Progesterone Dosing and hormone advice needed

purbec

Member
Joined
Jan 12, 2015
Messages
12
Hi,

I'm new to Peat-ing!
So i'm not full-on with his full diet recommendations...altho' having read many posts here i am seeing that i'm not too far wrong with my eggs, butter, potatoes with loads of butter, kale, OJ etc...it's the kind of diet that's helped pull me out of a very bad health hole...still a long way to go but i'm no longer bedbound.

I need hormones. I'm still trying to figure out what's gone so awry with my hormone levels and why...there are many elements i won't go into with this post.

I'm a female, 36, i need to seriously increase my progesterone levels.

My saliva hormone labs without any hormone supplementation at the time - luteal/ovulation phase, lab ranges in brackets:

Estradiol - 0.7 pg/ml (1.3-3.3)
Progesterone - 32 pg/ml (75-270)
Ration Pg/E2 - 46 (Optimal 100-500 when E2 is 1.3-3.3)
Testosterone - 56 pg/ml (16-55)
DHEAs - 3.9 ng/ml (2-23 age dependent, 3.9 average 60yr old)
Cortisol AM - 2.9 ng/ml (3.7-9.5)

BLOODSPOT:

Free T4 - 1.2 ng/dL (0.7-2.5)
Free T3 - 3.5 pg/ml (2.5-6.5)
TSH - 1.1 uU/ml (0.5-3.0)
TPO - 23 IU/ml (0-150) - (70-150 borderline)
Vit D 25-OH D3 - 28 ng/ml (32-100)

The lab commented that my labs were similar to that of a woman with no ovaries or had gone through menopause. I still have my ovaries (to my knowledge!) and didn't know i had fertility issues...as i'm not trying for a family.

All sex hormones low except testosterone. I'm not PCOS as i'm underweight, and don't have hypoglycemia. I also have very low BP average 80/50 BPM 60.
I don't understand why the T isn't going on to make E2...there's plenty of it there to make some Estrogen from.
Adrenal function low and no matter how i address this i cannot seem to increase cortisol. I had a severe infection 4 yrs ago, when i started getting ill, and i wonder if it has damaged my adrenals. My health declined slowly from that point on.

I've decided to go for a progesterone protocol. I have Peat's Progest_e.
On day 24 of my cycle i took 4 drops of the Progest-E - it relieved anxiety and i felt the calmest i have in a long time. It lasted the next day too. So i didn't take another dose that day. Day 3 menstruation started - i didn't expect that but i guess even with the tiny dose of Prog. and the body using it up due to naturally low Prog levels, induced bleeding.

So i waited until after menstruation to start dosing. Menstruation this time after the prog dosing of 4 drops was very painful. Very sharp pelvic pains...pulling pains. Also severe top of head headaches constantly drifting in throughout the whole time.

Now menstruation is over (short, heavy, clot, 3 day bleeds, different to yrs ago) i still have pelvic pains and headaches. This doesn't normally happen after day 2. I've been waking up in the night with pelvic pains and sweats.
The only difference this cycle round is i took 4 drops of Progest-E....symptoms are so much more intense than ever.

QUESTIONS:

Is it true that initially taking progesterone can cause a surge in estrogen dominance symptoms?
(Despite having low levels of both hormones, i still am estrogen dominant in ratio.)

I am not fussed about keeping to a cycle, so can i start to dose now, day 5?

Should i increase the dose to get past these sweats/headache/ pelvic pain symptoms?

I was going to increase the dose at day 14 - what dose do you think would suit me at ovulation with my naturally barren progesterone body?

Should i try a higher dose progesterone pill than the gel? I'm thinking if i have to high dose the progest-e it'll become a really expensive supplement.

Are there any instances in Peat's philosophy where estrogen supplementation is warranted?

My symptoms are literally head to toe, all body systems in a dysregulated state. The list of symps are as long as my body...i've witnessed a huge nose-dive of my health, thankfully changing diet to include more sat. fats and eggs/cheese has got me one step out of the hole i was in. I followed gut instincts as to what i felt like eating - it was against all the nutritional philosophies i knew of but i have improved where all the other diets kept me bedbound - like raw vegan, fasting/cleansing, fruitarian...it was horrendous...cannot heal hormone health on that type of diet....i was craving pure fat!
I'm feeling like i can handle a protocol now of supplements - before my body rejected everything.

I've experienced episodes of shock either during ovulation or just before menstruation. Thankfully not every cycle but i think when my hormone levels get too low and pituitary is screaming at the glands to work my body shuts down and my adrenals don't help with low cortisol levels.
My mood is generally extremely anxious with an underlying agitation...my moods don't reflect 'the real me' if you know what i mean!

Any advice you can give generally about the hormone levels i have, and what you'd include into a protocol to kickstart my body some more, and about progesterone dosing and your experience with side effects , would be really appreciated.
I'm new to Peat's philosophy on general health and am so surprised how much of it goes against 'standard' thinking, which, im afraid, i also have been gullible enough to believe...yet those diets haven't helped me, and a more peatarian approach has - so he is definitely onto something IMO!
 

freyasam

Member
Joined
Mar 21, 2014
Messages
619
Any way you could get blood drawn for the sex hormones? I think it's more accurate than saliva. But who knows, really? Everyone has differing opinions about it all. :/
 

tara

Member
Joined
Mar 29, 2014
Messages
10,368
purbec said:
Should i try a higher dose progesterone pill than the gel? I'm thinking if i have to high dose the progest-e it'll become a really expensive supplement.

Are there any instances in Peat's philosophy where estrogen supplementation is warranted?

My symptoms are literally head to toe, all body systems in a dysregulated state. The list of symps are as long as my body...i've witnessed a huge nose-dive of my health, thankfully changing diet to include more sat. fats and eggs/cheese has got me one step out of the hole i was in. I followed gut instincts as to what i felt like eating - it was against all the nutritional philosophies i knew of but i have improved where all the other diets kept me bedbound - like raw vegan, fasting/cleansing, fruitarian...it was horrendous...cannot heal hormone health on that type of diet....i was craving pure fat!
I'm feeling like i can handle a protocol now of supplements - before my body rejected everything.

I've experienced episodes of shock either during ovulation or just before menstruation. Thankfully not every cycle but i think when my hormone levels get too low and pituitary is screaming at the glands to work my body shuts down and my adrenals don't help with low cortisol levels.
My mood is generally extremely anxious with an underlying agitation...my moods don't reflect 'the real me' if you know what i mean!

Hi purbec,
Can't remember if you had some of these questions answered on other threads, so sorry if I'm repeating myself.

Here's a take on progest-e dosing that some have found useful:
https://www.longnaturalhealth.com/sites ... ctions.pdf
Here's Peat himself:
http://raypeat.com/articles/articles/pr ... ries.shtml

In retrospect, I had shock like symptoms in my 20s on day one of menstruation - cold, clammy, pale, faint, nauseous, not to mention in pain.
This was an eye-opener for me:
http://raypeat.com/articles/hormones/h1.shtml

My understanding is that estrogen's role is brief - to kick start processes that are useful now and then, but that we don't want it hanging around all the time.

I think I've said elsewhere that getting enough food including enough protein is likely important. It makes sense that you would be craving sat. fat, protein and energy dense foods - smart body. IIRC, sat. fat is needed as part of the protective layer supporting the nervous system, and cholesterol is needed to make all the steroid hormones out of.
 

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