Progesterone

[energyoverload]

Hey,

I keep trying to figure out as to whether or not progesterone is a bad thing in this disease. I'm aware that it's been found to increase XMRV replication. However I know that a deficiency of it can lead to many issues aswell. So I decided to try it. I took 1 tablet of micronized progesterone - I believe it is a synthetic version, maybe not the best form - but I tried the cream and I could feel no effect.

So some time after taking the progesterone I noticed a rather pronounced improvement in my energy and fatigue (or lack of therefore). This improvement lasted for several hours up until a point where I started to get an ever worsening migraine. The sockets of my eyeballs felt as if someone was pressing on them. And a sensation which can only be described as a feeling of severe pressure in the brain. It was almost as if my brain was inflamed or perhaps this sensation was due to water accumulation putting pressure on the tissues?

I find this reaction puzzling because on the one hand it markedly helped symptoms a lot, (progesterone has many anti-inflammatory properties and a metabolite acts as a GABA A receptor agonist...?!), but then later i felt in significant discomfort (could this in any way be increasing XMRV replication this quickly - i wouldn't have thought so?)

Please share your experiences with progesterone and any insight into these good and bad reactions! It's frustrating because initally it made a pronounced improvement to my symptoms!

Jake

 

[Sallysblooms]

I have no idea about what is does with men. I take it and other hormones, all compunded. They are wonderful. They and all of my supplements keep my body balanced and strong while I heal.

 

[tahoma]

I have had horrendous experiences with progesterone. I've tried it in different forms and on several occasions just to be sure. The frustrating thing is that on one hand I noticed some positive effects, such as improved energy, improved sleep, improved PMS, but the bad effects outweighed the good.

On the negative side, I experiened sudden water retention, abdominal bloating, re-emergence of the rash I got when I first became ill in 2000, dizziness, depression, and an overall exacerbation of my general symptoms.

I just have a feeling that the progesterone was kicking something up in me that was causing my illness to rear its really ugly head. I've decided I just can't tolerate it.

 

[Sallysblooms]

You do need to make sure the amount is right, taking blood tests etc. Everyone is different.

 

[heapsreal]

look into pregnenolone, its a precusor to other hormones that u may require. If your low in progesterone your body will use pregnenolone to make more progesterone and the same with other hormones. This mostly happens as it has improved my testosterone levels but only slightly increased my dhea levels. It can also improve cortisol levels, i havent got results of these yet but they are on the way. Cortisol is thought of as lowering immunity but to lower levels can also effect immunity in a negative way. Hormones are all about balance and your right in that too lower levels of hormones negatively impact our immune system. I dont know if theres enough studies to say that hormones negatively effect xmrv, i think what has been done is all test tube testing and when u look at most hormones they make everything grow. I think if we gave drugs to lower hormones in xmrv positive people they would feel alot worse.

I have read a study on hiv/aids patients where they gave them anabolic steriods which are hormones, to stop the muscle wasting alot of them suffer. What they found was that it helped them put on weight but they also found increases in immune markers. So if it does that to HIV patients without any negative impact, i would say it would possibly be similar to xmrv people.

Hormones is all about keeping them all in the correct ranges, going above ranges is what would possibly impact increases in xmrv replication, eg would be someone doing a bodybuilding type steriod cycle.

cheers!!!

 

[August59]

Male and female need progesterone. If our hormones are kept in balance, I find it hard to believe that our hormones will cause activation of XMRV unless they are out of balance which causes an excess of some and a deficency of others. Finding a really good physcian to help with this is very hard. I'm still looking!

 

[leela]

I have tried a progesterone oral spray several times, and each time it either gives me extra migraines (we're talking ten days out of the month)
or else makes me so insanely irritable it is just not worth it. I have had similar outrageous irritability from small amounts of estrogen and tiny amount of hydrocortisone. I am low on all these substances, so you'd think they would be my friend--once the info came out about XMRV I think that pretty well explained the situation, at least in my case. Whatever benefits are outweighed by a long shot by viral reactivation, it would seem.

 

[taniaaust1]

I went on the progesterone only pill (mini pill) for birth control after the birth of my daughter (before i got CFS/ME symptoms, thou i could of had XMRV back then), and it sent me into such a severe depressed state (within the first day of taking that first pill i started to go moody and from there got worst and worst while on it), that i ended up in a mental hospital for a week with depression. I stopped taking the mini pill and recovered.

Recently due to my extremely bad PMS (PMDD) thou i was scared of the idea due to my past horrific experience with progesterone, I trialed a natural progesterone cream. This natural form of it seemed to have no effects at all on me... good or bad. It didnt seem to trigger off possible XMRV.
...........

When I trialed testosterone (Im very deficient), Testosterone seemed to worsen my CFS and made me irritable.. that may of been triggering off XMRV in my case.

When I trialed cortisol (Im deficient in that to) that didnt make me better or worst.