There is a lot said about how protective progesterone is. It has also been said though that steroids that are downstream of another steroid are less safe to use, an example being that progesterone is less safe to use than pregnenolone. Today, I'd like to share an example of how progesterone can be unsafe to use, especially when one doesn't fully understand the context of its use. Before I proceed, I want to let you know that a lot of what I'm saying is very much based on my thought process - of connecting the dots of what's transpired, with the benefit of hindsight.
I have been very careful with the use of supplements, especially when it involves steroids and hormones. I thought I was prepared to use Progestene as my first hormone to use. I had hoped to use very small quantities of it on a mother rat, as the rat was suffering from UTI regularly, and I had envisioned using some natural substances that would fix the problem of incontinence of the rat. I selected Progestene, and I wasn't disappointed in its potency when I would feel energized just using it to rub a few drops on the rat, with me getting the spillover effect. I would get things done quickly, and I would not say "manana" or tomorrow when it's something that can be accomplished today.
Knowing how good it is, I didn't want to use a large dose on the rat. Yet when I applied the dose on the rat, the result was temperature jumping about 0.8 C, to a point where it is 0.3 C above a rat's normal healthy temperature. It also increase the pulse around 30-40 beats above the usual rate (per minutes). The blood pressure also spiked up. It eventually subsided when I stopped dosing.
I was afraid to use this the next day, and I stopped its use. But over the next few days, I used it sporadically. One day at a third of the dose, stopping it the next day, and following it up with another third of the dose. During all this time, it escaped my notice that it was getting more difficult to get a consistent blood pressure and pulse reading. That was when I realized that it was because I was now dealing with arrhythmia, or irregular heart beat.
I started to use bag breathing on the rat, as I also noticed that this coincided with it having a rapid breathing rate. It helped lower it to a normal rate. Yet the arrhythmia did not go away.
At this point, I should have gotten concerned, but I thought the arrhythmia would be a passing thing, having read that progesterone would help with such a situation. Yet, I wasn't willing to face what I'm seeing, instead insisting that more Progestene would help.
So, this morning I put in a dose of Progestene, thinking it would help further. I wouldn't know if it did know, because the rat apparently had another bout of high temperatures, pulse, and blood pressure, and the breathing was very labored. Bag breathing made the rat worse off, and her oxygen SpO2 went down from 93 to 74. The rat was very uncomfortable, her eyes were wide open, mouth was quivering, and limbs were flapping and it was hard to take readings. It turns out when taken to the rat ER that the rat had aspirated, and I realized I had been too focused on the effects of Progestene that I lost sight of the signs of aspiration and its synptoms on wide display to me.
As I was driving back home from the vet, I thought about the events and ruminated. I thought about the arrhythmia and asked myself how that had occurred. Here's how I see it: The rat has signs of being hypothyroid. It was never confirmed. But the rat's ECG showed a long QT interval. When in doubt, I should always assume the subject is hypothyroid. To err on the side of safety.
Being in a hypothyroid condition meant the rat wasn't running on all four cylinders. It wasn't running on efficient metabolism, and more likely it wasn't producing enough carbon dioxide. When the progesterone kicked up the metabolism to high gear, the rest of the rat had to keep up with it. But being hypothyroid, the rat was running low on oxygen because it was running low on carbon dioxide. Lacking oxygen would result in the rat having a hard time catching up with its breathing, and lacking carbon dioxide, the blood would become alkaline, and this would throw the electrolytes off balance (calcium, sodium, potassium, magnesium). This would make the heart strain and not be able to fully complete its repolarization phase. Hence, the arrhythmia.
For me, this experience shows how important it is to build the body up to tackle the demands of using very powerful substances meant to bring the body to a higher energy level. If the body cannot step up to the demands of a high energy level, and is forced to catch up, it could be counterproductive and push the body further into dire straits. This reminds me of what naturopathic practitioners call a healing crisis, when during healing the body retraces its past malaises. I understand now it doesn't have to be this way. A healing crisis isn't always good, because if the crisis occurs and the body isn't ready for it, it could really imperil the body.
From this lesson, I now would do better by building the structure by give it the foundational strength, before aspiring to greater heights. There is no quick way to it.
I have been very careful with the use of supplements, especially when it involves steroids and hormones. I thought I was prepared to use Progestene as my first hormone to use. I had hoped to use very small quantities of it on a mother rat, as the rat was suffering from UTI regularly, and I had envisioned using some natural substances that would fix the problem of incontinence of the rat. I selected Progestene, and I wasn't disappointed in its potency when I would feel energized just using it to rub a few drops on the rat, with me getting the spillover effect. I would get things done quickly, and I would not say "manana" or tomorrow when it's something that can be accomplished today.
Knowing how good it is, I didn't want to use a large dose on the rat. Yet when I applied the dose on the rat, the result was temperature jumping about 0.8 C, to a point where it is 0.3 C above a rat's normal healthy temperature. It also increase the pulse around 30-40 beats above the usual rate (per minutes). The blood pressure also spiked up. It eventually subsided when I stopped dosing.
I was afraid to use this the next day, and I stopped its use. But over the next few days, I used it sporadically. One day at a third of the dose, stopping it the next day, and following it up with another third of the dose. During all this time, it escaped my notice that it was getting more difficult to get a consistent blood pressure and pulse reading. That was when I realized that it was because I was now dealing with arrhythmia, or irregular heart beat.
I started to use bag breathing on the rat, as I also noticed that this coincided with it having a rapid breathing rate. It helped lower it to a normal rate. Yet the arrhythmia did not go away.
At this point, I should have gotten concerned, but I thought the arrhythmia would be a passing thing, having read that progesterone would help with such a situation. Yet, I wasn't willing to face what I'm seeing, instead insisting that more Progestene would help.
So, this morning I put in a dose of Progestene, thinking it would help further. I wouldn't know if it did know, because the rat apparently had another bout of high temperatures, pulse, and blood pressure, and the breathing was very labored. Bag breathing made the rat worse off, and her oxygen SpO2 went down from 93 to 74. The rat was very uncomfortable, her eyes were wide open, mouth was quivering, and limbs were flapping and it was hard to take readings. It turns out when taken to the rat ER that the rat had aspirated, and I realized I had been too focused on the effects of Progestene that I lost sight of the signs of aspiration and its synptoms on wide display to me.
As I was driving back home from the vet, I thought about the events and ruminated. I thought about the arrhythmia and asked myself how that had occurred. Here's how I see it: The rat has signs of being hypothyroid. It was never confirmed. But the rat's ECG showed a long QT interval. When in doubt, I should always assume the subject is hypothyroid. To err on the side of safety.
Being in a hypothyroid condition meant the rat wasn't running on all four cylinders. It wasn't running on efficient metabolism, and more likely it wasn't producing enough carbon dioxide. When the progesterone kicked up the metabolism to high gear, the rest of the rat had to keep up with it. But being hypothyroid, the rat was running low on oxygen because it was running low on carbon dioxide. Lacking oxygen would result in the rat having a hard time catching up with its breathing, and lacking carbon dioxide, the blood would become alkaline, and this would throw the electrolytes off balance (calcium, sodium, potassium, magnesium). This would make the heart strain and not be able to fully complete its repolarization phase. Hence, the arrhythmia.
For me, this experience shows how important it is to build the body up to tackle the demands of using very powerful substances meant to bring the body to a higher energy level. If the body cannot step up to the demands of a high energy level, and is forced to catch up, it could be counterproductive and push the body further into dire straits. This reminds me of what naturopathic practitioners call a healing crisis, when during healing the body retraces its past malaises. I understand now it doesn't have to be this way. A healing crisis isn't always good, because if the crisis occurs and the body isn't ready for it, it could really imperil the body.
From this lesson, I now would do better by building the structure by give it the foundational strength, before aspiring to greater heights. There is no quick way to it.