Using Progesterone Cream
by DrJim

This is about simply what a woman can do with Progesterone cream. All of the concepts written here have already been written in other posts. There seems to be much confusion about its use and I have had a lot of questions so this is a repeat and summary of things that pertain to Progesterone cream only.

There are two primary uses for Progesterone cream.

Hormonal Induction: This is a 1 to 2 month course or longer of hormonal stimulation to “wake up the breasts”, or make them larger, and cause them to add more alveoli so that milk production later will be more successful. It mimics the hormonal stimulation of a pregnancy and the breasts generally do not lactate during this time.
Increasing lactation: This is its ongoing use during an adult nursing relationship to obtain more milk when nipple stimulation and possibly Domperidome is not enough to bring success.

These two uses cannot be done at the same time. Not only do you use the Progesterone cream differently in these two applications, the breasts cannot grow new alveoli and have the alveoli producing milk at the same time. There is a set of genes that must be turned on by Prolactin to cause the cells to produce milk and there is a different set of genes that must be turned on by Progesterone to cause the breasts to grow alveoli. In addition to the two distinct uses above there are about 5 different scenarios where it might be used;

A woman who is ovulating with regular menses between about age 20 and menopause.
A woman who is post-menopause and on hormone supplements
A woman who is post-menopause and not taking hormone supplements
A woman who is on birth control pills to prevent pregnancy.
A woman who has had a hysterectomy and ovaries removed and is on hormone supplements

Hormonal Induction

A course of hormonal induction can be helpful for a woman who has had low levels of hormones for some time. It can cause the breasts to increase in size somewhat due to the addition of new alveoli to replace those lost through normal involution. Most physicians that assist with women who want to induce lactation (and make significant milk) for the purpose of breastfeeding an adopted infant recommend this. This generally should not be necessary for younger ovulating women. It can make a big difference for post-menopausal women due to their low hormonal state. Women on birth control pills generally are younger and probably do not need to do this. A woman who has had a hysterectomy and ovaries removed is usually maintained on low levels of hormones and would probably find it to be quite beneficial. If a woman has had cancer of uterus, ovaries or breast and these organs are still present, she should consult with her doctor before taking any form of hormonal supplement.

How do you use it? The general idea is to elevate Estrogen through the first half of the cycle and Progesterone through the second half. If a woman is on birth control pills (commonly a low dose type), She can add Progesterone cream 20-40mg daily to the breasts through the second half of her cycle (including menses) in addition to the birth control pills. It is unlikely adding Progesterone cream will defeat the function of the BCP preventing pregnancy because failure is usually due to too low of hormonal levels, not too high, however it is probably wise to take secondary precautions. For a woman who is on Estrogen supplements for a variety of reasons including post-menopausal or hysterectomy/ovaries removed, she can take her hormonal supplement in her normal fashion and add Progesterone cream daily two weeks of the month and achieve similar results. For women who are post-menopausal and not on hormonal supplements, starting Estrogen may cause undesirable vaginal bleeding. Even in menopause women produce a small amount of Estrogen in the form of Estrone made in the fat cells. Using Progesterone cream daily for 2 weeks out of every 4 weeks in combination with their low Estrogen level for several months can have a gradual effect on the breasts. Because of the low Estrogen in the body the response is quite gradual and may take 6 months to notice a difference. Taking Estrogenic herbs including Fenugreek, Fennel and Soy Isoflavones can speed up the process which are unlikely to cause unwanted bleeding. These herbs should be used daily on the weeks alternating with the Progesterone cream. For women who are younger and ovulating it is generally not necessary to do this but there may be a condition where they want to enlarge the breasts a bit such as the situation where a woman has breast fed a baby and stopped and is dismayed at the shrinkage of her breast size as compared to prior to the pregnancy. A short course of Progesterone cream in the second half of her cycle for a couple of months can help restore her breasts as well.

Increasing Lactation

Increasing lactation is a completely different use of Progesterone cream. This is how it should be used; Typically this will be a woman who has significant levels of Estrogen in her system due to regular ovulation age 20 to menopause. Most women who try to induce lactation simply begin with frequent dry suckling in their relationship. To this they add additional nipple stimulation by pumping and marmet expression to increase the frequency of some type of stimulation to at least every 4 hours. The best sign of eventual success at this point is a change in the pattern of menses. If menses become shorter and lighter and even stop it indicates nipple stimulation is suppressing the ovary function and lowering Estrogen levels which in turn is allowing more Prolactin release. For some women who tend to run higher levels of Prolactin naturally this may be all that is necessary to bring on lactation. For other women this is not enough. Adding Domeperidome is usually the next step. Domeperidome does not lower Estrogen and will not affect menses, however it does increase Prolactin release from nipple stimulation. For many women this will bring on lactation. For some women adding Domeperidome may not be enough to bring on lactation. This is particularly true if there has not been a significant change in their pattern of menses from the nipple stimulation alone. This is where Progesterone cream comes in. Apply 10-20 mg. twice a day anywhere on the body where good absorption can be obtained (areas of thinner, more delicate skin). This will combine with the nipple stimulation to suppress the ovary function and lower Estrogen levels and WILL change the pattern of menses if successful. It is likely that a woman will have success with this combination if her breasts are capable of such.

This use of Progesterone cream will not work where the Estrogen level is already low for any reason including menopause or ovaries removed because the purpose of the Progesterone cream is to lower the Estrogen level. In the case where a woman is on an Estrogen supplement and she is trying to induce lactation and finds that the Estrogen inhibits it, supplementing with Progesterone cream can help balance the Estrogen effect and may bring success.

DrJim

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