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208 lines
16 KiB
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Progesterone Summaries
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<h1>
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Progesterone Summaries
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</h1>
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<a name="2"></a>
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<p><strong>PROGESTERONE INFORMATION</strong></p>
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<p>
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Sixty years ago, progesterone was found to be the main hormone produced by the ovaries. Since it was
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necessary for fertility and for maintaining a healthy pregnancy, it was called the "pro-gestational
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hormone," and its name sometimes leads people to think that it isn't needed when you don't want to get
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pregnant. In fact, it is the most protective hormone the body produces, and the large amounts that are
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produced during pregnancy result from the developing baby's need for protection from the stressful
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environment. Normally, the brain contains a very high concentration of progesterone, reflecting its
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protective function for that most important organ. The thymus gland, the key organ of our immune system, is
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also profoundly dependent of progesterone.
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</p>
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<p>
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In experiments, progesterone was found to be the basic hormone of adaptation and of resistance to stress.
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The adrenal glands use it to produce their antistress hormones, and when there is enough progesterone, they
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don't have to produce the potentially harmful cortisol. In a progesterone deficiency, we produce too much
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cortisol, and excessive cortisol causes osteoporosis, aging of the skin, damage to brain cells, and the
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accumulation of fat, especially on the back and abdomen.
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</p>
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<p>
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Experiments have shown that progesterone relieves anxiety, improves memory, protects brain cells, and even
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prevents epileptic seizures. It promotes respiration, and has been used to correct emphysema. In the
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circulatory system, it prevents bulging veins by increasing the tone of blood vessels, and improves the
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efficiency of the heart. It reverses many of the signs of aging in the skin, and promotes healthy bone
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growth. It can relieve many types of arthritis, and helps a variety of immunological problems.
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</p>
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<p>
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If progesterone is taken dissolved in vitamin E, it is absorbed very efficiently, and distributed quickly to
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all of the tissues. If a woman has ovaries, progesterone helps them to regulate themselves and their hormone
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production. It helps to restore normal functioning of the thyroid and other glands. If her ovaries have been
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removed, progesterone should be taken consistently to replace the lost supply. A progesterone deficiency has
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often been associated with increased susceptibility to cancer, and progesterone has been used to treat some
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types of cancer.
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</p>
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<p>
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It is important to emphasize that progesterone is not just the hormone of pregnancy. To use it only "to
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protect the uterus" would be like telling a man he doesn't need testosterone if he doesn't plan to father
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children, except that progesterone is of far greater and more basic physiological significance than
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testosterone. While men do naturally produce progesterone, and can sometimes benefit from using it, it is
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not a male hormone. Some people get that impression, because some physicians recommend combining estrogen
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with either testosterone or progesterone, to protect against some of estrogen's side effects, but
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progesterone is the body's natural complement to estrogen. Used alone, progesterone often makes it
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unnecessary to use estrogen for hot flashes or insomnia, or other symptoms of menopause.
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</p>
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<p>
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When dissolved in vitamin E, progesterone begins entering the blood stream almost as soon as it contacts any
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membrane, such as the lips, tongue, gums, or palate, but when it is swallowed, it continues to be absorbed
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as part of the digestive process. When taken with food, its absorption occurs at the same rate as the
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digestion and absorption of the food.
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</p>
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<a name="3"></a>
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<p>
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<strong>PROGESTERONE SUPPLEMENTATION </strong>
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</p>
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<p>
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SYMPTOMATIC: For tendonitis, bursitis, arthritis, sunburn, etc., progesterone in vitamin E can be applied
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locally after a little olive oil has been put on the skin to make it easier to spread the progesterone
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solution. For migraines, it has been taken orally just as the symptoms begin.
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</p>
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<p>
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FOR PMS: The normal pattern of progesterone secretion during the month is for the ovaries to produce a large
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amount in the 2<sup>nd</sup> two weeks of the menstrual cycle, (i.e., day 14 through day 28) beginning at
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ovulation and ending around the beginning of menstruation, and then to produce little for the following two
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weeks. An average person produces about 30 milligrams daily during the 2<sup>nd</sup> two weeks. The
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solution I have used contains approximately 3 or 4 milligrams of progesterone per small drop. Three to four
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drops, or about 10 to 15 milligrams of progesterone, is often enough to bring the progesterone level up to
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normal. That amount can be taken days 14 through 28 of the menstrual cycle; this amount may be repeated once
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or twice during the day as needed to alleviate symptoms. Since an essential mechanism of progesterone's
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action involves its opposition to estrogen, smaller amounts are effective when estrogen production is low,
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and if estrogen is extremely high, even large supplements of progesterone will have no clear effect; in that
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case, it is essential to regulate estrogen metabolism, by improving the diet, correcting a thyroid
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deficiency, etc. (Unsaturated fat is antithyroid and synergizes with estrogen.)
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</p>
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<p>
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PERIMENOPAUSAL: The symptoms and body changes leading up to menopause are associated with decreasing
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production of progesterone, at a time when estrogen may be at a lifetime high. The cyclic use of
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progesterone, two weeks on, two weeks off, will often keep the normal menstrual cycle going. Three to our
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drops, providing ten or twelve milligrams of progesterone, is typical for a day, but some women prefer to
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repeat that amount. Progesterone is always more effective when the diet contains adequate protein, and when
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thee isn't an excessive amount of unsaturated fat in the diet..
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</p>
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<p>
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POSTMENOPAUSAL: Some women continue the cyclic use of progesterone ater menopause, because the pituitary
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gland and brain may continue to cycle long after menstruation has stopped, and progesterone is an important
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regulator of pituitary and brain function. The cycling pituitary affects the adrenal glands and other
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organs, and progesterone tends to protect against the unopposed actions of prolactin, cortisol, and adrenal
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androgenic hormones. Progesterone's effects on the pituitary apparently contribute to its protective effect
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against osteoporosis, hypertension, hirsutism, etc. But some women prefer to use progesterone without
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interruption after the menopause, for its protective antistress effects. Slender people usually find that
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two or three drops are enough, but this amount may be repeated once or twice as needed to relieve symptoms.
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Adequate protein in the diet and good thyroid function help the body to produce its own progesterone; even
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if the ovaries have been removed, the adrenal glands and brain continue to produce progesterone.
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</p>
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<a name="4"></a>
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<strong>DOSAGE OF PROGESTERONE</strong>
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<p>
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Since progesterone has none of the harmful side effects of other hormones (except for alteration of the
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menstrual cycle if it is taken at the wrong time of month), the basic procedure should be to use it in
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sufficient quantity to make the symptoms disappear, and to time its use so that menstrual cycles are not
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disrupted. This normally means using it only between ovulation and menstruation unless symptoms are
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sufficiently serious that a missed period is not important. The basic idea of giving enough to stop the
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symptoms can be refined by some information on a few of the factors that condition the need for
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progesterone.
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</p>
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<p>
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If a person has an enlarged thyroid gland, progesterone promotes secretion and unloading of the stored
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"colloid," and can bring on a temporary hyperthyroid state. This is a corrective process, and in itself
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isn't harmful. A thyroid supplement should be used to shrink the goiter before progesterone is given. Normal
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amounts of progesterone facilitate thyroid secretion, while a deficiency, with unopposed estrogen, causes
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the thyroid to enlarge. The production of euphoria has been mentioned as a side effect, but I think euphoria
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is simply an indication of a good physiological state. (The history of official medical attitudes toward
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euphoria is a subject that deserves more attention.) Very large doses that are given in vitamin E solution,
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allowing complete absorption, can reach the level that is sometimes achieved late in pregnancy, producing
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both euphoria and a degree of anesthesis. To avoid unexpected anesthesia, the correct dose should be
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determined by taking about 10 mg. at a time allowing it to spread into the membranes of the mouth, and
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repeating the dose after 10 minutes until the symptoms are controlled.
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</p>
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<p>
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An excessive estrogen/progesterone ratio is more generally involved in producing or aggravating symptoms
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than either a simple excess of estrogen or a deficiency of progesterone, but even this ratio is conditioned
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by other factors, including age, diet, other steroids, thyroid, and other hormones. The relative estrogen
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excess seems to act by producing tissue hypoxia (as reported in my dissertation, University of Oregon,
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1972), and this is the result of changes induced by estrogen in alveolar diffusion, peripheral vascular
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changes, and intracellular oxygen wastage.
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</p>
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<p>
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Hypoxia in turn produces edema (as can be observed in the cornea when it is deprived of oxygen, as by a
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contact lens) and hypoglycemia (e.g., diminished ATP acts like insulin), because glycolysis must increase
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greatly for even a small deficiency of oxygen. Elevated blood lactic acid is one sign of tissue hypoxia.
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Edema, hypoglycemia, and lactic academia can also be produced by other "respiratory" defects, including
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hypothyroidism, in which the tissue does not use enough oxygen. In hypoxia, the skin will be bluer (in thin
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places, such as around the eyes), than when low oxygen consumption is the main problem. Low thyroid is one
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cause of excess estrogen, and when high estrogen is combined with low thyroid, the skin looks relatively
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bloodless.
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</p>
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<p>
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Symptoms in cycling women are most common around ovulation and in the premenstrual week, when the
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estrogen/progesterone ratio is normally highest. At puberty, in the early twenties and in the late thirties
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and menopause are the ages when the ratio is most often disturbed--and these are also the ages when thyroid
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disorders are commonest in women.
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</p>
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<p>
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The individual who suffers from one aspect of the progesterone (and/or thyroid) deficiency will tend to
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develop other problems at different times. With cyclic depressions or migraine headaches at age 22, there
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will possibly be breast disease later, and often there will be problems with pregnancy. These people with a
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history of sever symptoms are the ones most likely to have severe problems around menopause. Prenatal
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exposure to poorly balanced hormones seems to predispose the child to later hormone problems.
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</p>
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<p>
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Excess stress (which can block progesterone synthesis and elevate estrogen) may bring on symptoms in someone
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who never had them. Spending a summer in Alaska, with an unusually long day, may relieve the symptoms of a
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chronic sufferer. Dark cloudy winters in England or the Pacific Northwest are powerful stressors, and cause
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lower production of progesterone in women, and testosterone in men. Toxins can produce similar symptoms, as
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can nutritional deficiencies. A very common cause of an estrogen excess is a dietary protein deficiency--the
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liver simply cannot detoxify estrogen when it is under-nourished.
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</p>
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<p>
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With a diet high in protein (e.g., at least 70-100 grams per day, including eggs) and vitamin A (not
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carotene), I have found that the dose of progesterone can be reduced each month. Using thyroid will usually
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reduce the amount of progesterone needed. Occasionally, a woman won't feel any effect even from 100 mg. of
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progesterone; I think this indicates that they need to use thyroid and diet, to normalize their estrogen,
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prolactin, and cortisol.
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</p>
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<p>
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Progesterone stimulates the ovaries and adrenals to produce progesterone, and it also activates the thyroid,
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so one dose can sometimes have prolonged effects. It shouldn't be necessary to keep using progesterone
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indefinitely, unless the ovaries have been removed. In slender post-menopausal women, 10 mg. per day is
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usually enough to prevent progesterone deficiency symptoms.
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</p>
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<p>
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In a 10% solution of progesterone in vitamin E, one drop contains about three milligrams of progesterone.
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Normally, the body produces 10 to 20 milligrams per day. A dose of 3 or 4 drops usually brings the blood
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levels up to the normal range, but this dose can be repeated several times during the day if it is needed to
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control symptoms.
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</p>
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<p>
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For general purposes, it is most economical and effective to take progesterone dissolved in vitamin E
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orally, for example taking a few drops on the lips and tongue, or rubbing it into the gums. (It is good for
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the general health of the gums.) These membranes are very thin, and the progesterone quickly enters the
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blood. When it is swallowed, the vitamin E allows it to be absorbed through the walls of the stomach and
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intestine, and it can be assimilated along with food, in the chylomicrons, permitting it to circulate in the
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blood to all of the organs before being processed by the liver. These droplets are smaller than red blood
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cells, and some physicians seem to forget that red blood cells pass freely through the liver.
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</p>
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<p>
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For the topical treatment of sun damaged skin, or acne, wrinkles, etc. the oil can be applied directly to
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the affected area.
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</p>
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© Ray Peat Ph.D. 2007. All Rights Reserved. www.RayPeat.com
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