[Doll]

There's loads of confusion because otc PC is known as useless as its just wild yam so no progesterone, no matter what you hear, its ineffective(as per my Dr.) Now, lab created progesterone(synthetic) though its known as bio identical progesterone made from Mexican wild Yam is supposedly recognized by our bodies.

So, it seems, WY as an herb is effective, though not recognized as progesterone in the body, but when converted in a lab is recognized as some version of progesterone in the body. It seems either way you take WY, you get some kind of benefit though it is technically not real progesterone.

So what surferjoe said, its a saponin as an herb. but coverted, its a form of progesterone. I spoke with my pharmacy and they said what they do to it in the lab, converting it to progesterone is as close to bio identical you can get.

I don't know what your doctor's talking about (I've heard the same thing before, though), but OTC PC will contain either USP Progesterone (that's what I've been told to look for) or Progesterone made from Wild Yam. Meaning, the wild yam has already been converted in a lab. I was a little nervous about getting a WY PC over USP, but so far it has done wonders for me. Maybe USP would work better, but for the price, WY is good enough for me right now.

There's so much controversy on this subject. All I know is, my Progesterone made from Wild Yam Cream works for me.

[AbiDrew85]

Progesterone from WY IS USP. They're the same thing. Just differently worded. Welll. Not exactly the same thing necessarily. USP CAN be from WY, or any other diosgenin source. But USP hormones are ALL synthesized from diosgenin. From WY just means the USP hormone was ONLY synthesized from diosgenin sourced from WY. Why that should matter to anyone, I dunno. Maybe some MFG's think that since some people still think of WY as being special they might sell more if they manage to use it for a talking point?

The only real difference between the USP PC that we buy OTC from folks like Source Naturals or Swanson's and the big pharma stuff is that big pharma likes to try to charge more than anything is worth for absolutely everything.

In fact, on checkout, Swanson's warns you that they might not be able to ship PC to you (several other products as well that are controlled in certain locales).

Luckily for me, in Ohio, for now, at least, PC is not a controlled product... Yet. I'm sure big pharma will have their way about it eventually though and we'll join with the other states to ban it. Well. "Control" it. But what that really means is to ban any PC product that doesn't come from a big pharma company and doesn't cost about 4 times as much as what it should unless you have a prescription and super good insurance to cover the big pharma premium.

For people like me who don't qualify as disabled and therefore can't get state medical but don't earn enough to afford their own insurance premiums? I'll be SOL when that happens.

[aveh]

Oh, I just realized this thread was all mostly male sorry nevermind (<= edit). Too bad what happened with wahaika. He doesn't deserve that kind of negative response. Well, any female that comes across this should know that steroidal saponins are especially good for them. Or straight males who aren't taking phytoestrogens and want testosterone. They don't give men with normal hormones moobs.

Hello SurferJoe,
what is this "steroidal saponins"? I plan to take Shatavari for my NBE. I think PM is too strong for me that I might get stall easily or become estrogen dominant. if Shatavari can increase all three hormones together it would be great

would it be enough to take shatavari alone? I don't want to produce milk I just want my girls to grow permanently. I mean, sometimes the breast grow with fat, or it is the mammary gland or the lobules that grow. If it's fat, it can reduce in size if my body fat weighs down. I still don't understand what's happening when you grow your breast

[surferjoe2007]

Literally it means soaps with hormone-like effects.

If you search shatavari at pubmed.gov there is a pregnant mouse study which showed extreme results but with a very large amount of extract.

Similar to fenugreek, shatavari alone should often work unless your hormones are out of balance and you're missing something. But the only way to determine that for sure is with a hormone test. So most people use multiple herbs. The problem with it is that the fiber can irritate the stomach and fiber-free extracts are hard to find. Even at only a few grams. You might try soaking it in water overnight to soften it and see if that helps. Any amount from 1 gram to 100 grams may help, but start at 1 and see how you feel in terms of soreness and upset stomach. The study showed damage from growing too fast, so I wouldn't actually suggest anything near 100 grams (or whatever the high extract amount is equal to) but you get the idea that there isn't really a practical limit otherwise. And I wouldn't be surprised if it lowered blood sugar similar to fenugreek, so back off of it if you feel faint or dizzy and eat some sugar. It is unlikely to cause or increase lactation unless you are already lactating or were recently.

Breasts are made of fat, milk glands, milk ducts and supporting elastic ligaments made of collagen. Typically all of these grow together in response to estrogen and prolactin while in the presence of progesterone. Yes weight loss or weight gain often does affect them.