Chemotherapy and Natural Progesterone

Can I use natural progesterone while undergoing chemotherapy?

We don’t know medically if there is a reason why you can’t, except that the endocrinologists may be very adamant about no other form of treatment. Some even frown on taking vitamins. Yet some women have reported initiating progesterone replacement therapy because they’ve asked their doctor if they can take ‘natural’ supplements throughout their treatment and the doctor has indicated that’s fine.

Throughout surgery, many women have continued to take their progesterone prior to, and directly after surgery as it appears to assist their body with the stresses and the corticosteroid pathway. The body may be in shock and traumatised, so progesterone can actually help build other vital steroid hormones.

We know for a fact that when the body is stressed – whether it be mental, emotional or chemical – it will actually take more progesterone in the form of cortisol. Often women will suffer the next month as a result with period problems or heavier bleeding, or headaches and signs of estrogen dominance. This is purely because progesterone levels that would normally sustain the body are just not enough under stress.

Surgery is therefore one of those qualifying periods where we say to women, if you can’t take progesterone during surgery, certainly increase your dose prior to, and resume progesterone application directly afterwards where possible, particularly if used cyclic. You need to try and follow those cycles as closely as you can, otherwise you may be throwing the rhythm of the body out.

Whatever you do, don’t undertake progesterone replacement therapy behind your doctor’s back. Progesterone will have an impact on your endocrine system (which might baffle your doctor), so be upfront at all times.

Related information

To search our archives for articles relating to this subject please click here.