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High Progesterone levels

by Lea
(Lansing, MI)

I've been on natural (compounded) hrt for many years. Am 63 years old. Have always felt great. Suddenly this summer my doctor reduced my progesterone from the 200mg daily to 50mg. She explained my levels were very high: 1.33 (with scale being .15 to .73).

I have developed anxiety and a depression which is very unlike me and quite serious. She only says that on the progesterone I will have a stroke; I counter that that would be with synthetic progesterone. However, I do not know how to counter the fact that my blood levels are high. Also, I do have a seizure disorder, have been seizure free for over 2 years but have been feeling 'not right' - that 'old' feeling used to have before seizures would come on. Have read your articles - thanks!

Due to other medical issues, changing doctors would be a difficult choice. However, she is not an ob-gyn and I would go over her as I am very concerned about (1) the serious anxiety and, (2) possible connection of seizure.

My question to you is, aside from anything further you might have to add to the above, what can I present to her about the high progesterone levels? She continues to test (blood levels) and my levels are high. My pharmacist suggests I counter to her that perhaps I take 125mg of prog. daily, divided, and not the 50mg (once daily), as she has prescribed.

Really enjoy your column, have learned much.

Comments for High Progesterone levels

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Nov 09, 2010
 High Progesterone levels
by: Wray

Hi Lea So pleased the site has been of help. Your progesterone is not very high! I've found from saliva tests we've run that it reaches about 3000pg/ml (3ng/ml) applying ±80mg/day of progesterone. But it's not the amount that's critical, but the ratio of progesterone to oestrogen. I've found a ratio of 600:1 and over is needed to feel well. Do you know your oestrogen results? Saliva tests can reach 100,000pg/ml or 100ng/ml if high amounts of progesterone are used, see here. It seems your progesterone is being used up rapidly, probably because you need it. I'm concerned you are getting anxiety and depression, indications your progesterone is dropping and your oestrogen is rising. You cannot get a stroke from progesterone, see here, here, here, here and here. Progesterone and some of it's metabolites are excellent for seizures, see here, here, here and here. If one looks at the level of progesterone in the luteal phase of pre-menopause women, progesterone is much higher, it doesn't harm them, why should it harm us? Follicular <1 ng/ml, Luteal 5 to 20 ng/ml, Postmenopausal <1 ng/l. In the third trimester of pregnancy levels can range from 48.4ng/ml up to 425ng/ml, see Medline. Take care Wray
Nov 10, 2010
 Comments for High Progesterone Levels
by: Lea

Hello Wray. Thanks for all the information. Have printed out some to take to my doc tomorrow. Plus, found this article on stroke: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19359672. It seems that I definitely need to be on the higher dose, in fact have put myself back on it and if my doc won't comply will find a practitioner who will. Already am feeling calmer and not that shaky feeling of a possible seizure coming on. My Estradiol serum tested at below 25. My DHEA was 93 (with 35 to 430 being the reference range). I will note that all these tests were done after I had already applied my morning cream; I've read several places that better test results are obtained before medicating???? That makes sense to me, as that is how I do my thyroid testing - what comments might you have on that??

Yes, I concur with you that I must need the 200mg of prog. daily, divided. As a recovered stroke victim, who did amazingly well, and also a person with a seizure disorder who has been seizure free for 2 years, I will not give this up.

Bottom line, my doctor is reading literature which refers to synthetic prog. - and the thing is, she is a natural doctor in many ways. Wish me luck tomorrow. And, thank you very much. The anxiety and depression have not gone away yet, very unlike me, am assuming it takes longer.
Nov 13, 2010
 Comments for High Progesterone Levels
by: Wray

Hi Lea I'm pleased the info helped. I was excited to see another paper, thanks so much for your efforts. But as a matter of fact it's one I gave you, the second link. The confusion came because the original was published in The Neuroscientist, the link you gave me has been re-published in PubMed. I would agree, you do need to be on the high amount. I hope you convince your doctor of it's benefits. Although it's not necessary to go through a practitioner to use progesterone, unless your medical aid pays for it. About the tests, I suggest applying it as you did, ie before the test. You want to know if the progesterone is being absorbed well, and not how low it drops when stopping. Stopping beforehand will give you a false reading, ie a lower level than it normally is. Unless you do a before and after test, which is how a naturopath does our saliva tests for us on her new patients. I had no idea you'd had a stroke, I wish I'd known about progesterone before my mother had one. She didn't recover from it and remained bedridden for six years after it. The studies they are now doing with progesterone for TBI, stroke, MS, motorneuron disease are so encouraging. You might like to read our page on HRT too. The synthetic progestins are used in a combo with oestrogen, for the contraceptive pill too. Both come with increased problems. We do have a page on Anxiety. It explains the role progesterone and the various neurotransmitters play. Would love to know how you got on with your doctor. Take care Wray
Oct 04, 2011
 Progesterone ingredients
by: anonymous

Where do you get your ingredients from if all the other creams and wild yam and chaste tree berry do not work? How is yours not synthetic if you cannot get it naturally from food or your diet?
Thanks in advance for the info. Do you have a phone number, or do you sell your products in stores? If it works as well as these people say, I would like to try it.
Nov 27, 2011
 Progesterone ingredients
by: Wray

Hi there I'm so sorry I missed your post, I've no idea why either. It's not a question of the other creams not working, they do, it's the amount of progesterone the women are told to use. Generally it's in the region of 20-40mg/day, I've found this often exacerbates already bad symptoms. It's essential to use enough progesterone to make it dominant. I recommend 100-200mg/day or more. Many women stick to the creams they have, they just apply more. All progesterone is synthesised, it cannot be extracted from plants. In fact until 2010, it has never been found in a plant before, but now it has, see here and here. We don't supply shops, but some of our distributors do. I'm not sure where you live, but please see this page here. Take care Wray

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