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Progesterone cream questions, 21 day cycle

by Kim

Hello Wray and thank you in advance.

I will be 42 at the end of this month. I have suffered with insomnia for about 18 years I've always attributed to hormones, waking at about 3:00 a.m., since my first pregnancy (17 year old daughter). I have two daughters and lost two babies in my second trimester, and the cause was never found after multiple tests with the losses. I think I remember when I was pregnant with my 14 year old daughter, my progesterone was low and I had to be on progesterone pills.

My cycle is, annoyingly, every 21 days. It was discovered about a year ago that I had a large (benign) tumor on my left ovary, endometriosis that was causing pain on the outside of my uterus, and fibroids that were in between the layers of my uterus causing it to be enlarged and causing clotty periods. I opted to have a hysterectomy in April of this year and all went well. My right ovary is fine and still in tact. I was hoping that my cycles would lengthen out just having the one ovary, but I have still been every 21 days like clockwork (though I don't bleed of course, I can tell). I still have terrible breast tenderness and swelling almost two weeks with one cycle before getting relief and then the next time, it is more like a week - - it alternates each cycle like this, again, like clockwork and I have almost uncontrollable food cravings with PMS too.

My gynecologist assures me I am not estrogen dominant, no ovarian cysts or anything of that nature. For the PMS, she told me to start a regimen of 14 days on the cream (emerita 450 mg. pro-gest 2X per day 1/4 t.), then 14 days off and so on. My libido is low since starting the cream and I do feel like I have some weight gain I can attribute to using the cream. I am on my third go-around at this point. My concern is that I am on a regimen that is for a 28 day cycle and am doing something my body is having trouble with and am open to any suggestions you may have. The breast tenderness is a tad better but not great, but still have many nights of insomnia and food cravings. Thank you for any help!

Comments for Progesterone cream questions, 21 day cycle

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Oct 13, 2011
 Progesterone cream questions, 21 day cycle
by: Wray

Hi Kim You are so right about your cycle and using the progesterone incorrectly. I can never understand how gynaecologists of all people think we all have a 28 day cycle! It ranges from 21 days to 35 days, anything outside this is regarded as abnormal. All women, irrespective of their cycle length, ovulate 12-14 days before they bleed. All of us! So you should be using the progesterone on day 7, ie 14 days before bleeding. I prefer using the full 14 days, as it ensures enough progesterone is used. Judging by the endo and fibroids you are very short of progesterone and vitamin D. Too late now, but you might like to look at these pages on Endometriosis and Fibroids. You are using far too little progesterone. I recommend 100-200mg/day, more if symptoms are severe. As you are now in 'Menopause', please read through this page to see how to use the progesterone. Please rub the cream directly on your breasts, it does help, see here, here, here, here, here and here. You could be short of iodine too, as sore breasts can be caused by lack of it, see here, here, here and here. An easy way to find out if the level is low is to get a tincture of iodine. Put 3 drops anywhere on the inner arm, rubbing them in with the dropper. If the patch fades in a few hours it means there's a deficiency. Continue applying it until the patch takes days to fade. Alternatively have a blood test. I've run out of space so will start a new comment below. Take care Wray
Oct 13, 2011
 Progesterone cream questions, 21 day cycle
by: Wray

Hi Kim Progesterone is good for sleep too, see here. The food cravings should go too, if you use sufficient. Please have a vitamin D test done, both endo and fibroids are inflammatory disorders, and often caused by a lack of it. For more info see the Vitamin D Council, GrassrootsHealth Birmingham Hospital and Vitamin D Links websites. This is an excellent video to watch too, see here. Take care Wray
Oct 18, 2011
 Progesterone cream questions, 21 day cycle
by: Wray

Hi Kim You are so right about your cycle and using the progesterone incorrectly. I can never understand how gynaecologists of all people think we all have a 28 day cycle! It ranges from 21 days to 35 days, anything outside this is regarded as abnormal. All women, irrespective of their cycle length, ovulate 12-14 days before they bleed. All of us! So you should be using the progesterone on day 7, ie 14 days before bleeding. I prefer using the full 14 days, as it ensures enough progesterone is used. Judging by the endo and fibroids you are very short of progesterone and vitamin D. Too late now, but you might like to look at these pages on Endometriosis and Fibroids. You are using far too little progesterone. I recommend 100-200mg/day, more if symptoms are severe. As you are now in 'Menopause', please read through this page to see how to use the progesterone. Please rub the cream directly on your breasts, it does help, see here, here, here, here, here and here. You could be short of iodine too, as sore breasts can be caused by lack of it, see here, here, here and here. An easy way to find out if the level is low is to get a tincture of iodine. Put 3 drops anywhere on the inner arm, rubbing them in with the dropper. If the patch fades in a few hours it means there's a deficiency. Continue applying it until the patch takes days to fade. Alternatively have a blood test. I've run out of space so will start a new comment below. Take care Wray

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