It is important that progesterone levels are kept stable in order to maintain good health. In women, these levels can vary, but rarely in men. Because progesterone levels start to drop after 12/13 hours, it is so important to use progesterone cream no less than twice a day to prevent the levels from spiking.
Progesterone is very important and plays a major role in the body. Progesterone:
Progesterone levels rise sharply during the luteal phase of the monthly cycle, more than the follicular phase. Levels rise from less than 1ng/L to 20-40ng/mL. Saliva levels are higher, please read The Paradox ZRT Labs.
Progesterone levels should always be tested when progesterone peaks at mid-luteal phase which occurs approximately 7 days after ovulation or before bleeding in ALL women. Low levels are found for the rest of the month, or it rises in the early luteal or falling in the late luteal. Therefore it is pointless testing levels any other time.
It makes no difference when men have their levels tested.
There are two things that are important when testing progesterone levels:
Often women who supplement with a progesterone cream are told that their levels are far too high which causes concern for some women. However, there is no need for concern, the main concern is whether or not all adverse symptoms of excess estrogen have cleared. If there are no adverse symptoms, then the amount of progesterone cream can be reduced slowly until you reach an amount that suits you. Please read How to use Progesterone Cream.
Fluctuating progesterone levels, coupled with the rise and fall of estrogen levels cause:
The ratio between progesterone and estrogen is vital, if they fluctuate, problems arise. If there is too much estrogen in relation to progesterone then all hell can break loose. The ratio between progesterone:estrogen (E2) should be around 600:1.
The range given by most labs is 10-100 progesterone to 1 oestrogen. But to feel really well the ratio should be 600:1 and over. Please read the Hormone Testing page.
Estrogen being an excitatory hormone, causes cells to divide and multiply, including fat cells. Excess estrogen is implicated in:
Please read the Estrogen Dominance, HRT and Contraceptive pages for more information.
Progesterone is a calming, anti-inflammatory hormone which reverses the above symptoms.
Sadly there are well over 100 Estrogen mimics in our Environment today. They are in our food, air, water, plastics, skin care products especially sunscreens to name but a few. They all affect our health and how we feel, men included. For more information please read Our Stolen Future and Skin Deep.
It is so important to make sure that the balance between progesterone and estrogen is correct.
Please read this important page - Saliva Hormone Testing by Dr David Zava.
See details on complete Hormone Testing.
SALIVARY HORMONE LEVELS ARE OFTEN HIGHER THAN SERUM (BLOOD) LEVELS WHEN A TRANSDERMAL CREAM IS USED.
Many are confused when it comes to saliva testing as progesterone delivered transdermally causes a dramatic increase in salivary hormones and not with serum levels. For example, 30mg of progesterone cream results in an average rise in salivary levels from about 50pg/ml (0.05ng/ml) to 500-3000pg/ml (0.5 - 3ng/ml, a 10-60 fold increase. This increase is even greater when 100-200mg is used per day. This results in salivary progesterone levels to rise as high as 10,000-100,000pg/ml (10-100ng/ml). Whereas serum progesterone levels only increase by about 4 fold, from about 0.5 to 2-3ng/ml. The same disproportionate increase in salivary hormone levels is seen with the use of transdermal delivery of all the other hormones i.e. estradiol, testosterone, DHEA etc. See ZRT Saliva test kits.
Depending on how severe symptoms are, women should use between 100-200mg per day, more if symptoms are extreme. Men should use between 10-100mg per day. Please read How to use Progesterone Cream for more information.
Please read the following pages:
This is a good website for converting SI Units for Clinical Data.
"All systems of weights and measures, metric and non-metric, are linked through a network of international agreements supporting the International System of Units. The International System is called the SI, using the first two initials of its French name Systme International d'Units. The key agreement is the Treaty of the Meter (Convention du Mtre), signed in Paris on May 20, 1875. 48 nations have now signed this treaty, including all the major industrialized countries. The United States is a charter member of this metric club, having signed the original document back in 1875."
Component
Progesterone
Estradiol
Estriol
Estrone
Testosterone
Conventional Unit
ng/mL
pg/mL
ng/mL
ng/dL
ng/dL
Conversion Factor
3.8
3.671
3.467
37
0.0347
SI Unit
nmol/L
pmol/L
nmol/L
pmol/L
nmol/L
Disclaimer: Although this web site is not intended to be prescriptive, it is intended, and hoped, that it will induce in you a sufficient level of scepticism about some health care practices to impel you to seek out medical advice that is not captive to purely commercial interests, or blinded by academic and institutional hubris. You are encouraged to refer any health problem to a health care practitioner and, in reference to any information contained in this web site, preferably one with specific knowledge of progesterone therapy.
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