Progest E, Some Question

[scarlettsmum]

Just took my first dose of Progest E. How do you dose it since it doesn't come with a dropper. I took 3 small drops but have no idea whether it was enough or not. I don't have any acute symptoms, just perimenopause and light periods with spotting and other annoying symptoms so I have no idea how to immediately assess if it's sufficient unlike someone who uses it for migraine as an example.

I just rubbed it on my gums and I hate it, the sticky icky feeling and taste. It nearly caused a panic attack for me as I felt like my throat was irritated from it. Any suggestions?

I just finished reading "what ..... premenopause " by Dr. Lee and as everyone probably knows he recommends topical application. From reading on the forum I understand that transdermal application has very little absorbency. However Dr.Lee states that the advantage of topical application assures slower delivery and sustained level over many hours as opposed to oral application where it peaks after 1,5 h. Should this be of concern? Is there a need for slow sustained delivery as opposed to rapid delivery? Logically I feel as though acute symptoms require rapid delivery however for long term users wouldn't slow and steady be a better option? Is this even doable? And when Dr. Lee recommends topical delivery of 20 mg per day and if the absorption rate is greatly reduced, do women actually get all 20 mg?

 

[Sucrates]

1 drop, smallest amount that will drop and separate at room temp, is about 3mg. It does cause a feeling of dryness in the throat alright, try to keep it in the front of the mouth. (not sure about your other questions)

 

[scarlettsmum]

1 drop, smallest amount that will drop and separate at room temp, is about 3mg. It does cause a feeling of dryness in the throat alright, try to keep it in the front of the mouth. (not sure about your other questions)

Thanks. I did apply it to and around the gums of my front teeth, but still. Perhaps it's just a matter of getting used to it and not panic.

 

[mostlylurking]

You've got lots of questions!! May I suggest you read Dr. Peat? Here are some good articles written by Dr. Peat:
Progesterone Summaries

The Progesterone Deceptions

In addition, there are three excellent interviews of Dr. Peat about progesterone on Politics & Science located here: segment 1 , segment 2, segment 3
Also Ray Peat discusses progesterone on the Herb Doctors show here.

It tastes nasty. Oh well.... It's worth it. Try not to let it go down the back of your throat. Smooth a little on your gums in there between your cheek and your lower molars. Don't swallow for a while. Don't lie down for a while. You can also do it vaginally; mix equal amounts of progest-e and coconut oil and apply. Helps vaginal atrophy.

Dr. Peat says that transdermal delivery gives you about 20% total delivery whereas the application to gums delivers more like 90%.

Dr. Peat says that supplementing with progesterone encourages your body to make its own progesterone; he interprets this to mean that the body can't get too much. He doesn't recommend that people go on long term progesterone replacement therapy because a lot of people will only need it for a very short time as they will start making their own. If you have had a hysterectomy or a tubal ligation then you might need long term replacement. Please research at the links above.

 

[scarlettsmum]

You've got lots of questions!! May I suggest you read Dr. Peat? Here are some good articles written by Dr. Peat:
Progesterone Summaries

The Progesterone Deceptions

In addition, there are three excellent interviews of Dr. Peat about progesterone on Politics & Science located here: segment 1 , segment 2, segment 3
Also Ray Peat discusses progesterone on the Herb Doctors show here.

It tastes nasty. Oh well.... It's worth it. Try not to let it go down the back of your throat. Smooth a little on your gums in there between your cheek and your lower molars. Don't swallow for a while. Don't lie down for a while. You can also do it vaginally; mix equal amounts of progest-e and coconut oil and apply. Helps vaginal atrophy.

Dr. Peat says that transdermal delivery gives you about 20% total delivery whereas the application to gums delivers more like 90%.

Dr. Peat says that supplementing with progesterone encourages your body to make its own progesterone; he interprets this to mean that the body can't get too much. He doesn't recommend that people go on long term progesterone replacement therapy because a lot of people will only need it for a very short time as they will start making their own. If you have had a hysterectomy or a tubal ligation then you might need long term replacement. Please research at the links above.

Thank you for the detailed answer, very useful. I have read all I found on RP website and these are questions that arose from reading it. He suggests the oral administration vs. Dr.Lee's topical application. I will look at the links/interviews/videos. Thank you!
Thanks for the tip regarding application, maybe I'll try applying it vaginally if I can't get past the taste.
Yes, I'm aware of him not recommending long term supplementation unless no ovaries, but I don't want to start on thyroid at the moment and my aim is to cycle with minimum dose. At the moment I plan to do 2x 3 drops/day and maintainance dose could be half that. I'm hoping that I won't need to megadose after being discouraged when reading Dr. Lee's book.

 

[marteagal]

Just took my first dose of Progest E. How do you dose it since it doesn't come with a dropper. I took 3 small drops but have no idea whether it was enough or not.

I find it easier to dose Progest-E using a precision scale than relying on the vague definition of a "drop". A bottle contains ~32 g. If the bottle is to yield 900 drops, one drop should weigh 0.036 g. This would correspond to 3 mg progesterone. So, for instance, if you aim at taking 300 mg progesterone, then simply weigh out 3.56 g Progest-E.

 

[whodathunkit]

I get the irritated throat from liquid oil E without progesterone. I don't think it's progesterone. It passes.

Progesterone supplementation can be problematic for some. Patience is required. I had big problems with it until I fixed my metabolism a bit with diet and supp, and also had cleaned up my liver some (with very low fat). I've tried it off and on for probably 20 years, with no success at all until last year. Problems included bloating, irritability, and other general symptoms of hormone problems. Looking back I think it was because I was so "saturated" with estrogen that my liver couldn't properly metabolize the extra estrogen suddenly being flushed from cells by dosed progesterone.

Currently I'm back on progesterone, taking big doses for a while, and liking the results. After bouncing back and forth with it for the last year or so I'm finally to the point where it doesn't seem to make my fibroids swell and generally seems to be affecting my mood and overall health more positively than before. I think this is due to simply persevering with all the beneficial lifestyle interventions like low fat eating, regular exercise, etc.

Last year I did get a few of the euphoric episodes from it that you read can happen sometimes. Those were fun. :p

It does take time for many of us to see benefit, though. Definitely Dr. Lee seems to have cherry-picked a lot of the anecdotes in his book because I have yet to meet (on a forum or in real life) a single woman who had quick success with progesterone when trying it the first time.

If you're looking for an alternative to thick, goopy Progest-E, consider HealthNatura's oil-based progesterone product. I like it a lot...it's much lighter. Tastes better, too.

Progestelle is another nice product (available on Amazon). It doesn't have vitamin E but seems pretty effective. Only drawback is that it's less than half the progesterone per drop as ProgestE or HealthNatura. But if you're not dosing big and would like about 1mg/drop, it might work for you. Pricier because of the lower content, though.

Any of these products can be put between cheek and gum and held there for however long you want.

Sustained delivery = smaller, more frequent doses. Not as much of a PITA as you might think.

Maybe I shouldn't be this way but I don't worry so much about precision dosing. My feeling is having to worry over precision isn't worth it, given the seemingly extreme safety of progesterone. I go by my symptoms.

Good luck!

 

[scarlettsmum]

I find it easier to dose Progest-E using a precision scale than relying on the vague definition of a "drop". A bottle contains ~32 g. If the bottle is to yield 900 drops, one drop should weigh 0.036 g. This would correspond to 3 mg progesterone. So, for instance, if you aim at taking 300 mg progesterone, then simply weigh out 3.56 g Progest-E.

Thank you for that. I have completed my first cycle with Progest E guessing the amounts and since it is very safe I am no longer worried about exact dosing.

 

[scarlettsmum]

I get the irritated throat from liquid oil E without progesterone. I don't think it's progesterone. It passes.

Progesterone supplementation can be problematic for some. Patience is required. I had big problems with it until I fixed my metabolism a bit with diet and supp, and also had cleaned up my liver some (with very low fat). I've tried it off and on for probably 20 years, with no success at all until last year. Problems included bloating, irritability, and other general symptoms of hormone problems. Looking back I think it was because I was so "saturated" with estrogen that my liver couldn't properly metabolize the extra estrogen suddenly being flushed from cells by dosed progesterone.

Currently I'm back on progesterone, taking big doses for a while, and liking the results. After bouncing back and forth with it for the last year or so I'm finally to the point where it doesn't seem to make my fibroids swell and generally seems to be affecting my mood and overall health more positively than before. I think this is due to simply persevering with all the beneficial lifestyle interventions like low fat eating, regular exercise, etc.

Last year I did get a few of the euphoric episodes from it that you read can happen sometimes. Those were fun. :p

It does take time for many of us to see benefit, though. Definitely Dr. Lee seems to have cherry-picked a lot of the anecdotes in his book because I have yet to meet (on a forum or in real life) a single woman who had quick success with progesterone when trying it the first time.

If you're looking for an alternative to thick, goopy Progest-E, consider HealthNatura's oil-based progesterone product. I like it a lot...it's much lighter. Tastes better, too.

Progestelle is another nice product (available on Amazon). It doesn't have vitamin E but seems pretty effective. Only drawback is that it's less than half the progesterone per drop as ProgestE or HealthNatura. But if you're not dosing big and would like about 1mg/drop, it might work for you. Pricier because of the lower content, though.

Any of these products can be put between cheek and gum and held there for however long you want.

Sustained delivery = smaller, more frequent doses. Not as much of a PITA as you might think.

Maybe I shouldn't be this way but I don't worry so much about precision dosing. My feeling is having to worry over precision isn't worth it, given the seemingly extreme safety of progesterone. I go by my symptoms.

Good luck!

Thank you for the detailed answer.:) Actually I take it vaginally now. I have completed my first cycle and had no bad side effects. One great positive was that I didn't balloon up at all as I normally would without progesterone. My cycle is still very short and light and with spotting so I'm hoping that within few cycles it will sort itself out.
Pleased to hear you sorted out your estrogen dominance. I'm surprised that Progesterone supplementation is so tricky for most women. I'm still waiting to see if anything shows up in the next few cycles. Also I'm not sure how much progesterone I'm actually getting since I take it vaginally.
Health natura sounds like a good alternative although I don't think I can get it in Europe, but it's good to know it tastes better than Progest E.