Re: progesterone/sleepiness and spotting
From: Lori (anonymous@obgyn.net)
Sat Aug 28 22:55:29 2004
Hi Dawn!
I have the exact body shape as you, even when I was thin. I certainly
did not know about all of this years ago, but I think my hormonal
problems started after I came off of BCP's as I used them in my teenage
years. I do remember an endocronologist saying that I had high
prolactin when I went for infertility testing 20 years ago! which
definately was a hormonal imbalance at the time, which I did not pay any
regard to at the time.
I was wondering when you go in to your Dr. Dawn, maybe you can ask what
she thinks could possibly be any drawbacks to having a naturally high
progesterone level for many, many years. Wouldn't it be just like being
pregnant many times over? My gyno finally admitted to me that the cream
was helping me but by my progesterone level, I am at the same hormonal
amount as a pregnant women. When pregnant with this disease I hear the
pain stops. Curious if you would ask her opinion. I am going to ask my
naturopath Dr. this also.
Isn't it so strange Jill to have a Dr. say to stop the cream if you
have problems with it. Well Of Course!!!
--
Lori
http://www.theendoclub.com
Sat, 28 Aug 2004, Jill Mary wrote:
>
>Hi Dawn,
>
>I know what you mean about telling your Dr. about your natural
>measures. I have a wonderful down-to-earth Dr. but when I told him
>about the cream he gave me a little speal about how I don't know how
>much I am getting and etc...etc...
>
>Anyway, when he was all done I told him that I was feeling better than
>ever and there was nothing he could say after that. He just had me
>promise him that I would stop it if I had any problems. Well I won't
>need to be calling him about that!
>
>All that to say, when you get to the Dr.'s office, in that medical
>setting, feeling a bit like you are meeting with a 'know-all', just
>remember...there are many other doctors who do not use western or
>conventional medicine. Dr. John Lee is one of many.
>
>Hope this helps,
>Jill Mary <><
>
>At Fri, 27 Aug 2004, Dawn wrote:
>>
>>Lori, Melanie, --
>>No, I'm far from thin... I'm what you'd call "fat" -HA!, and after
>>reading about Lee's "estrogen dominance" theory, and how he describes
>>weight gain in hips and thighs, that's me! Even at my thinnest in
>>college, I still had heavy hips and thighs and could never lose the
>>weight there.
>>I've got a feeling that I'm really low on progesterone, and that this is
>>probably seriously affecting me, so maybe a lower dose is the answer. I
>>started out taking 1/4 tsp. in the morning and 1/4 tsp. at night,
>>which would be a total of 40 mg. but, have gone to just 1/4 tsp. at
>>night. We'll see if the sleepiness gets any better.
>>I can't begin to say how much I have learned from the book What Your
>>Doctor May not tell you about premenopause. It really brought home the
>>fact of how many different things I've done to my hormone balance over
>>the years because of this stupid endo. I was on BC pills for 11 years
>>(that's when I gained all the weight), till I got high blood pressure,
>>then Depot Provera for a year, and now this past year has been the year
>>of Lupron hell. My estrogen/progesterone levels are probably all out of
>>whack, I am sure. I've decided I'm going to give the progesterone cream
>>at least 3 cycles to see how it helps... from all I've read, it sound
>>like it takes at least that long to level out the estrogen. We'll
>>see...
>>I'm going to tell my internist on Sept. 14th to see what she says about
>>it. Unfortunately, since it's a "natural" or "alternative" treatment,
>>I'm sort of scared as to what she'll say about it. I'm going to mention
>>the saliva test, because I really want to find out what that reveals.
>>I'm praying it helps. I don't want to go through another surgery in
>>December.
>>Any other advice y'all can give me would be greatly appreciated.
>>Thanks!
>>
>>At Fri, 27 Aug 2004, anonymous@obgyn.net wrote:
>>>
>>>Hello All.
>>>
>>>I just thought I'd add my 2 cents... I don't feel as though the cream
>>>contributes to my fatigue at all (my fatigue is not near what it used to
>>>be, but I have made other lifestyle changes as well though still suffer
>>>from insomnia). I'm on the thin side. Dawn, do you take the cream once
>>>or twice a day? I use 1/4 tsp twice a day, morning and night. I keep it
>>>on my nightstand and so far have not forgotten to take it. My periods
>>>have been weird since I've been on the cream. Far less cramping, almost
>>>no bloating (but I think that's due to a change in diet), more days
>>>where the flow is very light with one extremely heavy day (heavier than
>>>I've ever experienced prior to surgery). It also tends to last 6 days
>>>rather than five. Major caveat, I went on "the diet" shortly before so
>>>I can't really say if the changes are due to the cream or diet. I'm not
>>>willing to try one and test is out so I'm just assuming it's both.
>>>
>>>Melanie
>>>
>>>At Fri, 27 Aug 2004, Lori wrote:
>>>>
>>>>Hi Dawn,
>>>>I must say my periods have gotten lighter since using the cream though,
>>>>I never had heavy periods as most endo girls do, always medium flow
>>>>type- but I would say now that I have light to medium flow.
>>>> that must be a side effect huh, is that what you have read?
>>>>Lori again
>>>>
>>>>At Fri, 27 Aug 2004, Lori wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>Hi Dawn!
>>>>>The progesterone cream does not seem to affect my fatigue I have
>>>>>(hypoglycemic & adrenal gland problem is the cause of that), as I have
>>>>>experimented with the cream to see if it made a difference in my case.
>>>>>It can certainly be a side effect with too much, as I have heard. It
>>>>>seems to be in only a few cases as I have heard many women on endo
>>>>>natural are on it without the effects. I have been wondering if that
>>>>>has to do with body fat amount as Jill Mary is thin & if she gets too
>>>>>much it makes her tired also.
>>>>>
>>>>>I have high body fat & no problem with the higher dose I use about 20
>>>>>mg-40 mg a day(20 mg per dose but often I forget to use it twice a day),
>>>>>but then again I do tend to use it at night more often when I remember.
>>>>>
>>>>> Just an idea, are you thin?
>>>>>
>>>>>I am so glad it is helping for the cramps!!!, but seems that you may
>>>>>need to experiment with it to find what works for your body, it sounds
>>>>>like a good idea to just use it at night only possibly? He does mention
>>>>>to get to the least amount you can use that helps huh.
>>>>>I also tend to use less right after my cycle & move up to a little more
>>>>>as my cycle is approaching, because I had forgotten doses. Really I
>>>>>have had no problems with it, things only improved for me, I have never
>>>>>really had a problem with spotting, but I did use to have clots which
>>>>>have gone away with the cream.... I hope you can find the correct
>>>>>dosage & plan for you!
>>>>>
>>>>>--
>>>>>Lori
>>>>>my story & more http://www.theendoclub.com
>>>>>
>>>>>At Fri, 27 Aug 2004, Dawn wrote:
>>>>>>
>>>>>>Hi,
>>>>>>Just had an few more questions for any of the natural progesterone cream
>>>>>>users.
>>>>>>I started using the cream about 5 weeks ago, on days 8-26 of my cycle,
>>>>>>and had a much less painful period last week. Instead of 3-4 days of
>>>>>>unbearable cramps, I had one morning of bad cramps, but was able to just
>>>>>>take Tylenol to get through it, instead of taking Ponstel like usual.
>>>>>>Also, I would say that it was a little less heavy than it normally is.
>>>>>>I've just had a few things going on that I wondered if any of you
>>>>>>experienced when you first started the cream also -- I am really sleepy
>>>>>>all the time, and I read in Lee's book that that is a sign of too high a
>>>>>>dosage, so I cut back to 1/4 tsp. just before bed. That is only 20 mg,
>>>>>>so I'm afraid it might not help the endo, because Lee lists the doseage
>>>>>>needed to help endo as being pretty high -- 60-80 mg. But, I've got to
>>>>>>be awake to work so, I have to cut back!!! Hopefully, it will still work
>>>>>>for me.
>>>>>>Also, I've started spotting this week, but I read on the progesterone
>>>>>>advisory network, in her archived Q and A section, that might be a
>>>>>>normal reaction to the estrogen dominant state that I am in, and that it
>>>>>>will take 2-3 months to get normalized. Did that happen to any of
>>>>>>you??? Please let me know any other things that happened to you when you
>>>>>>first started using it too.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>Thanks and TGIF!
>>>>>>Dawn
>>>>>
![[ endo@obgyn.net ]](../../images/endo_at_obgyn.gif)