Just thought of another bad side effect I had from P cream and that was my hair was falling out just even after the first month of using 2 weeks at 20mg OTC then the second month same dose/timing my hair was falling out in CHUNKS. Just wondering if others experienced this hair loss and what it is due to/how P can cause this?

Oh also, my feet and face really dried up and flaked...is this the yeast infection issue they talk about with P cream? I would get annoying moisture mixed later with dryness and not sure if yeast is also the cause of the drying up?

Hi Shar,
I would say that the hair falling out was more due to low E, and the P just exacerbated that. I sometimes suspect progesterone adversely affects the thyroid also, which can then cause hair loss.

Progesterone acts as a diuretic, so maybe that's why you were dried out?

Oh Sariah your last sentence was making me laugh so hard because if it was certainly doing it's diuretic job to dry me out it definitely didn't show up on the scale. I wouldn't have minded the side effect so much then! I was just looking online about yeast infections and getting info that it also causing drying up, flaking of the skin just as it does moisture and rashes. I have read P cream can increase yeast infections and wonder if it was doing that. I'm still having some hair falling out and dry skin issues even months after being off the cream but has seemed to slowly been resolving better each month.

Absolutely, Shar, progesterone gave me non-stop yeast infestions and made me very dry down below, worse than now, when I use nothing, and no yeast or dryness.
I only had yeast infection of this scale when I was pregnant. Hair loss is also common side effects, progesterone is only good when estrogen is HIGH, otherwise, it makes everything worse.
As for progesterone diuretic effect, I think it is completely the opposite, I always retain water and get bloated when my progesterone spikes, and once it drops, I drop water weight immediately.
Overall, progesterone is a tricky hormone, we may need it to avoid "cortisol steal" adrenal route, but perhaps, we need enough estrogen in our system to beable to telerate small amount of progesterone.
I know my worst time of cycle is always lutheal phase, always been since I started menstruating: munches, water retension, yeast infections, moodiness.
Hard to win this battle, I am feeling like giving it up at this point, never know what will happen next.

Would you explain cortisol steal adrenal route . All of what you ladies said is so spot on. I've had not yeast issues since being off the progesterone and when coming down on it had insulin reaction and now I'm back to my fibromyalgia symptoms. I'm considering estrogen,after getting more test results back, but I'm wondering if I should use an an otc progesterone cream if and when I start the estrogen. It's confusing.

I may add that progesterone is father hormone, while pregnenolone is grandfather, so without E and T , adding progesterone alone can lead to furtgher imbalance. If your adrenals are overworked, as it is very common during perimenopausal years, the progesterone will be used to make corstiol. So if your adrenals are always stealing pregnenolone and progesterone to make cortisol – you may not have enough of those hormones which are needed to make DHEA, estrogen and testosterone.
Our body always takes care of survival, so if there is deficiency, first major hormones will be taken care of, and then minor (sex ) hormones, if there is enough raw material left.
As we approach menopause our ovaries slow down and eventually stop functioning. Now, it is up to our adrenals to produce all estrogen, progesterone, testosterone and DHEA. However, if adrenals are exhausted, how are they supposed to pick up the slack and keep up the same pace as the ovaries? It doesn’t happen… so we end up with anxiety rollercoster and other symptoms...I yet want to see any 40+ male or female with 100% healthy adrenals, consider our poor diets, hectic lives, and enormous amount of stress. Also, it is pretty common that our endocrine glands also weathering out by the time we reach midlife, so they need also enough materil to repair and keep functioning.
here is female hormonal pathways, you can see how T can be covnerted into E, and P can be made into C. etc.
http://www.biodia.com/TechnicalCharts/Ster...ormonechart.pdf
Basically, in the absence of Progesterone, the pregnenolone is stolen to make adrenal hormones, so E and T will not be manufactured. Unless you have plenty of E and T already, it is all confusing, but I know one thing, women who make plenty of estrogen, not only estaradiol, but plenty of estrone ( that can be converted to estradiol), can add some P without seeing ill effect, but it is usually only during our reproductive years, and not later in menopausal years, again, not everyone, some continue to produce lots of estrone.
Hope this makes sense, see for yourself.
HTH,
I.

To add to what Iradan said, pregnenolone (and most hormones) are made from cholesterol. So if you are on a low cholesterol diet, or have a problem digesting and assimilating fat (gallbladder, liver disease), or taking a statin drug to reduce cholesterol, you may not have enough cholesterol to metabolize into the needed hormones.

It scares me that pediatricians are now testing young kids for cholesterol and if it's even slightly high and/or there is a family history, they put the kid on statin drugs

This is shocking and irresponsible. There have been no long-term studies to see if there are consequences to this. When a child hits puberty, their hormone production ramps up and adequate cholesterol is necessary for that to happen. I simply cannot believe that giving a statin to a child can have any good outcome, and probably will interfere with proper hormone production, along with the other known side effects.

I suspect that years from now we will find out how detrimental this practice was, but it will be too late for the kids who took it for years.

Hey, Sariah:

Oh my do I ever agree with you on this particular issue about the use of statins, etc.... Our bodies, but most especially our brains need some healthy forms and amount of cholesterol. The brain in particular needs gulcose and fat inorder to function optimally. The overuse of statins can most cerrtainly problematic for both young and old alike. These drugs reduce the cholesterol load throughout the body (and also the brain). Recently saw a news show where a woman in her early 60's was almost admitted to an alzeihmers facility due to cognitive dysfunction. It was only after a very alert intuitive young intern saw her statin use did anyone question the family about when she had started the drug. Turns out they discontinued the statin and she returned to normal functioning. (Although this doesn't happen to alot of people it can and does happen). Jzz

And, in regard to the orig post about p and hair loss. My hair fell out in clumps after taking prometrium 100mg for 10 days. (lots of other side effects too)

Check out this website by a former NASA surgeon:

http://www.spacedoc.net/lipitor_thief_of_memory.html

I can't agree more with Sariah, I think cholesterole is absolutely vital, not only for children, but also for adults, and even elderly.
The only those who trully benefit from statins, are pharmaceutical companies, and their goal is to have every person in developed countries on this nasty meds, by 2025, hence, the lowering cholesterol target range.
IMHO, it is insanity to have children on BP and CHO meds, instead just correcting their diet towards healthy fats and elimination of processed, junk, and sugary crap they call "food" nowdays.
Even at this phase of life, we still need sufficient cholesterol to make steroid hormones, steroid hormones can't be made without cholsterole, and mainly LDL. And yet, doctors push everyone with slightly elevated CHO to take statins, with absence of existing heart disease, high BP, and other risk factors, there is no need to take this poison.
The only 2% reduction in heart attack incidents is too high price to pay for major side effects.
Not everyone even benefits, while serum level of CHO may be low, in reality, I know personaly ppl who had MI while on CHO meds and having low blood level.
IMHO, blaming CHO in heart attack is the same as blame police for crime, where is the crime, there is police.
But what type of cholceterol is vital and which can be avoided, this is totally different story and diet has major impact on it.
best,
I.

Ok, I need to know about this hair loss effect of progesterone. I've always had thin hair on top but started bhrt a few months ago with 1/4 tsp progesterone cream at night and evamist spray during the day. All of a sudden my thin hair seemed to be so much worse. I asked the dr. who said it wouldn't be the progesterone causing this and I haven't been able to find any definitive answer to this question. I stopped the cream for a few weeks but just started it again but if it is what is causing the hair problem for sure, I need to know. Help!

falshgirl.
progesterone can do this to you, estrogen makes hair thinck and lustrious, progesterone can be problem for some women.
Hard to tell, but if it stated with BHRT, then it has to be too much P compare to E.
HTH,
I.

I totally agree with Iradan. Most of us do not do well on P and find that E helps us more.

I started progesterone cream about 7 or so years ago when I was around 41 (now I'm 48), and it made my boobs stop hurting, ended water retention, ended the satanic-psycho-b***h-syndrome, ended joint pain and stiffness, it made my non-existent libido return, brought me down from 2 periods per month to 1 period per month. Heart palpitations occurred back then, then stopped, and have again recurred recently. My hair was falling out before I began the cream but now it's coming out in handfuls. I am also on an anti-epileptic drug, Keppra XR (I have epilepsy) that also causes hair loss, which I began about a year and a half ago. Now I'm getting terrible sweats, body odor and odor "down there" despite the fact I'm celibate. I now have insomnia. Basically, I'm having new symptoms that I did not have 7 years ago (sweats, flashes/flushes, insomnia, severe depression, panic and anxiety) but I figure this may be due to estrogen loss because I was relatively perimenopause symptom-free for many years until these new symptoms appeared this past year. So, progesterone does not stop sweats or insomnia or heart palpitations or panic or depression, in my experience.

My neurologist wants me to see an endocrinologist. I may do just that. I'm sick and tired of feeling sick and tired.

Progesterone made, and still makes, lots of bad symptoms go away for me. But it has not done a thing for the new symptoms.

I've been going through this for 8 years. I'm still having periods.

When does this f*****g end?

I want this crap to be over.

Hope your hair stops falling out. Me, my hair falling out is the least of my problems . . .