Excerpted from WHAT YOUR DOCTOR MAY NOT TELL YOU ABOUT PREMENOPAUSE by John R. Lee, M.D. and Virginia Hopkins

WHAT WOMEN HAVE TO SAY ABOUT THE EFFECTS OF USING NATURAL PROGESTERONE CREAM

• “It's as if my body breathed a big sigh of relief .”
  
  
• “My life is back on track and my symptoms are gone.”
  
  
• “I thought my ability to think clearly was gone for good, but it's back
  and better than ever.”
  
  
• “I had a second ultrasound and the fibroid is half the size it was six
  months ago. My doctor says I don't need to have a hysterectomy after all.”
  
  
• “My PMS and tender breasts are a thing of the past. And I'm in control
  of my emotions the week before my period.”
  
  
• “After three months on progesterone, folic acid and vitamin B6 I am no
  longer testing positive for cervical dysplasia.”
  
  
• “Since I began using progesterone cream I haven't had one migraine headache.”
  
  
• “I've lost 11 pounds and I think most of it was water weight. I no longer
  feel like a balloon.”
  
  
• “I can sleep again and I'm much less moody and anxious.”
  
  
• “We just wanted to let you know that we had a healthy baby boy.”

These are the kinds of letters, faxes and phone calls that doctors using natural hormones receive every day from women whose premenopausal symptoms clear up
after they begin using a natural progesterone cream. It may sound too good
to be true, but it's merely a case of supplying the body with what it needs
to maintain balance. You've read about how out of balance our estrogenic environment
has become; it's no wonder women are feeling much better when they use some
progesterone.

Unlike estrogen, progesterone is not a generic name but is the name of the
hormone produced by the corpus luteum after ovulation, and in smaller quantities
by the adrenal gland. It is synthesized in humans in a biochemical pathway
leading from cholesterol to pregnenolone to progesterone. In turn, progesterone
is the precursor of corticosteroids and testosterone. Progesterone is also
synthesized, in copious amounts, by the placenta during pregnancy.

Progesterone is a specific molecule made by mammals and has multiple roles
in your body. It effects every tissue in your body including the uterus, cervix,
and vagina, the endocrine (hormonal) system, brain cells, fat metabolism, thyroid
hormone function, water balance, peripheral nerve myelin sheath synthesis,
bone cells, energy production and thermogenesis, the immune system, survival
and development of the embryo, and growth and development of the fetus. Though
referred to as a sex hormone, progesterone conveys no specific secondary sex
characteristics and as such cannot be called a male or female hormone.

Progesterone is highly fat-soluble compound exceedingly well absorbed when
applied transdermally or onto the skin. According to hormone researcher David
Zava, Ph.D., progesterone is by far the most lipophilic, or fat-loving, of
the steroid hormones. It circulates in the blood, carried by fat-soluble substances
such as red blood cell membranes. Some 70 to 80 percent of ovary-made progesterone
is carried on red blood cells and thus is not measured by serum or plasma blood
tests. This progesterone is available to the body for use, and readily filters
through the saliva glands into saliva where it can be measured accurately.
The remaining 20 to 30 percent of progesterone in the body is protein-bound
and is found in the watery blood plasma where it can be measured by serum or
plasma blood tests. However, only 1 to 9 percent of this progesterone is available
to the body for use. That is why saliva testing is a far more accurate and
relevant test than blood tests in measuring bio-available progesterone.

The fall of progesterone levels at menopause is proportionately much greater
than the fall of estrogen levels. While estrogen falls only 40 to 60 percent
from baseline on average, progesterone can decline to nearly zero. Furthermore,
anovulatory cycles in premenopausal women will cause low progesterone levels on and off throughout
the premenopausal years.

To read more about Natural Progesterone, please read Dr. John Lee's books, What
Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Menopause or What Your Doctor
May Not Tell You About Premenopause.