Balancing Creams

I've been using progesterone cream on and off for about two years.

Dr. Lee wrote a book (I've mentioned it before) called What Your Doctor May Not Have Told You About Pre-Menopause. In it he talks about estrogen dominance and how supplementing your progesterone can counteract too much estrogen. Some symptoms include: "Aging Acceleration, Allergies, Autoimmune Disorders, Bloating, Breast Tenderness, Decreased Sex Drive, Depression, Fat Gain, Fatigue, Fibrocystic Breasts, Foggy Thinking, Gallbladder Disease, Headaches, Hypoglycemia, Increased Blood Clotting, Increased Risk of Strokes, Infertility, Irritability, Lupus Erythematosus, Memory Loss, Miscarriage, Premenopausal Bone Loss, PMS, Thyroid Dysfunction, Thyroiditis, Uterine Cancer, Uterine Fibroids, Water Retention."

Okay, that's a big list and if you have anything on there more serious than water retention or breast tenderness, please talk to a reproductive endocrinologist who specializes in bio-identical hormones. For the rest of us who might just be a little grumpy or have trouble with irregular cycles, you might want to do some reading about progesterone supplements.

I just started up again a few months after surgery but I changed my regimen recently.

Because of my vaginal dryness problem (not enough lubrication for comfortable intercourse), I've added some phytoestrogens in.

Here's what I'm using (there are others, this is just what I've found): Arbonne PhytoProlief. It's listed as a recommended product on Dr. Lee's website. It comes in a 2.5 ounce pump bottle (so it always dispenses the same 1/4 teaspoon treatment) and retails for $30. I signed up with Arbonne as a consultant so that I could get a discount (I don't sell to anyone else, just myself) so that costs about $20 a year in order to save 35% off everything (good deal, eh?). Honestly, it's one of the most cost effective products I've found.

I use it from time of ovulation until my "period". Only once a day (I only need a little boost). Basically when using progesterone cream, you just apply a metered dose to an area of the body where you have thin skin. I cycle between applying it directly to my breasts (which can get sore during my pre-menstural cycle), tummy, inside of my legs and inside of my arms. The breasts get cycled in a little more often than the other spots, because that's where I figure I need a boost when they're sort, but applying in one place consistently can cause progesterone to build up on those tissues and not be released to where it needs to go.

I really think it's working. Well, it's hard to tell what is because of the hysterectomy and what is because of the balancing cream, but my face is in my better condition and my acne I used to get on my back is nearly gone.

Posted by Elizabeth M. on April 12, 2005 3:45 PM