Hi folks. This doesn't have to do directly with Lyme...I don't think...but I thought that this was such an informed group and that some of you may have experience with progesterone.
I had reviewed a book a while back about the dangers of Hormone replacement treatment which shared some of the dangers of it. My lyme doc says I am low on progesterone and that I need to take a cream so that my estriadol is not so high? I put off buying and using it but FEDEX just delievered it. I'm wondering if others have had any reactions to it...side effects? It's called Her Balance cream
I was also told to take Singulaire for my asthma. Something told me not to despite stern reprimands by my doc. On the news this morning there was a whole segment on Singulaire and how it causes suicide, anxiety and other mental health problems. I'm glad I listened to my intuition. My inhaler controls my asthma anyway.
Posted by stella marie (Member # 7216) on :
Daystar, I took singular for a few years and had no side effects at all. I stopped due to moving and no longer needed it.
As for the cream, I used it at the begining of this illness and had great results. It stopped working for me and so I moved on to prometrium pills.
That didn't help either. So now I use nadda.
I would like to find a doc to do all the proper hormone testing. I had a great one back in MD.
Good luck!
Posted by sixgoofykids (Member # 11141) on :
It seems to be working great for me.
Posted by kelmo (Member # 8797) on :
My daughter and I have been using progesterone cream for about five years. We have found it to be VERY beneficial.
Bio-identical is the same molecular structure as your own progesterone. There are over 300 plants that produce this bio-identical alternative.
Use it, use it. Everything else will balance once you get the progesterone normal.
Posted by daystar1952 (Member # 3255) on :
That's so interesting everyone. Does anyone know what problems progesterone helps....or what progesterone does in the body? You know, what symptoms got better for people? It doesn't help excess facial hair does it? Thanks again
Posted by randibear (Member # 11290) on :
i stopped taking premarin after learning about the horses and how badly they are treated.
the doctor put me on cenestin which is supposed yam based, but i stopped after being on a trip and running out.
now i'm having those dang hot flashes and all.
can somebody recommend an over the counter cream i can use? i have a local walmart, vitamin shoppe, etc. nearby.
Posted by pamoisondelune (Member # 11846) on :
Someone on the Buhner forum said that Buhner writes in Healing Lyme that andrographis interferes with progesterone or something -- i have the book but haven't checked it yet.
I'm wondering if a progesterone deficiency would make osteoporosis worse, or if andrographis would make osteoporosis worse.
Posted by sparkle7 (Member # 10397) on :
You can also test your hormone levels with a saliva test you can get over the internet & at some drugstores. I think it's about $150 to test the major hormones.
They may or may not be useful since the level is only detected at one point during the day vs. several times during the day. I haven't tried it yet.
I'm going to ask my doctor about it next week. He gives me prescriptions for progesterone & estrogen cream. I had very bad cramps & it helped.
I think I need to adjust the dosage now since it hasn't been working as well.
I've been using the cream for about a year & a half. I think it helps - especially since the Lyme toxins can disturb the hormone balance.
PS - I used to get migraines 2-3 times a month since I had Lyme - the BIHRT really helped with that! I just get them every once in a while - now.
Posted by lymednva (Member # 9098) on :
I started using progesterone cream from the compounding pharmacy last summer after tests showed low hormonal levels.
I noticed an improvement pretty quickly. I ran out of it when I was out of town last month for an extended unplanned trip and hadn't bothered to refill it.
This week I called the pharamacist and had a long discussion with her.
She is aware of my concerns about hormones and the negative effects they can have, but she has repeatedly reassured me that what this will do is help my body return to making hormones naturally at the correct levels.
I have been feeling a lot worse in the past month and now believe this is probably part of the reason. I restarted on it two days ago. Time will tell.
Lyme does a number on hormones or all types. Mine have gone up and down. I am just glad my LLMD monitors them carefully.
Posted by CatWoman (Member # 10900) on :
i was really low on my progesterone (according to blood tests) and supplemented with 20 mgs cream days 14-25 for several months then my luteal progesterone saliva testing showed i am triple the maximum level. i don't know what to think. looks like i overdosed myself on the prescribed dose??
my cortisol levels were reversed (high at night; low in the AM). my testosterone was double what it should be (apparently some women convert progesterone to testosterone); my DHEA was the only thing within normal range. my estrogen was slightly low.
so i ended up with the reverse problem i set out to correct (ie i started out to correct estrogen dominance). this month i'm off the progesterone cream - we'll see how i do!
Posted by daystar1952 (Member # 3255) on :
Oh my goodness Catwoman....sounds like something that would happen to me. Did you have any weird symptoms to go along with the reversed hormone levels? That's what I'm supposedly trying to do...correct the estrogen dominance. I certainly don't want higher levels of testosterone...or androgen.Was your doc worried?
Posted by ralph (Member # 9189) on :
Progesterone creams being used on the skin have some concerns:
It is stored in the fat under the skin and then released in bursts, not at a steady pace.
When retested, as mentioned above, the levels show very high and essentially "wash out" the results. To get a good idea of the true levels one must be off for, if I recall correctly, 6 weeks.
So even if one feels better, the balance may be off. Symptoms may not be the best way to judge.
I recommend sublinguals as the dose can be fine tuned - this is important as we are all individuals. And it is absorbed directly into the blood, bypassing going through fat in the skin or strong acid in the stomach.
One complaint from a few patients has been the amount of time they had to keep the small tablets under their tounges for them to dissolve fully.
Posted by kelmo (Member # 8797) on :
The kind I use has a 12 hour life. The body uses it. So, I put on 10mg (half pump) in the am, and another half pump before bedtime.
Hormones change hourly, so I agree that a long term level check is more accurate.
By the way. A pregnant woman produces 400mg of progesterone a day just to keep the baby inside.
The body can handle a lot of progesterone. 20mg a day is nothing, it's a normal production amount.
If you used the entire bottle of bio-identical progesterone cream, the big side affect would be sleepiness. (This came from my OBGYN, who does not sell the product, but I told him I was using it. He introduced me to the suppository form waaay back in 1982)
Posted by Lymetoo (Member # 743) on :
OK...I'll go ahead and throw this out there since no one has mentioned it.
I have a pump thingy of progesterone and can't make myself use it because every time I do, my boobs hurt....a LOT!!
and I can't ever see that it "does" anything good for me....
as someone said, "What's it supposed to do?" I understand it helps keep our hormones in better balance, but shouldn't we notice some benefits???
Posted by randibear (Member # 11290) on :
i just went out and bought progesta-care in a pump. one pre-measured pump for 3 weeks out of the month.
i've been off cenestin for about at least a month or so.
but i,too, wonder what this will do? i really don't want to go back on hrt. i've been on hormones since my late 20's and i'm now 58. my doc says i have to still on them indefinitely because of my hysterectomy.
but these hot flashes are driving me nuts......and the red face......
Posted by lymednva (Member # 9098) on :
Tutu, that was one of my complaints. I discussed it with the pharmacist and she assured me this was part of the normalizing of hormones.
I had finally gottten rid of that as a PMS problem as my periods became futher apart, now it's back again. UGH!
All my friends have gone through menopoause. How did I get so lucky?!
Posted by sparkle7 (Member # 10397) on :
Thanks for the interesting replies. I'm learning alot.
I had very low growth hormone levels & I ordered some growth hormone that was injectable. I was able to raise my levels, as monitored through testing.
I also took some bio-identical thyroid pills. My thyroid levels came back to normal through this method of treatment & I was able to stop using them.
It seems like these things work but it also seems that it is just as important to monitor them through testing.
I'm no scientist but I have done some studies over the years. I thought I had fibromyalgia & there is information about how it effects the endocrine system on the internet. I wasn't able to find much on Lyme but I'm sure it effects it, as well.
I did find some interesting info on the neuroendocrine system. If Lyme effects the nerves it may also effect the neuroendocrine system. This is where the nervous system interacts with the endocrine system... I'm not really sure about all of this since I'm a "lay person" but it seems to make sense.
Lyme creates toxins that effect our nerves. It probably effects our hormone levels, as well. All this boils down to the facts that bio-identical hormone replacement works but we need to keep monitoring our progress to adjust the required dosages throughout our treatment.
If anyone knows more about this please keep posting.
Posted by ralph (Member # 9189) on :
How about focusing on healing the organs that are supposed to produce the hormones in the right ratios?
It is possible, IME, in many cases. Unfortunately many people today feel or have been taught to believe we are supposed to fall apart as we age.
Posted by CatWoman (Member # 10900) on :
hi daystar,
my LLMD was a bit puzzled by the excessively high progesterone as he said i wasn't even on a high dose of progesterone cream.
my naturopath was pretty floored by my results. she is the one who ordered the test for me.
i haven't seen my other (local) llmd. i have one local and one in the US. i will show him my results tomorrow and see what he says.
i have weird symptoms all the time so it's hard to say. (well i know everyone with lyme has weird symptoms). I have an extreme yeast infection and a vomiting problem. i have this problem where a lot of days i just spit up yeast. it causes SO much nausea ad feelings of being poisoned (also going to talk to my LLMD about this! the medications don't seem to help or help for very long).
I wonder if the HIGH progesterone could be making the yeast worse?
Other than that things have been pretty status quo. Oh my sex drive came back for a little bit there (last month) which was new as I've not had a sex drive or hint of a sex drive in years.
I have a lot of vaginal dryness which never used to be a problem for me. I'm told it is an estrogen issue.
A lot of people say progesterone helps their insomnia but I never found that it did for me. My insomnia is raging still. I totally predicted my night time cortisol would be high and my morning cortisol would be low; those results are very consistent with how I feel (ie I start to wake up only in the evening and near bed time - mornings have been hard for me for a long time. I'm sure a lot of people here can relate!).
A question for the people that felt progesterone helped their sleep - did you take oral progesterone pills or use the cream?
thanks for any feedback.
quote:Originally posted by daystar1952: Oh my goodness Catwoman....sounds like something that would happen to me. Did you have any weird symptoms to go along with the reversed hormone levels? That's what I'm supposedly trying to do...correct the estrogen dominance. I certainly don't want higher levels of testosterone...or androgen.Was your doc worried?
Posted by Lymetoo (Member # 743) on :
quote:Originally posted by lymednva: Tutu, that was one of my complaints. I discussed it with the pharmacist and she assured me this was part of the normalizing of hormones.
Will it get better? I could swear that I didnt' have the pain about 6-7 yrs ago when I first started using the cream.
Then I stopped it for several years. Now going back on it has been a PAIN.
Gee, it would be great if our organs could recover from lyme, but after 49 yrs of this, I don't think mine stand a chance.
Posted by lymednva (Member # 9098) on :
Originally posted by Lymetoo:
quote: Will it get better? I could swear that I didn't have the pain about 6-7 yrs ago when I first started using the cream.
She told me that eventually things will even out and I guess that things will then get better.
I've been on it since September. Took a break for a month. Now back on it.
Posted by kelmo (Member # 8797) on :
lymetoo, as your estrogen receptors wake up, you will have symptoms like that. It really does get better.
Do you realize that if your hormones aren't balanced, a higher estrogen level contributes to snapping bones later in life?
Estrogen builds new cells, progesterone takes the dead cells away. If the old cells are not removed, then you will build layer upon layer of brittle, dead cells. It may appear to be dense, but the quality of the cells are detrimental.
That's why people with estrogen dominance will start to get cysts. It's just an overgrowth of cells.
Lymetoo, what you experienced with your breasts is a clear indication you are deficient.
Posted by treepatrol (Member # 4117) on :
Hi Daystar I hope you took the B12 thing to heart> Balance help the body balance Take the acidopi;is, magnesium,cq10,complexb,and multi.
Lyme attcks everyhere hormone producing areas especially and the nerves support the nerves and the glands.
Posted by Peacesoul (Member # 13709) on :
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