Progest-E Oil Dosage Post Hysterectomy/endometriosis

[magicalgirl]

Hi everyone, i am new to this forum...
I recently purchased a few bottles of Progest-E oil to try... Four months ago i had a hysterectomy due to severe endometriosis (oestrogen dominant condition) - But i still have one functional ovary remaining however.... I am 48 yrs old so pre-menopausal....and have suffered from insomnia for years.. I also have FBD. I have read Dr Peats notes on dosages, but not sure how this applies to my situation... As i dont have periods anymore, i would have no idea as to when the last 2 weeks of my cycle would be. So am not sure whether to take continuously or two weeks on and two weeks off .. and how much to take...?? Not sure if anyone out there can help, but any advice/recommendations on dosaging would be greatly appreciated.. thank you

 

[tara]

magicalgirl

I'll guess FDB has to do with your bowel function, unless you keep bees in the forests of Tanzania? :)

Women seem to vary a lot in how much progest-e we can use. There are suggestions for starting out with 3 little drops 5 times a day spread over gums, then after a while - maybe a few weeks or months - reducing to 3 drops 3 times a day or less, depending on what happens with symptoms. Eventually, you may want to try for 2 weeks on 2 weeks off, if symptoms allow, but some of us have used it continuously for quite a while.
I've used it continuously for nearly 2 yrs, and am still menstruating, slightly older than you, but with no history of endometriosis or hysterectomy. Others here may have situations more similar to you - you can search or hope they chime in. For me, I learned to have food (or juice) on board before taking progest-e - the only time I reacted badly was when I was hungry.

There are many threads with ideas about improving sleep. I found progest-e to be helpful, but food is central for me - good glycogen stores keep me from waking up stressed and hungry in the night.

There are also many threads discussing digestive tract.

I'd recommend taking a look at the diet ideas here, too - eg the sticky at the top of the Diet subforum. If you haven't already come across these, some key points include:
- minimising consumption of polyunsaturated fats (esp. liquid vege oils) as far as practical, favouring saturated fat eg coconut oil and butter.
- getting enough protein
- eating enough carbs to keep blood sugar from getting too low
- favouring sugars from fruit/juice and milk over starchy foods, esp. grains
- attending to vitamins and minerals
- avoiding foods that irritate the GI tract
- avoiding constipation
- eating a regular grated carrot salad daily between meals

And some other more general points:
- eating for a high metabolism to help the body to have the energy for maintenance, repair and functioning.
- paying attention to how foods and other factors affect you
- learning about physiology
- getting regular sunlight (or supplemental red light)
- keeping warm

 

[magicalgirl]

Hi Tara,
Thank you for welcoming me .... my diet is already pretty good, lots of veggies from my garden , lots of good oils/fats etc and i eat regularly throughout the day with protein at each meal.... My only one 'naughty' is that i have a small amount of organic non GMO soy milk in my cup of tea in the morning (but hard to give that up).

So i gather from what you say, that its a bit of an experiment re dosing as every woman is different and that there shouldn't be an issue if you want to take it continuously.... The main reason i guess i am wanting to take the oil is to try and keep my endometriosis at bay, as well as to see if it can help with my insomnia, oh and i forgot my PMT (still get that) but i did read a post somewhere how progesterone can turn into oestrogen - is that correct Tara as a bit worried about that now...

 

[Blossom]

Hi magicalgirl I'm glad you're here! Nine years ago I had a hysterectomy and like you I have only one ovary. When I first started using Progest-e I thought I was in early menopause based on previous medical tests. I used Progest-e every day at the same dose for close to a year because I felt I needed it after all I had gone through. Now I track my ovulation (yes, I'm not menopausal after using Progest-e uninterrupted for a year) and based on that I estimate when my period would start. I use something like this: http://www.amazon.com/Fertility-Tracker ... B0006ABTCC and it's helped me to cycle the Progest-e. Obviously I'm probably not going to be as exact as someone with a visible menstrual cycle to go by but it seems like the best I can do considering and I haven't had any issues with this method. Hope that gives you some ideas. I tried tracking my ovulation by my temps but it was difficult because I was working out my thyroid issues at the same time . Welcome to the forum.

 

[Blossom]

So to put it more simply I just take Progest-e for 14 days after I ovulate.

 

[tara]

post 99092 my diet is already pretty good, lots of veggies from my garden , lots of good oils/fats etc and i eat regularly throughout the day with protein at each meal.... My only one 'naughty' is that i have a small amount of organic non GMO soy milk in my cup of tea in the morning (but hard to give that up).

Eating regularly through the day, and including protein, sounds good.
Peat recommends getting at least 1200mg calcium and at least as much calcium to phosphorus. Are you using soy milk because you are avoiding dairy? I did that for years. If so, do you have another rich source of calcium in your diet? I think Peat recommends, in order of preference, milk and cheese, powdered clean eggshells, powdered oystershell. I'm still having trouble with milk (or I'd be drinking lots of it), so I use oystershell. You can use something like cronometer to check a typical days food to see how you are going getting all your nutrients, eg at least 80g protein. (But don't believe what it says about calories it usually estimates way below what would be needed to run a healthy metabolism.)

Are you salting your food to taste? Listening to salt and sugar cravings, if you aren't already, might help with PMT too?

For some people, it seems that lots of vege fibre is hard on the digestion. (Some do fine with it.)
I don't know much about FDB, and maybe you have already experimented with this, but if this is going on, it could possibly be contributing to bowel issues and maybe other things too.

I guess you've come across information about some veges being high in goitrogens (anti-thyroid substances)? Eg eating lots of undercooked brassicas (cabbage, brocolli, etc) can affect metabolism.

post 99092 So i gather from what you say, that its a bit of an experiment re dosing as every woman is different and that there shouldn't be an issue if you want to take it continuously.

I think so, as long as you observe how it is affecting you - you an stop or experiment with
dose if you feel worse for it.

post 99092 The main reason i guess i am wanting to take the oil is to try and keep my endometriosis at bay, as well as to see if it can help with my insomnia, oh and i forgot my PMT (still get that) but i did read a post somewhere how progesterone can turn into oestrogen - is that correct Tara as a bit worried about that now...

If progest-e is working for you I think there's a good chance it will help against endometriosis and PMT and insomnia.
For me, eating enough sugar (mostly from fruit/juice, but some sucrose too) through the day an d a little before bed really helps me sleep well. Some people find milk, salt, gelatine helpful before bed. Are you getting enough calories? Undereating can mess with sleep (and lots of things).

I have not read that progesterone turns into estrogen, but I think Peat has said there is a possibility of starting out with too low a dose. Then the progesterone can call estrogen out of tissues where it is lurking and into the blood stream, but not be quite enough to fully oppose its effects. That's why the suggestion is to take it 5x a day in the beginning. (This is the opposite to most supplements, including thyroid, where it is safer to take a cautious approach, start small and increase gradually).

If you want to get an idea about how your overall base metabolism is going, to see if this could be a source of some of your trouble, you could try measuring your body temp and resting pulse a few times. Any data is better than none, but on waking , ~half hour after breakfast, and some time in the afternoon, for a week or two could give a clearer picture.