Estrogen Dominance worse before it’s better? My Progest-e experience so far

[Jennifer]

Okay, thank you, @Advocate2021. We have a similar history of not having a cycle until our 30s so that’s why I ask. I’ll just use Progest-E when I’ve been a bit overzealous with training and not worry if it makes my cycle a little wonky for a month. Thanks again. :)

 

[Jennifer]

does this happen around ovulation or when you are taking protest-e in the luteal phase?

It’s at its worst when I’m supplementing it (days 14-28)—I’ll take a dose and not long after I feel heat down below and spend the rest of the day overly aroused—but I’m overly aroused all month long. It works so well for eliminating pain from my back injury, though.

 

[LadyRae]

well you look radiantly healthy and I applaud your wisdom and success. just sharing my passion for progest -e which has been a blessing in my life. i edited the post a bit- thank you for pointing out perhaps some softening that was needed in delivery. Good lesson for me as i dont want my messages for any of my missions to repel my audiences so this is very helpful. have a good night!

Thanks again. I think your message is important for many women.

 

[Peachy]

It’s at its worst when I’m supplementing it (days 14-28)—I’ll take a dose and not long after I feel heat down below and spend the rest of the day overly aroused—but I’m overly aroused all month long. It works so well for eliminating pain from my back injury, though.

Thanks. I was wondering because, since taking protest-e, I’m like this before ovulating which is more expected. But it can be kind if extreme and I think very distracting if it was days 14-28!

 

[danishstargazer]

My body does not clear estrogen out easily ( genetic mutation ) so I am always working to keep it in check. Rather than over dose on Progesterone - does not agree with me - I am always clearing out excess estrogen via iodine drops , keeping a clean colon , orange juice , and sometimes DIM. I am not a fan of Progest E at all, and I missed myself up with it. It also made me gain 10 lbs.

 

[Mathgirl]

I remember Peat has said that we need to eat enough protein to detox the estrogen. Just a little snippet that may help.

 

[antiqua]

My body does not clear estrogen out easily ( genetic mutation ) so I am always working to keep it in check. Rather than over dose on Progesterone - does not agree with me - I am always clearing out excess estrogen via iodine drops , keeping a clean colon , orange juice , and sometimes DIM. I am not a fan of Progest E at all, and I missed myself up with it. It also made me gain 10 lbs.

I began experimenting with iodine (only for a few days, not enough to notice a huge difference) but I backed off because of all the fear mongering about making yourself hashi or hypo via iodine supplementation. How much are you taking? Lugols I’m assuming?

 

[Jennifer]

Thanks. I was wondering because, since taking protest-e, I’m like this before ovulating which is more expected. But it can be kind if extreme and I think very distracting if it was days 14-28!

Yes, it’s very distracting! lol I’ve had my hormone levels checked while taking Progest-E and my doctor said my progesterone level was that of a pregnant woman. Prior to starting Progest-E, I hadn’t had a period in a decade, and she diagnosed me with PCOS, however, I had ultrasounds that came back clear—no cysts or other abnormalities—I just wasn’t menstruating. She told me there was no cure for PCOS and after talking with Ray, I started taking Progest-E and got my period and my doctor thought it was miraculous. I’ve since learned that my many years of following a plant-based diet and poor thyroid function were the cause of my amenorrhea.

 

[Advocate2021]

There just is no one size fits all. each person has such unique things going on. I just had my blood levels done, I suspect the estrogen was done during ovulation phase as it was in that range. But the progesterone number was just over 10 times the estrogen number as Dr. Peat recommends so for me it seems taking it is keeping me at the perfect balance despite now being in my 50's. so seems to be working quite well. however i have been taking it since i was 28, cycling it with my cycles, so i have just never stopped it so i no longer have the big swings with it i suppose. at this point, i will never stop because i would like to delay menopause as long as possible. But this situation is obviously very different than anyone in a more acute situation so not comparable.

 

[Jennifer]

There just is no one size fits all. each person has such unique things going on. I just had my blood levels done, I suspect the estrogen was done during ovulation phase as it was in that range. But the progesterone number was just over 10 times the estrogen number as Dr. Peat recommends so for me it seems taking it is keeping me at the perfect balance despite now being in my 50's. so seems to be working quite well. however i have been taking it since i was 28, cycling it with my cycles, so i have just never stopped it so i no longer have the big swings with it i suppose. at this point, i will never stop because i would like to delay menopause as long as possible. But this situation is obviously very different than anyone in a more acute situation so not comparable.

That’s good! It clearly is working well for you. The only birth control I ever used was apparently veganism () so I wasn’t exposed to estrogen like you were, and that likely makes a big difference in our reaction to Progest-E. The idea of still being fertile in an advanced age is a little terrifying—I don’t think I would want to birth a child at 70+ lol—but given your experience with Progest-E, as well as my mum’s and @Lollipop2’s, I’m definitely going to take it without reservation if I ever feel I need it.

 

[Smelly5]

For a while I was watching the Facebook group that healthy gut girl runs, and it is absolutely full of women complaining about horrible side effects of progesterone supplementation. The most common advice is: you should take more! I don't buy it...

It's difficult for me to grasp also.
Healthy gut girl says she was taking an astronimcal amount of Prog for an entire year before she saw relief from PCOS. I forget how much. It was staggering.
Haidut has mentioned many, many times that small amounts of Prog can stimulate existing Estrogen while larger amounts will create the sought after pro-metablic benefits.

As a male, I find progesterone only useful if I'm also supplementing it with DHEA which I've tested very low for. I always wonder if this translates to women at all.

 

[LadyRae]

It's difficult for me to grasp also.
Healthy gut girl says she was taking an astronimcal amount of Prog for an entire year before she saw relief from PCOS. I forget how much. It was staggering.
Haidut has mentioned many, many times that small amounts of Prog can stimulate existing Estrogen while larger amounts will create the sought after pro-metablic benefits.

As a male, I find progesterone only useful if I'm also supplementing it with DHEA which I've tested very low for. I always wonder if this translates to women at all.

As a 45 year old, I'm taking 5mg DHEA daily. Sometimes a capsule, sometimes a topical cream.

Healthy gut girl ( she also has a great podcast on Spotify called, "What your doctor should know". Recently had Georgi on..) had a lot of quite serious female hormonal issues going on also, she was never able to have children.

It's just so very very important to look at progesterone supplementation on an individual basis and not get wrapped up in the concept that progesterone is wonderful for everyone.

A vitex supplement, simple and cheap, works really well for me to sensitize myself to my own progesterone. When I run out or forget to take it for a few weeks, my luteal phase shortens by 4 or 5 days...

 

[Advocate2021]

As a 45 year old, I'm taking 5mg DHEA daily. Sometimes a capsule, sometimes a topical cream.

Healthy gut girl ( she also has a great podcast on Spotify called, "What your doctor should know". Recently had Georgi on..) had a lot of quite serious female hormonal issues going on also, she was never able to have children.

It's just so very very important to look at progesterone supplementation on an individual basis and not get wrapped up in the concept that progesterone is wonderful for everyone.

A vitex supplement, simple and cheap, works really well for me to sensitize myself to my own progesterone. When I run out or forget to take it for a few weeks, my luteal phase shortens by 4 or 5 days...

And yes we really are all so different. DHEA has never worked for me. I just had my levels tested and they're quite good so I don't need it anyway at this point. I've tried it just a couple of times in my life even when I was younger per Dr Peat,just a small amount and it just has never ever agreed with me. and then this last time in november I thought it might be time to add some and of course it's anti-aging effects on the skin and generally were quite the incentive; so I got Cortinon.. I have shared in other threads what happened to me when I took it for maybe a week in doses mainly transdermal from the equivalent of 1 mg up to 4 mg sublingual one day I think. Even my waxer said don't ever take that again lol. just from that one week the hair growth on my face the next month was ridiculous.

I really think that it is best to get hormone levels tested in some fashion before supplementing. my situation way back when was so extreme that I just knew I needed the progesterone;but I had gotten tons of hormone tests for many many years during the entire time I was being treated with them so I sort of knew my situation from that standpoint as well. And this last time I had thought I should have gotten DHEA tested first before starting the cortinon; but I figured "oh it's such a small amount"; but that very small amount had very extreme effects on my body. And now that I just got blood work I see my dhea level is very good and plenty. there's just no reason to screw with that.

 

[LadyRae]

And yes we really are all so different. DHEA has never worked for me. I just had my levels tested and they're quite good so I don't need it anyway at this point. I've tried it just a couple of times in my life even when I was younger per Dr Peat,just a small amount and it just has never ever agreed with me. and then this last time in november I thought it might be time to add some and of course it's anti-aging effects on the skin and generally were quite the incentive; so I got Cortinon.. I have shared in other threads what happened to me when I took it for maybe a week in doses mainly transdermal from the equivalent of 1 mg up to 4 mg sublingual one day I think. Even my waxer said don't ever take that again lol. just from that one week the hair growth on my face the next month was ridiculous.

I really think that it is best to get hormone levels tested in some fashion before supplementing. my situation way back when was so extreme that I just knew I needed the progesterone;but I had gotten tons of hormone tests for many many years during the entire time I was being treated with them so I sort of knew my situation from that standpoint as well. And this last time I had thought I should have gotten DHEA tested first before starting the cortinon; but I figured "oh it's such a small amount"; but that very small amount had very extreme effects on my body. And now that I just got blood work I see my dhea level is very good and plenty. there's just no reason to screw with that.

Your DHEA levels are fine because your Progesterone/Estrogen balance is optimal I would assume...

 

[antiqua]

*small update*
Okay, this is about to get REALLY personal, but it feels significant enough to share. So I've continued with the same large dose of prog. Things haven't gotten better or much worse and I figured best not to stop it suddenly and confuse my body, so I'll continue til my period. Well last night I was awoken from a totally normal, non-descript dream... to an intense spontaneous orgasm. That has never happened in my life. I can only attribute it to a hormonal shift from the prog. I see it as a good sign, that maybe my hormonal (and therefore sexual) disfunction is being corrected. We'll see! The weirdest thing is, it was almost non-sexual. It felt more like an intense burst of energy than anything. And with that awkwardness out of the way, until the next update

 

[Jennifer]

*small update*
Okay, this is about to get REALLY personal, but it feels significant enough to share. So I've continued with the same large dose of prog. Things haven't gotten better or much worse and I figured best not to stop it suddenly and confuse my body, so I'll continue til my period. Well last night I was awoken from a totally normal, non-descript dream... to an intense spontaneous orgasm. That has never happened in my life. I can only attribute it to a hormonal shift from the prog. I see it as a good sign, that maybe my hormonal (and therefore sexual) disfunction is being corrected. We'll see! The weirdest thing is, it was almost non-sexual. It felt more like an intense burst of energy than anything. And with that awkwardness out of the way, until the next update

That’s the kind of “overarousal” I was referring to in my comments. lol I experience them just from a thought alone when using Progest-E. That’s why I say it’s distracting, especially when I’m in public.

 

[Advocate2021]

*small update*
Okay, this is about to get REALLY personal, but it feels significant enough to share. So I've continued with the same large dose of prog. Things haven't gotten better or much worse and I figured best not to stop it suddenly and confuse my body, so I'll continue til my period. Well last night I was awoken from a totally normal, non-descript dream... to an intense spontaneous orgasm. That has never happened in my life. I can only attribute it to a hormonal shift from the prog. I see it as a good sign, that maybe my hormonal (and therefore sexual) disfunction is being corrected. We'll see! The weirdest thing is, it was almost non-sexual. It felt more like an intense burst of energy than anything. And with that awkwardness out of the way, until the next update

Well, i personally think this is AMAZING!! and indeed means your hormones are healing. I have helped many women over the years in balancing hormones and i tell all of them sexual function goes hand in hand with all the direct efforts biochemically. they work together. Dr. Peat acknowledged this and told me how he lent his sweater to a young woman who had not menstruated and she menstruated after going home in his sweater. Similarly he said sex can stimulate menstruation as i had always found to be the case. whenever my period was late and i had sex it would come the next day like clockwork. Its actually a good thing and helps hormone balance. So circulating your sexual energy is also contributing to the hormone healing and is just as important in my opinion as taking thyroid, progesterone etc. Per Dr. Peat, and i had this conversation with him many times, libido and good orgasms are signs of health.

 

[Jennifer]

So circulating your sexual energy is also contributing to the hormone healing and is just as important in my opinion as taking thyroid, progesterone etc.

I agree. I’ve been doing dances that focus on moving energy in the pelvis or “root chakra” like Tahitian dance (ōte’a) and this has really been helping my hormones and more.

 

[Advocate2021]

I agree. I’ve been doing dances that focus on moving energy in the pelvis or “root chakra” like Tahitian dance (ōte’a) and this has really been helping my hormones and more.

-Oooohhh- ill have to try that!!

 

[Jennifer]

-Oooohhh- ill have to try that!!

It’s so much fun! The channel DanceWithLeolani on YouTube is really good. Also, belly dancing is another great style of dance for moving the energy in the root chakra.