A bit of background first: I’m 49 and still have regular periods, and whilst I haven’t experienced any major perimenopausal symptoms, I would assume that my hormone levels are gradually heading towards a profile of typical perimenopause. I enjoy good health, with a fairly robust immune system. I have a moderately active lifestyle and live in a part of New Zealand that enjoys a fairly high amount of sunlight. Although I work indoors, even in winter I ski most weekends so am not completely devoid of sunlight, at least on my face. I have experienced considerable stress due to life circumstances and self-sabotaging habits, such as getting insufficient sleep, in the past 15 years. That said, I’ve made considerable effort to mitigate this in the last 2 or 3 years. My body temps are mostly good with an average waking temp of 36.9c rising to 37-37.3 during the day. My diet is mostly along Peat lines, though I’m by no means rigid nor 100% consistent.
I’ve recently started taking Progest-E again after an 8 month break (due to financial constraints). It seemed to be beneficial last time after an initial settling in period and I believe I will continue to benefit once my initial symptoms settle down again. I’ve been rubbing it on my gums at approximately 10 drops x5 per day in the second half of my cycle. I rub whatever’s left over on my lips and wrists. So the main issues I’ve had since starting a couple of cycles ago are increased hip fat and worse, painful and enlarged breasts - considerably more so in my left breast. I remember reading somewhere ages ago about a recommendation to apply topical progesterone below the navel due to the lymphatic system causing a build up of hormones in the breasts. I did a google today and found this article which seems to correlate with what I’m experiencing.
Do not Apply Topical Hormones Above the Umbilicus by Dr. Joseph J Collins, RN, ND | Your Hormones
This is about standard HRT but he also applies it to progesterone.
I’m considering starting to apply my Progest-E vaginally as I’ve also used Cortinon this way. Does anyone have any experience of this? Is it an effective means to get the best benefit? Also, would it be best to try and apply it internally or on the labia (I’m concerned the latter would waste a lot of it)? Any insight on my symptoms would also be gratefully received. Many thanks for reading my long post.
I’ve recently started taking Progest-E again after an 8 month break (due to financial constraints). It seemed to be beneficial last time after an initial settling in period and I believe I will continue to benefit once my initial symptoms settle down again. I’ve been rubbing it on my gums at approximately 10 drops x5 per day in the second half of my cycle. I rub whatever’s left over on my lips and wrists. So the main issues I’ve had since starting a couple of cycles ago are increased hip fat and worse, painful and enlarged breasts - considerably more so in my left breast. I remember reading somewhere ages ago about a recommendation to apply topical progesterone below the navel due to the lymphatic system causing a build up of hormones in the breasts. I did a google today and found this article which seems to correlate with what I’m experiencing.
Do not Apply Topical Hormones Above the Umbilicus by Dr. Joseph J Collins, RN, ND | Your Hormones
This is about standard HRT but he also applies it to progesterone.
I’m considering starting to apply my Progest-E vaginally as I’ve also used Cortinon this way. Does anyone have any experience of this? Is it an effective means to get the best benefit? Also, would it be best to try and apply it internally or on the labia (I’m concerned the latter would waste a lot of it)? Any insight on my symptoms would also be gratefully received. Many thanks for reading my long post.
