Laura’s Question: 

Dear. Dr. Maki, I read your article about progesterone cream versus oral format. I have used the cream with some satisfaction but not one hundred percent happy. My sleep has been my main complaint for the last six to eight months. I’m 44 years old, still menstruating with a lot of menopausal symptoms. Recently, I found a doctor in the Netherlands who did blood tests on me. She put me on oral progesterone and transdermal testosterone. The testosterone seems a little too high, one percent, but overall helped me a lot.  Four weeks into my treatment, the oral progesterone, on the other hand, is driving me crazy! So, shortly after I take it, I feel a bit sleepy and then around two AM, full wide awake. Today, I took it during the day and I still can’t fall asleep in the evening. It seems like I’m converting it into cortisol, the progesterone. Any thoughts about what to do? Thanks very much. 

Short Answer: 

The first question to ask is if the progesterone is sustained release or is it Prometrium. Sustained-release progesterone is often much more tolerated than Prometrium, which is instant-release. The next consideration of the progesterone is the dose. A typical dose for women in there mid ’40s is 100 mg. However, this could be too much for some. Reducing the dose down to 75 or even 50 mg might be helpful.

PYHP 089 Full Transcript: 

Download PYHP 089 Transcript 

Dr. Maki: Hello everyone. Thank you for joining us for another episode of the Progress Your Health Podcast. I’m Dr. Maki.

Dr. Davidson: And I’m Dr. Davidson. 

Dr. Maki: How you doing this morning? 

Dr. Davidson: I’m doing great! How are you doing on this beautiful, sunny, blue-sky day?

Dr. Maki: It is. It was actually raining like crazy overnight in Washington. It’s pretty common this time of year but woke up and looks like it’s going to be a really nice day today. So, be nice to be outside, which will probably go outside a little bit later but yeah time to get a podcast done. So, why don’t we kind of dive into that? We have a question from Laura. 

Dr. Davidson: Yes, Laura. So Laura is a reader. So she had read one of our blog posts about progesterone cream versus the oral. So this is her question, “Dear. Dr. Maki, I read your article about progesterone cream versus oral format. I have used the cream with some satisfaction but not one hundred percent happy. My sleep has been my main complaint for the last six to eight months. I’m 44 years old, still menstruating with a lot of menopausal symptoms. Recently, I found a doctor in the Netherlands who did blood tests on me. She put me on oral progesterone and transdermal testosterone. The testosterone seems a little too high, one percent, but overall helped me a lot.  Four weeks into my treatment, the oral progesterone, on the other hand, is driving me crazy! So, shortly after I take it, I feel a bit sleepy and then around two AM, full wide awak