[anyover88]

One minute this herb is good for this hormone and next minute turns out it's not and so forth...
Ie fenugreek is cancer protective next minute it's promoting.....
Pc cream is the best thing since sliced bread and supplies safe progesterone OH WAIT no it builds up in the body and takes months to leave and excess progesterone also puts you at risk for the big C...
Best thing... Use adaptogens.. Raise support or balance all hormones not bugger round with raising one then risk unbalancing the rest. Wish I'd taken that approach not mess myself up with said "safe phytoestrogens". ....

The "one minute" thing is what it looks like to onlookers, but that's not the case. There are different studies using different methodologies, and this is why it's important to also look at any factors that may have affected the results of the specific study and to look at them as a whole rather than a back and forth between one saying one thing and another saying another. One study is not a monolith that stands above the others. this is why meta reviews are good, and anyone can find these on the online public medical journals.

that idea about progesterone cream building up is nonsense though, and it's unfortunate that alternative health practitioners who advocated the use of progesterone spread this kind of misinformation. Bioidentical USP progesterone has a half life of 14 hours, just like the progesterone your body makes because they are exactly the same, hence bioidentical.

HOWEVER, progestogens, artificial and sometimes patented progesterone analogues, are the ones that build up, and those are the ones found in hormonal birth control preparations. There seems to have been some confusion between the progesterone in progesterone cream and the progestogens in the pharmaceutical drugs. there is a major difference between the two. Your body takes care of bioidentical quite easily while progestogens vary in their effect and half-life.

Of course it's good to look before you leap, but I don't think anyone should shy away from using herbals because they are afraid of the unknown or one lone study says something scary about a concentrated, isolated compound in vitro.

I can understand not wanting to use herbals though, it can be frustrating to try one thing after another and getting side effects or not getting the results you want, and then see all the studies contradicting each other. Perfectly understandable to just trust what you think you need first!

because when it comes down to it, it's not about what some study says, but about how we feel and the results and effects we get from it, and that's why we have this forum to talk about it

Hi. Ok so this is the pc cream I have
http://www.vivacehealth.co.nz/serenity-creams.html
This claims to be bio identical.
Can you link me to a study mentioning the 14hr half life? Much appreciated.
Mind you with that aside I do wake up unable to breath nearly EVERY time I used this pc cream for more than a day...
What that means for me (maybe I don't need it) .. That and I hVe read this is in fact a side effect I'm reluctant to use it VERY MUCH SOO

But thanks for clearing up the d3 I actually forgot to take mine todY. Funny thing is, I live by the beach, plenty of sun exposure and yet my D3 test STILL was deficient!

I cleared up the misunderstanding in my previous post with an explanation and citations, to sum up, the author Progesterone Therapy wrote in one place that it was about 13 hours, wikipedia says 16-18 hours for oral progesterone, and it seems to be fairly consistent with other administration methods in any case. There is of course the confusing difference between serum levels and salivary levels, and most tests rely on serum levels which don't tell you the whole story.

As for side effects from progesterone cream:

http://www.progesteronetherapy.com/progesterone-misconceptions.html

(user question about cortisol/heart palpitations from PC) http://www.progesteronetherapy.com/is-it-true-that-usp-progesterone-use-causes-high-cortisol-levels.html

(user question about heart palpitaitons/side effects) http://www.progesteronetherapy.com/natural-progesterone-side-effects.html

In either case, the author states that the common side effects like the racing heartbeat are due to reactivation of estrogen receptors by progesterone (not taking enough PC to shut them down), which is generally enough to scare some women off from using it from the very beginning. starting on progesterone cream is initially like opening the estrogen receptor floodgates to all the estrogens floating around, so you could imagine what happens there.

Elsewhere throughout the site she states that taking enough progesterone actually shuts down activity of estrogen, thereby reducing and eliminating symptoms of estrogen dominance, which is what progesterone cream became popular for in the first place, even though she says the dosage most take is not high enough.

http://www.progesteronetherapy.com/estrogen-dominance.html

Initially progesterone has a stimulatory effect. This is because progesterone activates the oestrogen receptors so making oestrogen the dominant hormone which makes many men and women feel worse.

With progesterone therapy, progesterone gradually becomes the dominant hormone and symptoms begin to ease. Some women never experience estrogen dominance, in others it can take several days, whilst in others it can last longer. Much depends on the amount of excess oestrogen that is present.

Men can also experience oestrogen dominance when first using progesterone.

It is essential to use enough progesterone, about 100-200mg/day, to overcome the excess oestrogen. Many women use too little, 20-40mg/day, so progesterone is always in the stimulation mode. This leaves them in a permanent state of oestrogen dominance.

But, but but I don't take it as gospel. this author is pretty unique in her perspective, even if she backs it up with citations and research. I just see it as an alternative perspective and hope everyone here sees it like this too, and my own posts too

I believe the progesterone idea is true because of studies like these of progesterone shutting down estrogen activity:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7890063

But, if you personally don't feel good using more progesterone cream in the hope that the side effects will clear up, your progesterone levels are adequate and you aren't estrogen dominant, then good! I hope that in defending progesterone, I didn't make a misunderstanding that I was pushing everyone to use it or something.

I personally don't think you or anyone else should use it if they don't want to or they don't even need it, I just think that progesterone isn't that bad and PC is just one way to get it. I mean, you're already taking chaste tree berry, right?