Thinking Again About Progesterone/estrogen

[sue1234]

I was reading up on progesterone, and ran across an article about pregnancy, as it(progesterone) is the "hormone of pregnancy". I know I react badly to combo replacement, but can't try estrogen alone because I have a uterus. If I knew estrogen was the key to feeling well, I would have a hysterectomy in a flash! I was reading up on breathlessness, as I have that symptom, and others here were just talking about that yesterday!

I have had a constant ovarian cyst that goes between 2 - 4.5 cm. No pain. But, I always wondered if it was putting out progesterone, like a cyst would do right after you got pregnant. I ran across this article, which is NOT a medical journal, but answers from a doctor, and he said this about progesterone:

The pregnancy hormone progesterone also makes your body adapt the way it absorbs oxygen in your bloodstream via your lungs (Murray and Hassall 2009:204). As a result, your body becomes much more sensitive to the levels of carbon dioxide (the gas you breathe out) in your system.

These changes mean that your body does a better job of processing oxygen and carbon dioxide. You're breathing at the same rate as you did before you conceived. But now, with each breath, you breathe much more deeply (Bothamley and Boyle 2009:141). This is thought to be one of the main reasons that you feel breathless (Jensen et al 2009, Bothamley and Boyle 2009:141, Murray and Hassall 2009:204).

So then I started reading about estrogen and how it effects the cardiovascular system. I came across an article that talked about nitric oxide(?), NO, that Rama always talks about(and I'm still striving to learn about!). This did come from a medical journal, and really made me think.

http://circ.ahajournals.org/cgi/content/full/102/15/1828

If you read the first three paragraphs under the Introduction, you will see that it explains generally how estrogen/progesterone affect the renin-angiotensin system and the vascular tone.

I might ask my gyn if I can try 1-2 months of estrogen only and see what happens to my symptoms. I remember about 10 years ago, a "natural" MD prescribed me some progesterone pills(took them for 2 months only), and I noticed I started getting facial hair AND I was hotter after taking the pills. That is a big issue with me--soooo hot!!

[firewatcher]

Sue, after my hormone panels were done, progesterone was the only hormone that I had in normal levels. My doc has prescribed estrogen and testosterone WITHOUT progesterone ( I still have all my parts.) My endo had a duck! Until he repeated the month long hormone panel with me ON the "unopposed" estrogen and WOW! Now my hormone levels are all in the normal ranges instead of tanked at the bottom. My endo tried me on an estrogen/progesterone combo and it messed me up bad! I had awful bleeding every 12 days and my breast size increased and they were leaking again...... Back to "unopposed" estrogen again and wha-laa! I feel better and less symptomatic. It would be strictly off-label and completely trial and error, not all estrogens are the same and your body can absorb a transdermal instead of an oral or vice versa. It could make you better or worse, every-body is different.

[vemee]

I remember that Dr. Abdallah told "worried mom" that males can compensate for pots and blood pooling better than females because they do not have progesterone. This was in a thread earlier this year. I know nothing about it so I'll stop here.