goatmaru

hi everyone!
i'm a newbie interested in trying natural progesterone cream, because i'm not getting periods on my on.
after having been on yasmin bcp for a couple of years, i got off yasmin august 2005, to try to do it the herbal, natural way (vitex, dong quai, black cohosh) but have had only one period, in january 2006.
i went back on yasmin a month ago, but i've decided not to continue with it because the last month has been living hell for me! (i did ok the last time i was on yasmin, so i don't know what in my body has changed in the last year to reject this bcp so badly now.) huge cystic acne ALL OVER MY FACE, bloating, (i'm a pretty thin person with a pretty toned stomach, but lately i've been looking like a 6 month pregnant woman.) indigestion, trapped gas, depression, and weight gain of 5 pounds in like two weeks.
and since i know that i won't be getting periods on my own, i thought i'd try natural progesterone...
is NPC something that'll help me? i guess my main concern is to have regular periods so that at least my uterus lining won't get thick. but also wondering if the NPC will help with bloating, weight gain, and acne at all, or will it make these symptoms worse?
also, should i try soy as well? DH and i are not ttc yet (we're 26 and 27, so maybe in another 3-4 years, we'd love to start a family) but i would still like to have regular cycles.
i hope NPC is something that'll help me. i am so miserable right now (finished taking the active pills and on my period this week.) i was totally happy the last year i was off yasmin. since i didn't have periods at all, it also meant no crazy PMS, bloating, monthly water retention and all the good stuff. except for some acne, things really weren't too bad. i'm hoping the NPC will be something that'll help!
sorry that was so long... please share your NPC experiences and side effects!! and any other advice and help you can give will be greatly appreciated!!!
TIA!

Mallory

I have to ask you, how is your blood sugar? Are your insulin levels high? High blood sugar tends to set the anovulatory train in motion, so to speak. Are you taking medication or herbs to control your blood sugar levels?

As far as my own side effects/experiences with using NPC (so far), I have to say that the only side effect is that I sleep much more soundly.

I have read that estrogen dominance (aka low progesterone) can cause bloating, acne, weight gain, etc. So I would definitely recommend trying NPC to balance out your estrogen/progesterone levels. It's when you're out of balance that you get into trouble.

Sarendipitous

Let's see if I've got this right...during a normal cycle, after ovulation the corpus luteum starts producing progesterone. The rise in prog. levels is what causes most of the mild PMS symptoms like sore breasts, bloating, fatigue, etc. If no pregnancy occurs, the prog. levels drop and that signals the uterus to shed its lining and start over. Once the prog. drops, usually most of the symptoms will disappear. So by using NPC, you're basically giving your corpus luteum a boost since many cysters have small or weak corpus luteums in the first place. So the side effects for NPC would be similar to those of PMS, but I don't think they are as bad as when your prog. is too low.

As far as thick lining...my endo told me that because my testosterone levels were high, it was inhibiting my estrogen production, meaning my lining wasn't getting thick enough to need to be sloughed off so I wasn't having a period at all. Basically estrogen dominance. So he put me on Metformin ER to regulate my hormone levels. After being on it for about 3 months, I finally got a period, so I'm assuming that it regulated my testosterone so my body had enough estrogen to give me a thick enough lining to shed. I don't know much about vitex and the other herbs, but from the reading I've done on here, they should have essentially the same effect as metformin. I don't know if you want to give metformin a try if the herbs aren't working for you, but it's a thought.

BCP's...when you have PCOS and your hormones are all screwy anyway, sometimes adding in more hormones can just make the problems worse. Especially if the hormones you're adding only serve to make the imbalance worse (ie if you've got too much estrogen, adding in more estrogen wouldn't be a good idea.) After all the years I was on birth control, I'm against BCP's anyway, as well as any other form of BC that involves hormones, because I truly think that they screwed me up worse than I already was. So you may want to consider getting off the bcp's completely and using another form of BC until you get your body squared away.

I know that didn't answer all of your questions, but I hope it helped a little.

DollFin511

Natural products tend to work more slowly than drugs. I also used BCP and hated how they made me feel. I didn't get a period for 6 months after I stopped, but I got one this month after using all natural methods for those 6 months. One thing I did notice right away was that the NPC made me feel better. It did help me with bloating, back ache and other PMS symptoms. Although I didn't get my period, every month I would get severe siatica pain (however it is spelled) caused by inflammation of female organs (most likely the ovaries) which put pressure on the siatic nerve. The NPC aleved that pain when nothing else did.

But the main point is that natural things work slowly because they help your body heal rather than doing its' job. Don't give up on the natural side... It will do your body much good. Everything I read talks about how sensitive the PCOS' sufferer's body is to unnatural and artificial things, in a negative way. So don't give up!

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- feel good, use NSP!

Mallory

This is an interesting thought, but perhaps those PMS symptoms are due to low progesterone levels? I think it's possible to ovulate and still have lower than ideal progesterone levels....

goatmaru

thanks everyone for all the advice!
i honestly have no idea what my hormone levels, blood sugar levels, etc. are... i started menstruating at age 13, and periods were pretty normal and regular for the most part. (not exactly 28 days, but i WOULD get one about every month (anywher between 30-35 days) or so.) after age 16, i did have some periods that lasted for almost a month, but still, it wasn't TOO bad. until after i got married. that was around 2001 when all of a sudden, i started breaking out (i had perfect skin even during puberty) a little, gained a little weight, had difficulty losing the weight, periods were out of control (month long AFs sometimes, and no AF for a few cycles, etc.), and thinning hair, depression, etc.
i went to a few OBGYNs, but for the longest time no one took me seriously b/c i was underweight. even after the 10-15 pound weight gain, i was only 110 lbs. or so, and they thought i was just some young girl obsessed with weight, or something. but really, everyone has a natural weight that their bodies were comfortable at, and even if the numbers were considered "underweight", something is wrong if i just kept gaining weight for no reason. the docs did find a bunch of pearly little cysts on my ovaries and immediately just put me on BCP loestrin, instead of doing extensive bloodwork for PCOS or thyroid. i went on the BCP and had a horrible amount of side effects the first month and got off of it. that's when everything SERIOUSLY went downhill. to this day, i wonder if it's going on those BCPs that really messed me up. i completely stopped having periods and all the other symptoms got worse. acne, hair thinning, depression...
so more doc appointments later, they put me on a different pill, yasmin this time. i was on it for about a year and things were actually not too bad. it didn't take away all the symptoms and i was still having a hard time losing the weight i had gained (aobut 20 lbs. by then) but i was having regular periods on it. after about a year, i decided to go off the pills again, because i wanted to try a natural method. i had never felt comfortable with the idea of being on the BCP for long term. and again, after going off the pill, i stopped having periods for 8 months and when i finally got one, i bled for freaking 3 months straight.
again, i went on the pill, because i wouldn't stop bleeding. again, on yasmin. i stayed on it for about 2 years and this time, again, things were "ok". not great, but ok. and finally, in august 2005, i decided to try going off the pill for good and really seriously start using natural methods. i was just really tired and burned out. so i started diligently taking vitex, dong quai, and black cohosh. but sadly, between august 2005 and july 2006, i only had one AF. in january 2006. but other than the lack of AF, i felt really good. started running and was back down to about 105-107 lbs. (which sounds low, but i have the tiniest bones and this is where i feel good. anything over 110 lbs., i feel sluggish and tired.) so everything was really good the last year off the pills but since i wasn't having AF, this new doc i went to see for a yearly pap smear, talked me into going on yasmin again. i told her that i feel BCP is only masking the symptoms, but she said it's actually "treating" the symptom. it may not be curing it, but it IS treating, she said. she said to think of it like blood pressure medications. it doesn't cure high blood pressure, but it is necessary to keep the condition under control. since with PCOS, my body is not able to have regular AFs and shed the uterus lining on its own, etc., i do need the help of the pills to do that for me. and she said she understood how frustrating it must be and that i must be just mentally and emotionally drained and tired and burned out (i was!) but that i should just accept that i will most likely have to be on the pill until menopause. i didn't like the thought of going on the pill again, but she convinced me that it actually helps prevent cancers, etc. and i reallly am better off on BCP than not. so.... that's why i went back on it a month ago...
but this time, everything was not "OK". it was the most horrible i've felt since the whole PCOS thing started in 2001. acne was always only mild to moderate, even at my worst times, but this time it is SEVERE. i have huge red painful cystic acne ALL over my face. but at the same time, my skin is dehydrated and tight at the same time. and i've gained 5 pounds without a change in my diet. so this time, i'm going off the pill for good. i'm gonna give vitex and dong quai, soy, etc. one more try. and i'm looking into adding NPC this time. even the doc agreed this time that i should go off the pills, since the acne is so bad and the scars can be permanent if i keep breaking out at this rate.
so yeah, that's my story. sorry that was sooooooooooooooooooooooo long and all over the place. i'm such a private person and all this time, i have not shared my frustration, feelings, and anything about how this horrible PCOS was making me feel with anybody, except my incredible, loving DH. it's so nice to find this community of amazing women! you guys all are so great, so helpful, and are full of latest information on PCOS!!!
if you care to add any more insights, advice, and comments, please do so!
oh, and i will defianately be going back to the doctor to see if i can have her do a full blood panel and hormone tests to see exactly WHAT hormones are lacking or overproducing, etc.

thanks again, everyone, for great advice!!!

goatmaru

oh, and one more thing! what do you guys think of those online saliva hormone testing kits that you mail in...? is that something i should order and see? i saw it on dr. john lee's website.
TIA!

Mallory

Very, very good idea. It's hard to fix something if you don't know exactly what's broke

Also, get checked to see if you are insulin resistant, and to what extent.

Mallory

I use the ZRT testing kits, and I find them helpful. I don't have a doctor that I trust right now, so I like the fact that I can monitor myself to some degree. It costs $30 a hormone with ZRT, usually.

R0xyg4l

NPC will definetly help regulate your menstrual cycles. I took it for four days and got a visit for AF (I almost wished it wasn't so soon though lol)... You can also find some formulas like Arbonne Phytoprolief which has a lot of different herbs in it that may help with the other side effects of PCOS. Good luck!

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