I am building bone using natural progesterone and triest.

Hi Catherine,

Just wanted you to know that my primary doctor (who is retiring) called me to tell me that I am building bone. I told him I was using progesterone (natural) and triest (compounded and used thru the skin). He said in so many words “maybe it is the calcium & Vit D that is doing it”. Well, I have been taking calcium & Vitamin D for 7-8 years and no bone building, so it must be the progesterone & triest!! Also, the use of the progesterone/triest compounded dose was my idea.

I have been active in an organization called the Osteoporosis Awareness Group for the last 7 years, and this is the first time I have ever heard of my building bone. At least 6 months before the bone dexa test, I had been rubbing in my progresterone and triest!

Thank you,

Sheila

Sheila’s story provides anecdotal evidence [at least] of progesterone’s role in the successful treatement of osteoporosis - a condition where our body absorbs old bone quicker than it can rebuild new bone, leading to porous, honeycomb-like bone density.

The late Dr Lee gave us a perfect analogy of the two phases involved in keeping our bones strong. He suggests we think of the two players in bone integrity as ‘pacmen’. One class of ‘pacmen’ are the osteoclasts that move to various parts of your bone to find old bone and dissolve it away (bone resorption). Once this is completed, the other ‘pacmen’ called osteoblasts move on it to start building new bone (new bone formation). Then your body goes into a resting phase where your bones remain good for a certain length of time before it gets old and crystallises and our pacmen get back to work.
Sheila states that she’s applying both progesterone and triest (80% estriol, 10% estrone, and 10% estradiol) transdermal treatment daily. So which hormone / vitamin is doing what?

Well, we know that estrogen can slow the rate of bone loss by slightly poisoning the ‘osteoclasts’ thereby slowing down resorption, but it does not reverse it.

Vitamin D deficiency has been associated with greater incidence of hip fractures, and supplementation aids in the absorption of calcium, helping to form and maintain strong bones. But in Sheila’s case, adding Vitamin D and Calcium to her treatment plan over several years did not improve her bone mineral density.

This leads us back to the role progesterone plays in the treatment of osteoporosis. It would appear, then, that the most important factor in osteoporosis is the LACK of progesterone, which causes a decrease in new bone formation.

Mounting evidence suggests that progesterone receptors are present in ‘osteoblasts’ and that adding bioidentical progesterone will actively increase bone mass and density.

I thank sheila for sharing her story with us, and for passing on hope to other women battling the ravages of osteoporosis. By all accounts, this disease can indeed be reversed with the aid of bioidentical progesterone replacement therapy.

PS: Women in the USA will be familiar with the term “bone dexa test” - dual-energy X ray (DXA) of the hip. A bone mineral density (BMD) test measures the mineral density in the bone by bouncing a dual photon beam of light off the bone, measuring the difference in the density between bone and soft tissue.

PPS: Do you have a success story you’d like to share with us? Then please consider submitting a brief account for our readers to enjoy and draw inspiration from. Simply email me with a concise account of your ‘journey’ for submission to an upcoming edition of our newsletter.