Natural Progesterone Info

This site has a lot of information about progesterone but the navigation is a little weird -- you have to use the left navigation bar, roll-over HORMONES, the over SEX HORMONES, then over PROGESTERONE and you can click on the links that show up there. The directions they give are in contradiction with other information I've seen where you should only use it post ovulation (whenever ovulation occurs).

http://thecompounder.com/hormonesprogesteronefaq.html

I have this article bookmarked from this site linked which you might find helpful, it is by Dr John Lee and it talks about why transdermal dosing of progesterone is preferable. Note that it says too much progesterone can "[result] in rather high levels of allopregnanolone and the woman becomes rather anesthetized by it, a state that is sometimes confused with depression" -- so that would be a side effect if too much is taken.

LETTER TO A COMPOUNDING PHARMACIST
Delivery of steroid hormones.

You can learn more about progesterone by reading What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Pre-Menopause(also by Dr Lee)

Back from RE#2

I've just gotten back from a visit with the RE and guess what my pooled progesterone test showed....I have low progesterone. (I feel like I have a twisted mind because I'm glad they actually found something off in my endocrine system). The doctor said that they would have to supplement me during the second half of my cycle when I was trying to conceive (um, wasn't that what I was already doing?). My progesterone is 9.4 and I found mention of it on a site that said "A level above 15 ng/dl is desirable".

I brought up the desire to have UAE with him and he said he could tell I was extremely knowledgeble on the subject -- thanks of course to the ladies on the NUFF group and on the embo list. He wasn't aware that there was anyone doing the procedure at that medical center (and the RE is the head of the fertility clinic) so my research and consultations with the IR may help other women as well. He did mention that he was understanding my willingness to be a guinea pig (which I am), since there isn't that much information (no randomized studies) on the affects of embolization on fertility.

He told me that I should continue taking iron supplementation ongoing due to my heavier periods. I know this to be true even though my menorrhagia (heavy periods) are nothing compared to the flooding some other women have reported in the NUFF group. FYI my period lasts a full 7 days, it is a little heavier now than when I was younger (I'm now 33) but not dramatically so. I do have some clotting and I do also double up on protection since a bad episode with flooding when I was in high school.

He said that there wasn't a link between hypothyroidism and low progesterone (although Dr Lee mentioned that low progesterone may mimic mild hypothyroidism).

I have a referral/Rx for the MRI now so I can schedule that and get more info.

So, it wasn't that bad and we didn't get into any arguments. He's going to consult with the IR next week.

Stay tuned for more info soon.

Response to someone concerned about myo and bleeding

You can ask your doctor to have an Interventional Radiologist (IR) on call in case there is excessive bleeding. That way they can stop the bad bleeding.

Remember as well that the UAE procedure was discovered as an effective treatment for fibroids because a surgeon in France sent in some of his patient to get embolized prior to their myomectomies --so he could reduce the amount of bleeding during the surgery. Rather than being polar opposites or just alternate procedures, myomectomy and UAE are also complementary procedures.

The IR I've been talking to about UAE here in Seattle told me that he recently was called in, after there was excessive bleeding and some other complications arose from a myomectomy. He asked the surgeon why he didn't just call him in when things first started going wrong. The surgeon just hadn't thought of it.

If our doctors are going to rely solely on their training, which most of the time didn't include interventional radiology as an approach to stopping hemorrhaging, to do these procedures and aren't going to be a little more creative about taking advantage of alternate approaches than it is even more important that we educate them. The risks of hemorrhaging are there with all of the gynocologic surgeries including hysterectomy, myomectomy, c-section, and even with childbirth (and probably miscarriage too).