Asthma, Inhaled Steroids and Natural Progesterone
Dear Catherine
I’ve have just started using progesterone, however, I noticed an article in which a woman was saying that she had read that you shouldn’t use cortisone and natural progesterone cream.
I am premenopause and I am a chronic asthmatic, and I use inhaled steroids. I use an asmanex inhaler daily. What would you advise on this? I felt I was estrogen dominant and so far the progesterone seems to be helping quite nicely.
Sincerely,
KC
Catherine Responds
Dear KC,
In my research on the subject you raised in your email above, I discovered some information by the late Dr John Lee captured in the re-write of his groundbreaking publication ‘What Your Doctor May NOT Tell You About Menopause’.
Dr Lee writes how a middle aged woman came to him with a problem of advanced osteoporosis caused by 10 or more years of cortisone medication taken for chronic asthma. She had shrunk about eight inches in height. Every attempt to wean her off cortisone had resulted in symptoms of Addison’s disease – severe weakness as a result of adrenal gland failure – and a return of her asthma.
Her adrenal cortex was so suppressed by the long-term use of cortisone medication that it could not return to function on its own. She had been told the cause of her allergic asthma was aspirin (acetyl-salicylate), which she strictly avoided. Nobody had told her of the salicylates found naturally in food.
Dr Lee provided her with a list of salicylate-containing foods to avoid and recommended vitamin C in divided doses to 4 grams total a day, plus progesterone cream for its important role as a precursor to cortisone synthesis. Dr Lee then instructed this particular lady to slowly reduce her cortisone medication dosage.
Two months later she returned to see Dr Lee feeling well and off medication for the first time in 10 years. With continued use of progesterone, her bones became stronger again, greatly reducing her risk of fracture.
This case teaches us that …
- treating a disease’s cause is better than treating its symptoms
- the knowledge and application of nutrition is important to the health of all cells
- aiding normal health-giving mechanisms is better than suppressing normal functions
- our natural ability to heal and be well is far too great an asset to ignore (or inhibit)
People taking drugs like cortisone over a long period of time all develop osteoporosis. Both progesterone and glucocorticoids compete for receptor sites in osteoblasts. However the “message” brought to the molecule by each of the two hormones is quite different. The message of progesterone to the osteoblast is to stimulate new bone formation, whereas the message of glucocorticoids is to suppress that action.
When glucocorticoids exceed normal production, as in Cushing’s disease, osteoporosis results. A three-year study published in the NEJM shows that even small, inhaled doses of synthetic glucocorticoids can deplete bone. Inhaled triamcinolone acetonide in pre-menopausal women aged 18 to 45 caused a dose-related decline in bone density, especially at the total hip and the head of the thigh bone.
Therefore, to answer your question, progesterone supplementation may very well impact on your current asthma medication. But, if you believe there is a chance you can get well again, progesterone will certainly play a part in restoring bone integrity and your overall health. From what you’re telling me, you’re already feeling its benefits!
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