Hi,
I’m wondering whether others have used natural progesterone cream as a treatment.
Or have others any experience of it to treat other conditions.
It would be interesting to hear from you.
Fairly sure the molecules are too large to be absorbed by the skin (along with many miracle ingredients in various cosmetics and skin care products) so a waste of money?
If it could penetrate, probably not good for anyone PR+?
Does anyone have any experience of using natural progesterone cream to help menopause symptoms? The booklet I read was very convincing, but…? …
I’ve recently been diagnosed with DCIS (lumpectomy next week) and have been advised to come off my HRT asap
The reason I’m asking others’ experiences is I have been using it for six months for the treatment of endometriosis after two lots of surgery and am currently being monitored for breast symptoms.
So far, the prescibed natural progesterone has cut my pain levels more than the Mirena IUS ever did, and the fact that when I stop using it at day 26 of my menstrual cycle and bleeding starts within 24-48 hours means that it definitely is getting through the skin, since a drop in progesterone levels causes menstruation to begin.
I think you have to be careful not to experiment with some of the commercial US brands and make sure the source is one of the prescribed ones, which don’t contain the “added goodies”.
I asked the breast specialist and BCN about using the cream, and they said not to stop using it, as you have to consider the risk versus benefits and I’m probably getting more benefit from using it than not.
The research is patchy. Most studies related to “progesterone” and breast tissue have included synthetic progestins, not bioidentical natural progesterone.
Tarajane,
My doctor has been using natural progesterone cream for years for menopausal symptoms. If you want to try it, best read the Natural Progesterone Information Service website first for the details and background. There you will also find a list of doctors who prescribe privately.
The list of doctors hasn’t been updated for a while, so please note that one of the doctors on the list, Sarah Temple, is no longer practising medicine.
There is also a very informative book by Dr John Lee called “Natural Progesterone: The Multiple Roles of a Remarkable Hormone” which is worth reading, too.
Many doctors offer telephone consultations as well as face to face.
You may want to read this article about the relationship between progesterone (not synthetic progestin) and breast cancer:
springboard4health.com/notebook/health_bc02.html
Hullo, re natural progesterone cream: I was using a wild yam cream for some time before being diagnosed. In discussions with my onc, who is also a professor of onc, regarding natural products, he was open to the use of some but adamantly against the use of natural progesterone creams. One needs to recognise that not all natural products are inherently good & with the hormonal component of breast cancer, one needs to be particularly careful as many such products contain natural hormones, which may encourage cancer. This includes soya food & health products apparently.
I would suggest that you research anything you may want to use very thoroughly, & obtain detailed ingredient lists so that you & your onc can make informed decisions.
In my case, no HRT & no wild yam cream means that I suffer menopausal symptoms quite badly, mainly hot flushes. I just hope it passes soon!
Good luck
Thea
Thea,
Sorry to hear you are having a rought time with menopausal symptoms.
Have you ever heard of the “Chillow”, which some have said can help reduce the impact of hot flushes?
It is interesting that your onc is very much against the cream. Did he explain why-for example, is he against it being applied to the breast itself?
Another research study I read explained that we you have optimal levels of progesterone before being exposed to a carcinogen, then the rates of breast cancer are lower. However, if we have optimal levels of progesterone AFTER being exposed to a carcinogen, then breast cancer can proliferate.
I read a great deal about Wild Yam cream before starting natural progesterone cream and found that it was actually oestrogenic. I think at the time when Leslie Kenton wrote about Wild Yam in her book “Passage to Power” about menopause, it was not known to be oestrogenic, and many women assumed that it was a biodentical progesterone, which is not the case. A study was done among the Trobriand Islanders who consume a great deal of wild yam in their diet, and it reduces fertility levels. Biodentical progesterone actually helps sustain a pregnancy.
There is evidence that having a good balance of progesterone in the body protects agains breast cancer, as unopposed oestrogen seems to promote it. Many breast surgeons choose to to surgery when women are in the second half of the menstrual cycle, when progesterone levels are higher, as this correlates with better survival rates.
Of course, there are so many different types of BC that there simply is not a one-size-fits-all approach.
Hi, Thea. For hot flushes apparently the Bristol homeopathic hospital has had great success. Maybe not in your area, but perhaps if you phoned them they could put you in touch with someone locally - they’re not going to use hormone preparations so quite safe and maybe worth a try. I think it was someone on a BCC forum who mentioned this so maybe do a search?
Hey, Puddleduck ( my nickname at school was J. Puddleduck btw…) what’s this research about the effects of progesterone pre and post cancer? do you have a ref. to it? I have very low measure of progesterone receptors (or at least some tumours removed 4 years ago had) and have wondered about the use of natural progesterone cream.
I haven’t found any research on natural progesterone use that mentions PR status and am very cagey about it. But the link you gave us is brilliant.
Several of my non-BC friends use it very successfully and one managed to have a healthy pregnancy after a whole spate of miscarriages just a year after starting to use it - her first baby at 41 as endometriosis and thyroid probs. had prevented her before.
I used it very successfully to deal with PMT in my early 30’s and with hindsight my doc. wished he’d kept me on it and so do I!
Wishing you well,
Jenny
JennyW,
Here is a link to the article you asked about.
It starts off answering a breast cancer sufferer’s questions, then explains about oestrogen and progesterone in detail. It then goes on to give evidence from scientific research about progesterone/oestrogen before and after exposure to a carcinogen.
Well worth reading!
Thanks, Puddleduck. A very interesting read but as so often, reading the research I’m left with unanswered questions, but at least this ref you gave me lets me follow up some more leads.
Such a shame that John Lee who was so well known for discovering oestrogen dominance had not read either Dr. Campbell or Dr. Esselstyn or Dr. McDougall on heart disease and believed the nonsense on animal protein consumption, including red meat and eggs being unconnected with heart disease. When I read his acceptance of the misleading results on this research I ws no longer surprised he died of a heart attack like his father and grandfather before him. As he said himself, he could have contributed so much more to the debate on hormone balance had he lived another 20 years.
Wsihing you well,
Jenny
Just want to ask, has anyone who has had their ovaries removed or gone through chemo induced menopause, tried progesterone cream to balance up their hormones again.
I dont’ know what to ask for - I now have no ovaries and am on arimidex so Iguess my oestrogen levels have plummeted - by correlation my progesterone levels will have done also but my hot flushes have come back with a vengeance and I’m wondering about trying some progresterone cream after reading ‘what your doctor may not tell you about breast cancer’. I am convinced my oestrogen dominance (fibroids three years before dx with bc) was responsible for the bc and I’m determined to try to balance up my hormones. Any experience would be really appreciated. THanks. Carrie
Hi All.
I used a progrsterone cream called serenity cream for years after coming off hrt on my gp’s recommendation. I now have BC and am wondering if it’s anything to do with it. My friend was also on serenity cream and has had BC last year.
Take care everyone
Veggiebab x
hi, i’m using progesterone creme postchemo. I didn’t want zoladex or tamoxifen or arimidex cuz of the cancer side effects and other side effects i got from zoladex. (facial hair for one). I don’t know if theprogesterone creme works or not. I read Lee’s book. it sounds good - balancing the hormones seems to make sense; and even if PR pos (which i am, and my onc warned me not to take progesterone creme for that reason), the idea behind how progesterone works is that in a normal breast progesterone causes the breast cells to die -apoptosis. which is the idea behind taking the creme. Having said that; i’m not sure if i’m 100% convinced; i’m trying it and monitoring my hormones and myself. If i don’t think it’s working i’m going to stop it.
perhaps diet is the best way to regulate hormones - i’m not sure.
in tests on rats with iodine and progesterone creme it’s supposed to have killed cancer cells…
but who knows.
Wakame seaweed is sposed to be more effective than chemo drug 5 flouricil at killing cancer cells in thelab.