progesterone cream will help any and all ailment, and I'm on the fence if it'll help my endo pains, but I do believe that IF there is a hormonal imbalance, it may help in relieving some of those symptoms that can be caused by the imbalance. There has been a lot of main-stream publicity about bioidentical hormones: Oprah, Susanne Summers, Dr. Phil's wife just to name a few. It doesn't mean that everything they (or Dr. Lee) should be taken as 100% true fact, but there is research that suggests progesterone cream can help balance hormones IF they are out of balance. A good friend of mine has been using it for the last 1/2 of her cycle for 3 months and has finally had normal cycles - they've been all over the place for years, she says she has more energy, and just feels better overall. She was (just 2 weeks ago) diagnosed with PCOS, which likely explains why her cycles have been all goofy and she attributes the cream to why they're back on track. So there are benefits that women see for using it. As for women with endo? Who knows.
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Post by Karen on Oct 25, 2009 12:18:50 GMT -5
Ok, so just finished my first cycle with progesterone cream. Here are my thoughts:
(This is my interpretation of all the research I've done, for a full explanation, read up on Dr. Lee as noted in a previous thread.) For most people, progesterone cream is used during the second half of your cycle, from ovulation (around day 14) to the day or two before your period. For women with endo, though, it has been suggested to use progesterone cream from the end of your period (about day 8) until a day or two before your period. Since progesterone is the hormone that's more dominant in the second half of the cycle, and is needed to sustain a pregnancy, the thought is that progesterone cream can be used to kind of trick your body into thinking it's doesn't need to build up your uterine lining as much, thus hopefully resulting in any endo areas from thickening as well, thus reducing pain, among other things.
I chose to go this route, using progesterone cream from the last day of my period throughout my cycle until my period started again.
First off, this cycle was very irregular for me, and I can safely assume it's due to stress that I've been under. It's definitely taken a toll on me in more ways than one, so I'm confident that is to blame. My cycle was 47 or 48 days long, and I didn't ovulate until day 40. You'd think that if my body had 40 days to thicken my uterine lining, I'd have a hell of a period. But, that was just the opposite. This one was a breeze. I had a thicker discharge my first two days, but I wouldn't say it was heavy by any means. After that, it's just been spotting. I haven't had anything more than a few hours of very light cramping, too.
I certainly attribute some of that to the detox that I'm currently doing as well, but I don't feel the detox contributed to how light my period was since I was only doing the detox during a small portion of my long cycle.
In addition, the crazy itchiness and irritation that I typically get at the end of my period (I ALWAYS think it's a yeast infection, but it's usually not) cleared up right away. I speculate that the problem was due to a surge of hormones, and hope that the progesterone cream helped level that out.
All in all, I feel good about my first cycle using progesterone cream, and I'll continue to try it for a few more months and see if things continue to go well or if it's not for me. I think it's important to note, though, that I did a ton of research before I decided to give it a go, and would encourage anyone else to do the same if they were considering it.
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Post by rainyday on Dec 9, 2009 11:15:33 GMT -5
Olsenka,
Just a reminder...about posting your progesterone experiences. In particular I am looking for when and how much you use? Have you had any experience is using it when you has irregular periods, etc. Thanks.
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Post by Karen on Dec 9, 2009 15:46:06 GMT -5
Doh, thanks for the reminder!
I've used it for 2 months now, and I'm still not quite sure if I've figured it all out yet.
Month 1: I started using it on the last day of my period. Per the reading I've done, this is suggested for women with endo in an attempt to reduce the uterine lining throughout the month, thus having a lighter (and hopefully less painful) period. I ended up having a 50+ day cycle! Granted, I was under a considerable amount of stress, so I can't say for sure what caused the long cycle.
Month 2: I started using it on day 14 of my cycle. I typically ovulate on day 21 or so, but I figured I'd give it a shot as this is when most women are told to start using it. I had another longer cycle, but this one was only about 37 days.
This next month, I'm going to start using it the day I ovulate (I'm temping). I'm curious to see if it'll do anything. My pain is typically the worst from a week or so before ovulation to the first two days of my period. I found that if I use the recommended amounts, I get sleepy, so I use a small amount. I've been bad at using it two times a day - typically remember it every morning, though.
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Post by rainyday on Dec 11, 2009 11:11:39 GMT -5
hmmm, that is almost similar to my experience. However, I used it only in the latter part of the cycle after ovulation. But I do not keep track of when I ovulate by temping or other means. I just keep a general eye on cervical fluid and when I am horny! (don't laugh). Do you also have PCOS? Also, I suddenly started spotting yesterday on day 21 of my cycle. Crazy isn't it? I am not taking progesterone though but I am taking vitex and supplementing with saw palmetto every other day for hair loss due to PCOS.
Are you still on your diet? From your post it seems like you are in tune with your body muchmore than I am. I need to pay more attention to me I guess, cuz I never thought about progesterone making me feel sleepy or lethargic.
Hopefully progesterone works!
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Post by Karen on Dec 11, 2009 20:16:39 GMT -5
I haven't been diagnosed with PCOS. I have a few symptoms, but nothing major. I've been on BC for 10+ years so I started temping to see how my cycles were. I had a few regular cycles but the long cycles only started after the prog cream, but as I said, I was under a lot of stress then so who knows. I had a tiny bit of spotting last month, too!
So do you start using prog cream AFTER you go through the horny phase, when your CF is no longer egg-whitey? Or do you start while you're still in that phase? I'll let you know how it goes this month when I start taking it after I ovulate.
As for diet, I eat very little processed foods, but other than that, I'm not on much of a real 'diet'. Although I feel much better when I am.
So how long did you try prog cream? And how long since you've stopped?
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Post by rainyday on Dec 15, 2009 15:01:13 GMT -5
I think the idea is to use progesterone to cycle with your normal body cycle. Our bodies produce progesterone in the second half of cycle, after ovulation. that is when we need to supplement with topical application.
I have barely done this for couple of cycles as my cycles have been all over the map lately. Onceit was 45 days long while I was using progesterone. Next was normal 30-32 day long. Then for this cycle, I have suddenly started spotting from day five...no progesterone use so far since I was out of town.
I tried to diet, but honestly did not stick to it compleltely. Halloween candy snared me in. Now I want to start again....veggies, fish chicken, no wheat and no sugar diet. Lets see how it works.
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Post by jansie on Jan 28, 2010 14:33:47 GMT -5
I had laparoscopy about 1 week ago; endo/cysts removed. Am in peri-menopause. Read about using prog. cream; have tried in past, but always discontinued. Has anyone else become MORE anxious/agitated when using this cream. Saliva testing revealed low range progesterone last summer. I think this cream should work but don't know why I can't tolerate it. Some have some it initially stimulates estrogen receptors, but when you're already anxious, it's hellish to just try & ride it out. Also, does anyone else deal with depression & anxiety that has not responded to anti-depressants or couldn't tolerate the side-effects? :-[Any advice?
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Post by Karen on Jan 28, 2010 19:24:30 GMT -5
Hmm, I haven't experienced any anxiety/depression while I was on it, at least not that I could recognize as being from the progesterone cream. Have you always reacted this way, or just this time around since your lap?
Have you considered using a smaller dose? Have you had your hormones tested again after being on it for a bit to see if the dosage needs to be adjusted. I lent my hormone book out to a friend so I'm afraid I can't look anything up at the moment to help steer you in the right direction.
Out of curiosity, who did the saliva test for you - your doc, or did you send away for it? I haven't heard of many docs testing saliva and I'm curious how many are out there! I've heard it's supposed to be more accurate.
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