Natural progesterone users - please help with this question:

[praisefor3]

This will be my third month using the cream. My doctor directed me to use 1/2 tsp. beginning Day 15 of each cycle. The first month it seemed like an absolute miracle. Helped with symptoms that I was feeling in the last half of each cycle: tenderness, moodiness, etc. Second month I didn't notice quite as much but still an improvement. Now I am in the third month and now I am feeling that moodiness, less patient, grouchier temperament in the FIRST half of my cycle. I am 47, still ovulating. How do I know if I should actually be taking it all month long...or is that too much? If you have any experience with this I would be most appreciative!

[Sophia]

I'm 44 and have been using this faithfully for several months now.

I use more than you do; I don't measure it but would guess it's more like a tsp. if not a little more.

I did experiment with using a little less, and boy did I feel a difference (and not for the better:ack2:)

[Liz CA]

I'm 44 and have been using this faithfully for several months now.

I use more than you do; I don't measure it but would guess it's more like a tsp. if not a little more.

I did experiment with using a little less, and boy did I feel a difference (and not for the better:ack2:)

 

I am taking bio-identical prog. but I don't have ovaries anymore and therefore a very low estrogen level.

I take about 1/2t per day every day of the month. My naturopath had me start first for only 20 days of the months and take a break. This did not work well for me so she put me on the every night schedule.

Discuss it with a doc - if yours is not the prescription kind, you could do a consultation with a naturopath. They seem (by and large) more knowledgeable than some MD's but there a few MD's out there who have educated themselves on this issue.

 

[Cindyg]

Are you varying the rub-in site frequently? It seems to be important to change sites. I'm not sure why, but I've read that and been told that several times.

[Mom0012]

Ugh! I just started taking OTC progesterone during my last cycle. It did amazing things for me as well. Unfortunately, now that I am in the first half of my cycle, I've been having a little anxiety and edginess that isn't usually there and I was just asking my husband last night if he thought it was the progesterone. I hope you get some answers, because I need them too!

 

I was very reluctant to try the OTC progesterone at all because a few years ago, I used a prescription form and while it made a miraculous difference to me at first (think valium), I quickly started having problems taking it. I had kind of chalked it up to the dose being to high since my bloodwork showed my progesterone level was way up.

 

Lisa

[Peela]

I have been using it for 3 years now. I use only 1/8 tsp, evenings only, but it is 5% strength. Sometimes I take it all month, sometimes only the last few days, sometimes 3 weeks. I play around with it.

However I find that around ovulation is the worst time for me now. It is the time I am most likely to get extreme emotions, anger, upset etc, and often it surprises me that I have had a meltdown. That's one of the reasons I try different things. The actual week before my period is nowhere near as bad as it used to be, but I have to watch out for that ovulation time. I also sometimes go into a bit of a nosedive at the end of my period and need extra sleep.

I think the only way to really regulate it is to keep getting bloodtests, but I dont do that- I just keep experimenting with the dose and when to take it. My doctor gave me full permission to do this- to find what works for me. One thing that doesnt work for me is taking it in the mornings- it wipes me out. So does taking too much.

[Suzanne in ABQ]

I would use half dose (1/4 tsp) during week 2, then your regular dose for weeks 3 and 4, then stop for week 1.