Menu

Really need some guidance

by Annie
(Wheeling, WV)

Hello all.

I am 36 and had a total abdominal hysterectomy 5 years ago. For the past three years, I have been taking a compounded cream of 30 mg Progesterone, 2mg Testosterone and 10 mg DHEA TWICE daily and an Estrogen patch (.375mg).

At first, I felt great (aside from some mild acne, which did get better, and some dark coarse hair growth on upper thighs and lower abs). I got really fit by lifting weights and doing HIIT (5 days a week, 45 min to an hour) and lost 25 pounds to 128lbs. Over the past six months though, I have been experiencing water retention, very bad muscle cramps in my calves, low of muscle and strength, decreased stamina, hot flashes, vaginal dryness, foggy thinking, breast tenderness, loss of libido, insomnia, fatigue, heart palpitations, dark/coarse hair growth and have gained ten pounds (diet and exercise regimen have not changed). I stopped the cream and had my hormones tested. Below are the results (I had been OFF the cream seven days when I took the test.

EST - 1.1 pg/ML RANGE 1.3 -1.7 pg mL

PROG - 140 pg/mL RANGE - 200-3000 pg/mL Topical, Troche, Vag Pg (10-30mg)
(2) 12-100 pg/mL Postmenopausal

PG/EST Ratio - 127 RANGE - 100-500 when E2 1.3-3.3 pg/mL

TEST - 32 pg/mL RANGE - 16-55 pg/mL

DHEA - 3.5 ng/mL RANGE - 2-23 ng/mL

CORTISOL - 5.8 - RANGE - 3.7-9.5 ng/mL

Can anyone help me understand WHY I am having those symptoms? What could be going on? My BHRT specialist wants me to stay on the progesterone dose as is, but cut the testosterone and DHEA dose in half.

Comments for Really need some guidance

Click here to add your own comments

May 04, 2018
 Really need some guidance
by: Joy

Hi Annie

The amount of progesterone you're using is causing the problem. If you note on the other pages on the site, too many women are told to use 20mg-40mg per day, this stimulates estrogen causing Estrogen Dominance symptoms to get worse. One is water retention and the other is stimulation of fat cells, both of which cause weight gain http://raypeat.com/articles/articles/water.shtml. I recommend 100-200mg per day, dependant on symptoms. I also don't agree with DHEA, it increases testosterone levels https://www.physiology.org/doi/abs/10.1152/ajpendo.00454.2004.

Your progesterone:estrogen ratio is 127:1, it should be around 600:1 meaning that you need more progesterone and not estrogen. The Hormone Testing page explains in more detail.

A vitamin D3 deficiency will also reduce the benefits of progesterone. Optimal range is between 70-100ng/mL.

Please read these pages.

How to use Progesterone Cream - https://www.progesteronetherapy.com/how-to-use-progesterone-cream.html

Estrogen Dominance - https://www.progesteronetherapy.com/estrogen-dominance.html

Hormone Testing - https://www.progesteronetherapy.com/hormone-testing.htmlhttps://www.progesteronetherapy.com/hormone-testing.html

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...