Estrogen dominance - How to Supplement PROGESTERONE

 *** FIRST*** -  Please read: Estrogen dominance treatment 1-2-3

How much PROGESTERONE to use, when to use it,  and for how long?

How long to supplement?

A minimum 2-3 months supplementation - needed to raise and maintain your PROGESTERONE level for maximum improvement of symptoms due to estrogen dominance. For menopause and osteoporosis treatment, use PROGESTERONE cream indefinitely.

How much USP Bioidentical PROGESTERONE should you use and when?

Proper dosage and compliance are essential

The right dose is the dose that works, but . . . -  when it comes to balancing hormones, more is not better. The amount required depends on the specific application and should be tailored to the individual's needs and response. To avoid hormonal imbalance one should not use higher than the recommended dosage; A dosage chart is given as a guideline (most dosages recommended by Dr. John R. Lee, MD for transdermal application):

PROGESTERONE Dosage Chart

FDA-approved ORAL Dose - in Oct 1999, the FDA approved a 200 mg daily dose of Prometrium, an oral PROGESTERONE , for use in preventing uterine cancer in women taking estrogen - i.e. this dose has been acknowledged as sufficient to oppose estrogen. Bear in mind that a 200 mg dose of oral PROGESTERONE actually delivers about 20 mg of PROGESTERONE (also be aware that with oral administration, 180 mg is excreted by the liver or transformed into other substances, which can cause problems).

The cream, gel or suppositories are best used twice a day - to better simulate the body's natural production. With slow-release bio-adhesive gel, once/day may be sufficient (follow package instructions)

Pre-menopausal women

-   Non-ovulating - PROGESTERONE supplementationshould re-create what your body would produce if you were ovulating - both in the timing and amount used. The usual dose is 15-24 mg/day for 14 days before expected menses, stopping the day or so before menses.To figure the PROGESTERONE start date, count back 14 days from when your next period is due (i.e. Day 1 of next cycle), then beginning on that date, supplement PROGESTERONE for 14 days. The abrupt lowering of the PROGESTERONE level is the primary trigger for starting your period, at which time any PMS and painful periods will be dramatically reduced.

-   Ovulating - wait until the day after ovulation (i.e. the luteal phase) to begin supplementation, which will then augment the body's own PROGESTERONE production from the corpus luteum. Supplementation should continue through the last 14 days of the cycle. After which, stopping the supplementation should initiate menses. Using PROGESTERONE earlier than ovulation would prevent ovulation resulting in no corpus luteum and therefore no PROGESTERONE production, which would be working against the body's own mechanisms. To accurately determine ovulation, you should purchase a fertility monitor.

Family Planning Tools

-   Pre-menopausal women must take at least 3-7 days off each month (without applying any PROGESTERONE cream/gel/suppository) - since the body's natural production of PROGESTERONE is cyclical, supplementation should ideally mimic the body's naturally changing concentrations to affect a proper physiological response. i.e. the body should recognize some times when the PROGESTERONE level is low.

Menopausal women - may only need ~15 mg PROGESTERONE , but taken for the first 25 days of the month, then take 5 or 6 days off (without applying any PROGESTERONE cream/gel/suppositories) - so that one's body will not develop resistance or tolerance to the PROGESTERONE , and so become ineffective. Restart on the first of the month.

Men - may need 5-10 mg/day to keep in range of their normal, low, but constant amounts of PROGESTERONE production and counter estrogenic presence. Take 5 or 6 days off (without using any PROGESTERONE cream/suppositories) so that one's body will not develop resistance or tolerance to the PROGESTERONE .