Menu

Never was regular, worse after childbirth...

by Asondra
(Pennsylvania, US)

Hello, I am a 32 year old female. I have had two successful pregnancies and no known miscarriages. I have never had a regular cycle but it has gotten much worse after pregnancy.

My mother has/had thyroid issues and has used progesterone cream for years. My older sister was diagnosed with PCOS. I do not have insurance so I have not been tested for any of these specific issues. Although I show signs of progesterone deficiency. I have always gained weight easily and not been able to lose it without working REALLY hard at it. I have also struggled to lose the pregnancy weight, even while nursing it didn't come off easily.

While pregnant I felt good, no morning sickness, great hair growth, I gained weight well (a little too well) and my babies were both just over 8lbs and full term. After birth (first c-section, second was all natural vaginal birth) I bled VERY heavy for the entire 6 weeks and was still bleeding some at my checkups but was told everything looks fine. I exclusively breastfed both babies BUT got my period back immediately. No break. Those periods were VERY erratic and long and heavy.

I am now almost 17 months postpartum and I just got done with a 21 day cycle that was VERY heavy with clots. I feel horrible most of the time and not like myself.

I have been reading a lot on this site and got NAC, vit D (10,000 dose cream) and a vit B complex. I also started a multivitamin. I also order the same cream that my mother uses, AllVia Progensa 20. I have not started using the cream because my period FINALLY stopped on it's own after about 21 days. I am now charting my temps to see if I can figure out my cycle (or if I am even ovulating). As a side note, my body temperature has always been about a degree lower than "normal".

I am wondering, with all these symptoms, should I continue on with just the vitamins and stuff for awhile to see if that helps or should I just jump into using the cream for a month or so and then try to establish a cycle?

Thanks so much for all your information here!
Sincerely,
Asondra

Comments for Never was regular, worse after childbirth...

Click here to add your own comments

Nov 23, 2014
 Never was regular, worse after childbirth...
by: Wray

Hi Asondra Maybe you'd like to do our questionnaire to determine if you would respond to progesterone. You'll see the link in the right hand margin at the top of the page. Please also consider taking taurine and the bioflavonoids for the heavy bleeding, these are essential. There's more info on our page about Menstruation. Normal oral body temperature in adult men and women ranges between 33.2–38.2 °C (92–101 °F). Typical average temperatures are 37.0 °C (98.6 °F). In women it varies between the follicular and the luteal phase. During the follicular phase, i.e. from the first day of menstruation to ovulation, it ranges from 36.45 to 36.7 °C (97.6 to 98.1 °F). During the 12-14 day luteal phase, i.e. after ovulation to menstruation, temperature increases by 0.15 - 0.45 °C (0.2 - 0.9 °F) due to the increased metabolic rate caused by rapidly rising levels of progesterone. Temperature ranges between 36.7 - 37.3°C (98.1 - 99.2°F) during the luteal phase, but drops down to follicular levels within a few days of bleeding. Thanks for the kind words about the site. Take care Wray
Nov 23, 2014
 thanks for the quick response
by: Anonymous

I did take the evaluation and I was in the 40's and had I answered those questions within the first few months of postpartum it would have been much higher. I felt so good being pregnant and definitely felt a huge difference afterwards.

I feel like the supplements are already helping with my energy and mood (only been taking them for a few days)....although I do still seem to be more irritable than I used to be. So do you think it's a good idea to just stick with the supplements to see how my next cycle is on them? Or should I introduce the progesterone cream when/if I notice the sign of ovulation?

I never really thought about it before but while pregnant I noticed that I would not have to shave legs/underarms as often either.

I keep thinking that if I could feel like I did while pregnant ALL the time it would be wonderful. But the fact that I didn't struggle to get pregnant and I wasn't miserable in the beginning makes me wonder if I don't have a progesterone deficiency. It's confusing.

side note: I am taking a college biology class right now and I was recently learning about much of this and it is nice to actually understand terms when you say "mitosis, ATP, etc" :-).
Nov 24, 2014
 flu like symptoms...
by: Asondra

Hello again, I have been taking the supplements for a few days and feel better overall but I've noticed in the evening and early morning I have flu like symptoms. Is this possibly the supplements working on a estrogen dominance? Is it a sign that I need to do more to help my progesterone levels by using the cream? I would love to be able to get my levels better with just a few supplements but if I am not fighting the estrogen hard enough I will continue in this "limbo", won't I?
Nov 28, 2014
 update....
by: Asondra

I commented a few times but don't see them here yet. I just wanted to update a bit. I have been on the supplements and charting (as best I can, my BBT thermometer might need a new battery). I woke up and was very swollen (wedding band was tight) and then ate lots for Thanksgiving. I spotted a bit while at my family's home for Thanksgiving also. Then this morning my temperature was up from the past weeks. I am not sure how much because I was logging them in on my cell phone and I left that at my family's house yesterday...ooops! However, I am wondering if the spotting and swelling was from ovulation. I decided to start the progesterone cream this morning (since I did see a rise in temperature). I started with 40mg in the AM and then another 20mg a but later in the day. I was feeling pretty good and still just a small spotting. I started to get achey in my neck and shoulders and feeling tired so I put on another 20mg just now. I plan to put on 40mg in a few hours (before bed). I am thinking about keeping up with this amount (120mg per day) to see how it works for me. If I did just ovulate in the last day or two, and I use that amount of cream for the next two weeks and then stop....should I begin bleeding?

Thanks again for all the information here. I am still reading and learning as much as I can.
Dec 01, 2014
 another update....still a bit confused.
by: Asondra

well, i've stuck with the supplements. I have been feeling sick, might actually just be sick (tis the season here in PA). I have been spotting for a few days and then this morning my temperature dropped and I started bleeding more throughout the day. Still what I would consider to be very light bleeding, while I am using 120 mg of progesterone cream (60 in the AM and 60 in the PM). I am wondering if I should stop the cream and see how the period goes on it's own but I am in the last two weeks on my current college semester and I don't really want to deal with another long and very heavy flow (especially when I have to sit for a two hour long final exam). So I think I will keep using the cream and see if it lessens the length and flow of the period. I only had about a week of no bleeding so I was really hoping the spotting wasn't going to lead to another period already (although the temperature drop and then bleeding seems to be something "NORMAL").
Dec 06, 2014
 update
by: Asondra

So I am a little over a week into bleeding and it still heavy. I kept up with the progesterone cream at 120mg a day because I didn't have another bottle for when/if I ran out otherwise I would have tried a higher dose to slow down/stop the bleeding. I bled for 21 days last time (heavy with clots). This time it was heavy but very watery/thin and the clots seemed almost more like tissue (TMI: they had more "substance" and were lumpy....compared to my normal smooth blob of blood).

I could not get the heavy bleeding to stop with a bit more cream (probably closer to 200mg altogether), 20,000 vit D (double what i was taking), 2400 NAC(double what i was taking). I ordered taurine but it hasn't arrived yet. I am also taking a multivitamin, biotin, coq10, and a B complex.

I am sick, my 3 year old daughter is sick, and I am stressed (finals week in college) so I am sure those factors combined are working AGAINST me. I was also drinking a lot of a "throat tamer" herbal tea and I was unsure if anything in that would have been making the bleeding worse. I googled some of the ingredients and found that the licorice and ginger in it should of been helping me. I don't remember the others but I stopped drinking it and switched to just hot water with lemon juice and honey.

I was not finding much relief at all from the heavy flow and clots so I found that taking a higher dose of ibuprofen can help lessen or even stop a heavy flow so I took 400mg (even tho I had read most do 800mg....but I do not take medicine very often and figured it could be more "potent" for me) and that did the trick! I do not like this "solution", especially for long term, but it did provide me with some relief. I needed to sit for over 2 hours today to take a final exam on campus and there was no way I could have done that with the heavy flow I was experiencing so the ibuprofen was a life saver. I have continued to take it in either 400mg or 600mg doses since to keep the flow lower (I can tell when it is wearing off, the flow starts up again). I have more cream on order and would be more happy with just upping that dose to see if it helped but for now I will do this.

I had a "normal" 28 day cycle for my last one (started bleeding on oct 31st and then started again on nov 28th) but I had bled for 21 days. I am hopeful that my next cycle will at least be "on schedule" and that maybe if I keep up with this regime that I will also eventually see a reduction in flow/clots.

I have noticed an improvement in my moods, sleep, clear-headedness, my skin is great and my hair and nails have improved. I have also noticed some positives that I didn't realize were even negatives.....like the skin on my feet is nicer (I didn't have the cracked heels but the skin was rough), my breasts seem to be smoother (I didn't realize they were getting "lumpier"), many small bumps on my skin are going away, my bowel movements are more "comfortable", and although I did see a small weight gain it is now gone and I am not feeling bloated.

Click here to add your own comments

Join in and write your own page! It's easy to do. How? Simply click here to return to Progesterone faq.

Share this page:
Find this page helpful? Please tell others. Here's how...

Would you prefer to share this page with others by linking to it?

  1. Click on the HTML link code below.
  2. Copy and paste it, adding a note of your own, into your blog, a Web page, forums, a blog comment, your Facebook account, or anywhere that someone would find this page valuable.

Search over 8,400 pages on this site...