Anyone knowledgeable about progesterone cream use?

[OneGrassRoot]

I used organic yam-based progesterone cream about 10 years ago when I went through a mammogram scare (it went *poof* by the time I got to the surgeon, after six months of prolonged hell), and it really leveled off PMS symptoms.

I'm 45 and, while I don't have specific menopausal symptoms, I do have symptoms common to so many of us (fatigue, etc.), and the PMS symptoms seem to be intensifying. No hot flashes or change in menses as far as flow or regularity.

So, for the PMS symptoms I'm using the progesterone cream again -- just a dab each day -- and after one week of use I'm spotting.

That may or may not be normal, but I'd appreciate any feedback you ladies may have about progesterone cream use. I'm not on any other hormonal therapy or birth control, btw, so that's not a factor here.

I've emailed the naturopath where I got the cream, but there's too much conflicting information on Google, so I'm going to stop reading about it. LOL.

I don't have insurance, so getting a barrage of lab tests and everything else that a simple doctor's visit would entail isn't doable. I'd rather just stop the cream since I wasn't having any huge problems.

ut, if this is part of the normal process of the hormones leveling off, I'd rather continue with it. That's the kind of feedback I hope you can help with from experience.

Thanks much!

:)

[pipi_k]

1. I've been using it for eight years or so

because my perimenopausal symptoms were making me crazy.

I did not have any spotting, although some women do. One of the cautions is that when you start bleeding you're supposed to stop using it until you stop, even if it's just spotting.


I timed my cream use to coincide with day 14 of my cycle...used it for 14 days and then stopped, and then usually a period would follow. If so, I would count that as day 1, and on day 14 I start the cream again for 14 days or until bleeding started again. So if I started a period after using the cream for 12 days, for example, I stopped using it and then counted the first day of my period as day 1 and then started the cream again on day 14.

I'm in full menopause now and I still use the cream, same method. Fourteen days on, fourteen days off.

And I only use a dab...maybe 1/8 to 1/4 of a teaspoon. Same amount all the time. I buy the stuff from "Puritans Pride", and sometimes get two or three jars for the price of one.

I use it at night because it makes me sleepy. I'm much more calm when I'm on it. Mr Pip can tell the difference between when I'm on my cream and when I'm not :7


Anyway, the thing about the progesterone cream is sometimes it can trigger estrogen production which will then cause spotting. Like I said, I never had spotting, but I did have some nasty "flooding", and the cream really helped reduce it.

If you're not having any serious perimenopausal symptoms, maybe you don't really need to use the cream until you get hot flashes, flooding, mood swings, etc.

Oh, and for hot flashes I was using soy supplements. Extreme breast pain and tenderness, Evening Primrose Oil, at least 1200 mg. per day.

When the time comes, you can try those, or perhaps some of the other natural remedies

:)