How do I switch from Microval to Natural Progesterone?

Hi Catherine,

My case must be a typical example of the the sort of stories you must hear everyday. I am 24 years old, for the past 6+- years I have been struggling with the very symptoms that you describe as being Estrogen dominance. Since I began menstruating I have had irregular periods, usually every 2 weeks, which of course is exhausting. I went to my doctor who naturally prescribed an estrogen and progesterone pill to regulate the problem. I felt AWFUL!! I swelled up 2 sizes in a matter of 2 weeks, developed literally all the symptoms possible to describe an hormonal imbalance.

I went back to the doctors several times only to be put on must have been about 6 different types of pills, until I decided that I could no longer put up with feeling so awful and discontinued all pills etc. My periods returned to being every 2 weeks or so. On the suggestion of a friend of mine, about 4 years ago I had a Depo Provera injection. My reaction to this was rather baffling. For once in very many years, the aching legs, water retention, puffiness and other physical discomfort I had felt for so long disappeared within a couple of days. I thought that my prayers had been answered - how wrong I was!

After about a week from having the injections, i had lost about 5kg (I am a small built person). I bled everyday since having the injection, but on top of that, my vision would completely black out and I fainted several times. Apart from that being unbearable, I broke out in eczema and felt absolutely ill. After about 3-4 weeks I was forced to go back to the doctor and was put on Melodene to regulate the periods again. I stayed on Melodene for a year and a half. In that time I thought all was fine. I wasn’t aware of how terribly depressed I was getting though. I thought it was perhaps stress related but it soon became apparent that I was unable to think clearly let alone socialise with friends or family. I had absolutely NO libido and felt emotionally dead. I also developed yellow / dark skin blotches on may face especially around my mouth. Even though my water retention problems and food cravings seems to subside somewhat the other side-effects were unbearable.

Once again I discontinued Melodene and reverted back to taking nothing. The same story persisted. My periods returned to being 2 weeks but to add to that my blue mood and lack of energy persisted. My PMS was an everyday occurance. I felt absolutely enraged all the time. By this time, after spending an obscene amount of money at gynies, doctors etc who were literally telling me my symptoms were psychosomatic, I figured out that my body does not like Estrogen. Every time I took estrogen in a pill I felt great. Progesterone made my feel loads better, but the side-effects of the injection were just too much to handle. I researched what I could take which wasn’t as strong as the Depo injection, but contained Progesterone. I hit on the mini-pil Microval that I have been on for over a year now. I felt fantastic for the first 3-4 months on Microval. However, now, a year-and a half later, the depression is back, my body aches constantly, fatigue is unbearable, my thinking is too foggy to mention. The water retention is back and bad. My legs are swollen and stiff.

I am 24 years old and feel like 100 yrs! I feel that I can’t cope with life. What is going on here? I am thinking of purchasing Natural Progesterone and discontinuing the Microval. How would I go about changing over treatments? How much cream would I use? When would I start? Please help!

Thank you,

Catherine

Dear Catherine,

I think it goes without saying you clearly react badly to artificial hormone replacement therapy - full stop!

You body’s response to these not-natural-to-the-body hormones paints a clear picture for all of us to draw our own conclusions. I personally maintain that artificial hormones can be for some women nothing short of a sledge-hammer approach to hormone balancing. And you are a perfect example of what I mean here. Hormone imbalance should be treated delicately and we should expect a cautious approach from our treating physician.

One could be forgiven for thinking our present medical system is symptom-fixated rather than investigating underlying causes. Certainly, your testimony above, and the hundreds of emails we receive each week, validates in no uncertain terms this viewpoint.

Did not any of these GPs you refer to here ask the obvious question, “What’s causing your hormones to be out of balance?” and follow up with appropriate tests?

If, in those early years, you presented with a classic set of estrogen dominance symptoms - making allowances for the fact your GP may not have understood the nature of estrogen dominance but was certainly in a position to identify hormone imbalance that required hormone replacement therapy - then you could have reasonably expected your GP to, at the very least, have checked your hormone levels! After all, how can a GP, in good conscience, recommend pumping artificial hormones into a young woman’s body if he or she has not first established a baseline hormonal profile prior to therapy to first establish which hormone is low and needs supplementing?

Here’s such an example. My own 18 year old daughter, Dominique, six months back, made an appointment with a local GP to seek help with facial acne. She’d moved out of home a few months before and, in my opinion, wasn’t looking after herself. Dommie, I suppose like most girls who embrace their freedom for the first time, had taken up smoking, skipping meals, drinking more frequently, staying out all night, etc., etc. (Sometimes parents just have to sit back, watch and hope their children grow some brains!)

In any case, she’s been on the tail-end of my hormone balancing lectures for years and, to her credit, had stood firm on avoiding the Contraceptive Pill. However, this particular GP, without ordering one single test, prescribed the pill called ‘Diane’ which, according to Dommie, made her acne worse, brought on dreadful period pain that appeared to radiate from the centre of her vagina, her boobs grew two sizes (leaving stretch marks) and were extremely tender to touch, she gained 5 kilos in one and a half months, and, on top of that, found herself battling depression!

Dommie stayed on the Pill for a maximum of three months before the side-effects became too much to tolerate. She is now arranging to have her hormone levels checked out and she may yet start progesterone supplementation if her estrogen levels are elevated and/or her progesterone to estrogen ratio is not within acceptable limits. Otherwise, she’s in relatively good health, her acne barely noticeable now that she’s on daily vitamin & mineral supplements, has introduced a quality herbal combination that assists in normalising physiological functions, and triggers the natural production of the progesterone, pays attention to her diet & proper elimination, stays away from the night clubs and drinking and smoking, gets plenty of rest and basically takes more responsibility for her own health.

Now back to you, Catherine! Are you estrogen dominant because you are not ovulating every month and are subsequently not manufacturing enough progesterone each cycle? Is your body perhaps under extreme, unrelenting physical or mental stress? Could it be that xenoestrogens (foreign estrogens) in your environment at home or in the workplace are contributing to your condition? Sleep deprivation, lack of exercise, dysfunction liver, thyroid problems, bad eating habits or an undiagnosed condition could all be at play here.

One could possibly argue that these synthetic hormones contained in the Contraceptive Pill that carry significant risks and side effects for a percentage of women have perhaps ‘muddied’ the diagnosis. By that I mean, ‘other’ health considerations such as fainting, bleeding every day, weight gain and then weight loss, dark skin blotches, black moods, fatigue, and so on that were not present prior to hormone replacement therapy are now very real health concerns.

Many women have adopted alternative therapies without the need for hormone replacement. And quite honestly, a less harmful, non-drug approach makes good sense as a primary intervention to hormone imbalance, and can be followed as part of a long-term maintenance program. These over-the-counter remedies (knowledge of which dates back centuries) have provided women with effective alternatives that enhance hormonal health and balance, rejuvenated energy and stamina, supported metabolism, aided weight loss, and counter-balanced depression, anxiety, and insomnia.

Your program might incorporate a balanced phytoestrogenic formulation, increasing your essential oils, supporting your liver and adrenal functioning through vitamin, mineral and liver formulation, eating foods that are compatible to your hormonal and metabolic characteristics, regular moderate exercise, getting plenty of rest and relaxation, and so on.

Certainly, if possible, source yourself a doctor skilled in natural medicine who embraces emerging procedures in preventive / nutritional medicine. I think most if not all of our subscribers reading this article would agree wholeheartedly that, at the very least, you deserve a far more caring and responsive healthcare provider who can offer you relief from the hellish ‘twilight zone’ you now find yourself.

If tests indicate you need to supplement progesterone, then natural-to-the-body progesterone cream as opposed to artificial progestin pills will, I believe, make all the difference in the world to how you feel about yourself … and how you then interact with the world around you.

Life will get a whole lot better for you, Catherine, once you discover how to balance your hormones.