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just started low dose progesterone for sleep, lets see what happens???

heapsreal

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Firstly i will say im male and yes progesterone is known to be used in females but males also make a small amount as well. Progesterone can help with adrenal fatigue and help with making cortisol, it also has antianxtiety effects and improve gaba receptor sensitivity so the calming neurotransmitter gaba works more efficiently and therefore help improve deep slow wave sleep known as stage 4 sleep, so this is what im hoping for anyway. For men progesterone can help with enlarged prostate problems too and for both sexes helps with estrogen dominant cancers and estrogen dominance in general

From what i have read, the best way to take it is in a transdermal cream which is absorbed more slowly and evenly then tablets etc. common dosages for women is 20mg and for men is 5-10mg. best time of the day is to take it at night so it can help improve sleep but i suppose if anxiety is bad during the day then doses can be divided and taken morning and night. I have read it can take 2 weeks to see sleep improvements, so we will see what happens there.

So tonight i used about 10mg of prog cream and i plan to try and use it about 2 hours or so before i go to bed. I will continue with sleep meds and see if sleep still improves and then try and slowly taper off my sleep med use. My long term plan is to be able to sleep naturally without sleep meds. Im still using pregnenolone cream in the morning and this to can increase progesterone levels as well but tends to be an energizing hormone and can help increase other hormones that may be low and require bumping up, or so the theory go's. I am getting good energy from it but have to be careful not to use to higher doses or it disrupts my sleep.

So my journey begins to get blissful sleep.

cheers!!!
 

heapsreal

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Early days, but did sleep well last night and didnt wake up several times during the night which is what normally happens with the meds i used last night. I was feeling nice and relaxed before i took my zopiclone so may try and just sleep on my own tonight with just the prog. Did wake feeling a little groggy though.

cheers!!!
 

john66

Senior Member
Messages
159
I always found that Zopiclone/Lunesta seems to stop working for me. I have tried the progest cream as well, maybe I gave up on it too early or was using too much. It seemed to make me more zombie like during the day. The pregnenelone, I agree is energising, but it made me sweat like crazy, which Ill trade for energy. BP went way too high and kind of gun shy to try it again.
 

heapsreal

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I always found that Zopiclone/Lunesta seems to stop working for me. I have tried the progest cream as well, maybe I gave up on it too early or was using too much. It seemed to make me more zombie like during the day. The pregnenelone, I agree is energising, but it made me sweat like crazy, which Ill trade for energy. BP went way too high and kind of gun shy to try it again.

hi john, i think with pregnenolone you have to find the right dosage, 50-100mg is what is recommended on alot of internet sites and this is way too high for me, i find 10mg is just the right dose for energy without overstimulating me or disrupting sleep. I am still feeling alittle sluggish today, maybe from the progesterone cream, so thanks for sharing your experience, i will see if it continues. How long did u use progesterone cream for?? Maybe its something that could ware of with time or a dose reduction.

cheers!!!
 

heapsreal

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ok, start of night 2 on prog cream, after an hour or so i didnt feel that nice relaxed feeling i had last night another hour later not much so i took my sleep meds, within a 1/2 hour bang i couldnt keep my eyes open, so off to bed i stumbled, out like a light. an hour later here i am, mmm??? what the? Im giving this 2 weeks to see improvements and to stabilize my hormones. I will be happy if the improvement in gaba sensitivity just improves the effectiveness of my sleep meds actually, but the big goal is no meds, might have to put if abit further off into the distance and think i got lucky the first night. I have popped a zopiclone and hopefully sleep through the night, thats always a plus.

I will post in the morn on how i slept,

cheers!!!
 

john66

Senior Member
Messages
159
I tried for about two weeks and then gave upon progesterone. On preg, I was taking 15 mg. I am thinking of taking 1.25, and then going up from there. I just ordered 5 mg tabs and I'll break them into quarters. It was my wife's 40th birthday on sunday, had some wine and did not sleep till 7 am, my theory is that when I drink, dopamine gets going and sleep is impossible. I took 3 zopiclone over the course of 8 hours, trying to sleep. What a waste, it is absurdly expensive here. I also have tried phenylalanine and tyrosine to get the dopamine going in the day, but bp and anxiety always kicks in. How did my body manage this all by itself way back when??? Hope you slept through.J
 

heapsreal

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well it seems i still need the sleep meds to get off to sleep but the progesterone is definately improving sleep quality and i have that teenage quality of feeling really drowsy in the morning and just cant get going for awhile, may need to play around with the dosage to try and avoid being too hungover. I did end up sleeping 8 hours in a row though which is unheard of even though i slept for an hour and woke up early in the night, so Im in the ball park.

john66 i have heard and read that pregnenolone cream is better then taking tablets as its absorbed slower and more evenly and not dumped into the system like oral doses, but its a trial and error thing i guess to as some respond well to oral preg. some of the pregnenolone creams u can control the amount u pump out eg 1/2 pump is 7.5mg, 1/4 pump is 3.75mg etc For dopamine have u tried zyban/wellbutrin, i have found 1/2 of a 150mg sr tab works well with a calm sort of energy not overstimulated like i get from ssri's, but i use the wellbutrin irregularily. John i found that i would get overstimulated easily from preg and other stimulant type meds easily until i had my viral causes controlled, once i had them to within normal rangers i seem to tolerate them better.

cheers!!!
 

heapsreal

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I tried for about two weeks and then gave upon progesterone. On preg, I was taking 15 mg. I am thinking of taking 1.25, and then going up from there. I just ordered 5 mg tabs and I'll break them into quarters. It was my wife's 40th birthday on sunday, had some wine and did not sleep till 7 am, my theory is that when I drink, dopamine gets going and sleep is impossible. I took 3 zopiclone over the course of 8 hours, trying to sleep. What a waste, it is absurdly expensive here. I also have tried phenylalanine and tyrosine to get the dopamine going in the day, but bp and anxiety always kicks in. How did my body manage this all by itself way back when??? Hope you slept through.J

Hi john66,
I recently heard that oral pregnenolone can have good antianxiety effects as it can take a different pathway then transdermal preg, apparently oral pregnenolone can convert to progesterone and make you feel more relaxed and help sleep. Im thinking of trying oral prgnenolone myself down the track. let us know how you go on it.

cheers!!!
 

heapsreal

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Night 3 on progesterone cream, its abit hard to adjust the dosage as its a pump despenser but i tried a lower dose between 5-10mg this time. Had some problems falling asleep and still needed sleep meds but slept about 7 hours straight, hard to wake up as had to take kids to school. So there definately something to progesterone thats helping, its seems that now its just sleep initiation is my problem, once asleep all is good, so its improved. The cream i am using is a natural bioidentical cream which is 20mg per pump that i ordered over the internet with no prescription needed. I think though i will talk to my doc about it and get a prescription for progesterone cream so i can get it from my local compounding pharmacy as its easier to calculate the dosage used and can also use less cream to apply same dosage. I will get all my hormones rechecked and see where pregenolone and progesterone have gone as they can convert/top up other hormones, im hoping my dhea comes up but if it doesnt i will look at supplementing with it but in a low dose oral form.

cheers!!!
 

maddietod

Senior Member
Messages
2,859
My naturopath just put me on "Kavinace" 2 tablets per night, for sleep. It doesn't help me stay asleep, but that + 100mg 5HTP helps me get to sleep. Might help you? Amazon here sells it, Amazon.uk doesn't, so I don't know if it's available in Australia.
 

heapsreal

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Thanks madie, i do take 2000mg of tryptophan which works similar to 5htp, i also use withania and phosphatidyleserine which help with high night time cortisol and sometimes melatonin. Med wise im using baclofen, an antihistamine and either zopiclone or valium which i alternate with. Prior to progesterone i would still wake several times during the night and maybe surf the net for 1/2 hour or so and then sleep for another hour or so and repeat etc. For the time being the progesterone is keeping me asleep, just need that hammer at the start to get me to nod off, lol
Just looked up kavinace, contains b6, taurine and phenibut. i have used phenibut in the past and it was quite good for sleep but eventually stopped working, might be time to try it again. What dose do u use maaadie??

cheers!!!
 

maddietod

Senior Member
Messages
2,859
2 tabs a night. They're quite clever on the label, saying 950mg of their proprietary blend; no breakdown of the amount of phenibut.

I tried phosphatidyleserine and got no help from it, sigh. Melatonin itself keeps me awake, and the phospha-stuff did the same. I'll look into withania, as I do have high nighttime cortisol.

I must say, this is hardly a magic bullet. It works 4-5 of 7 nights, but sometimes (like last night!) I'm still "napping" all night.
 

heapsreal

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10,089
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Used abit less progesterone cream last night, i woke up fully once and took some trypto, pit stop etc and then went back to sleep. I did wake a few more times but just rolled over and went back to sleep. A couple of hours after using the cream last night i got that slight tingling energy boost and sweats like i do if on too much pregnenolone, but it only lasted an hour and then i took my sleep meds and zonked out. Sometimes these hormones can back fill into other hormones like cortisol etc, at a guess im thinking that may have happened to me last night for a short while but overall i slept better then without progest. It wont be till december until i can get all my hormones tested, i will be keen to see how everything is effected. I will do a few nights without progesterone and see if my sleep is different again. Overall my mood and energy is good and feels like its getting better.

cheers!!!
 

Sallysblooms

P.O.T.S. now SO MUCH BETTER!
Messages
1,768
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Southern USA
My naturopath just put me on "Kavinace" 2 tablets per night, for sleep. It doesn't help me stay asleep, but that + 100mg 5HTP helps me get to sleep. Might help you? Amazon here sells it, Amazon.uk doesn't, so I don't know if it's available in Australia.

I was on Kavanase for a while. Now my doc has me on 5htp am and pm. I take Adrecor and Norlox, same company. I like their stuff and the testing they have. My doctor uses it.
 

heapsreal

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Messages
10,089
Location
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Sleeping well still on progesterone once i get to sleep, definately seems to have improved my sleep quality. Still some sleep initiating problems which i still use meds for but im not waking up every couple of hours etc etc and waking feeling crappy. In general i think the better sleep is helping but also progesterone helps adrenal fatigue by helping with cortisol and other hormone production. Im getting between 7-8 hours straight sleep and overall stamina is good and generally have a good feel throught the whole day, i nice calm type of feeling.

Touch wood im not just going through a good spell as i havent felt this good in ages, and hopefully no crashes occurr.

cheers!!!
 

heapsreal

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10,089
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Still having some sleep initiating problems, so need meds to get me off to sleep, but still sleeping through quite well.
Yesterday was an ordinary day, i didnt take my morning dose of pregnenolone which i did on purpose to see how i would go, wow i felt like crap, struggled to sit on computer for more then a few minutes at a time and had this wave of fatigue and brain fog, it was that old cfs feelings, yuk. so in the afternoon i took a small dose of pregnenolone and by night time i felt more normal. I only use such a small dose but its making a big difference, i think my poor old adrenal glands are shot to pieces, but its going to take time to get this extra improvement treating adrenals, now that i have the viral side of things sorted(touch wood).

cheers!!!
 

maddietod

Senior Member
Messages
2,859
I'm so relieved you're getting my name right. Why does everybody think it's Maddy? Madie, like Sadie, or Davy. I mean, who says Saddie? Or Davvy? Really!
 

CAcfs

Senior Member
Messages
178
I took the U.S. progesterone prescription that is naturally derived, from yams or something. It is a little pink squishy sphere, filled with something, kinda like a Vit E capsule.

We didn't do any bloodwork when I went on it, just tried it. Anyways, my cycles started getting REALLY short, so I stopped it! I had like a 16 or 18 day cycle! EEEEK! But I was taking it all month. Just something to watch out for! Good luck!

I am now taking Tryptophan at night, and that's working out well.