Are there any side effects using natural progesterone?

The Drug Information Sheet for natural progesterone provided by Lawley Pharmaceuticals reads: “Adverse Reactions … because progesterone creams contain the hormone identical to that produced by the human ovary, side effects are usually minimal. If experienced these may include breast tenderness and swelling, fluid retention or slight vaginal bleeding. Dizziness, nausea, fatigue, headaches and light headedness have been reported occasionally and usually disappear with adjustment of dose…”

The Natural-Progesterone-Advisory-Network.com website, whilst aware of this information, rarely sees cases where there is not a logical explanation for the abovementioned side effects. We interpret these symptoms as estrogen dominance wake-up crisis where the introduction of progesterone is ‘waking up’ and stimulating the estrogen receptors exacerbating the estrogen effects in the body.

These side effects may occur in cases of long-term use at high doses when not indicated and where breaks from cream have not been adhered to, or where inferior creams have been used. We talk about this all throughout our Resource Library, and provide techniques for overcoming estrogen dominance with the use of progesterone.

Like any drug it has side effects, good and bad. However, ‘bad’ in the case of progesterone does not indicate ‘dangerous’. Progesterone, being bio-identical, has a huge safety margin in the body with which to work within. For argument sake, a woman could apply a dose of 400mg progesterone (similar to levels of a pregnant woman in her last trimester), and perhaps experience a state of relaxation and drowsiness. This dosage would not represent a risk to her health even though the recommended physiological dose is 15-20mg, imitating the output of the ovaries at ovulation. This demonstrates the enormous flexibility of drug dosage levels, and its relative safety factor.

We do not recommend that you slap on 400mg of progesterone cream, we’re simply pointing out that should extra cream be necessary to treat your symptoms, it’s not going to harm or jeopardise your health, particularly when you body is using the progesterone you are applying.

In Australia, regardless of its good safety record and extremely low toxicity, and being used for years in women’s cosmetics, progesterone is still classified an ‘S4 poison’ because of the category it falls under rather than its drug characteristics.

As previously mentioned it has a huge safety margin, therefore, if you were to overdose you would probably go to sleep. In earlier years they used to use progesterone to control epilepsy with children so we know it has natural sedation effect.

Long periods of progesterone use without breaks can actually tone down the receptors and make the progesterone sites ineffective, creating estrogen dominant symptoms again. If the situation has occurred where progesterone has become ineffective, a break may be advisable for a month or two to restore and refreshen the receptor sites.

When you first start using Natural Progesterone cream you can start getting estrogen dominant symptoms (eg headaches, breakthrough bleeding because it is waking up the estrogen receptor sites). These will usually pass once your dosage becomes more normal. So don?t worry too much if that happens the first month or two. It is your body re-acquainting itself with progesterone. It is also stimulating the estrogen. Estrogen’s activity in the body is more ‘pronounced’.

We suggest this is a time to take a lot of phytoestrogens to counteract the estrogen wake-up period. This also can happen when you have had a break. It is a good sign that things are working, that the estrogen has been stimulated again and that progesterone is taking some effect on your body. We remind you that progesterone and estrogen sensitise each other thereby maximising their impact on the body. Either hormone out of balance will cause the other to tone down.

Possible side effects of progesterone:

Lethargy/sleepiness: Probably an effect of allopregnanolone, a by-product of progesterone on the brain.

Edema (water retention): Probably caused by excess conversion of deoxycortisone, a minerialcorticoid made in the adrenal glands.

Bloating: Excess progesterone slows gastrointestinal (GI) transport, and with the wrong kind of gastrointestinal flora such as candida this can lead to bloating and gas.

Lowered libido: Excess progesterone blocks an enzyme called 5 alpha reductase which normally causes conversion of testosterone to DHT. Testosterone is good for libido in both women and men. Excess may also down-regulate progesterone receptors.

Mild depression: Excess progesterone down-regulates estrogen receptors and brain response to estrogens is needed for serotonin production.

Symptoms of estrogen deficiency: Too much progesterone will down-regulate estrogen receptors and desentitise tissue to estrogen. Too little estorgen and you won’t get the benefit of progesterone because progesterone receptors are primed by estrogen receptors.