Your progesterone questions…Answered! 

If estrogen is the good witch, for a lot of women, progesterone is the bad witch that causes bloating, weight gain, and moodiness. Some types of progestogens may also increase the risk of breast cancer.  In this episode, I am going to go through the good, the bad, and all the options when it comes to protecting your uterus when using systemic estrogen therapy.  

And since I get so many questions about progesterone, I included them all. 

In this episode, I cover

o   Why a progestogen is prescribed when a woman takes estrogen post menopause

o   The difference between a Progesterone, a Progestin, and a Progestogen

o   FDA Approved stand-alone progestogens

§            Medroxyprogesterone Acetate (Provera™)

§            Micronized Progesterne (Prometrium™)

o   FDA Approved ORAL Progestogens combined with estrogen

o   FDA Approved TRANSDERMAL Progestogens combined with estrogen

o   BAZODOXIFENE-The only FDA approved non-progestogen to protect the uterine lining (and is back on the market!) 

o   OFF-LABEL options used to substitute for progestogens.

§           Levonorgestrol IUD

§           The problem with taking unopposed estrogen

§          The problem with compounded transdermal progesterone

§          The problem with transvaginal progesterone 

For more information on this topic: 

Slip Sliding Away: Turning Back the Clock on Your Vagina-A gynecologist’s guide to eliminating post-menopause dryness and pain

Lauren Streicher, MD is a clinical professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine, and the founding medical director of the Northwestern Medicine Center for Sexual Medicine and Menopause. She is a certified menopause practitioner of the North American Menopause Society. 

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Dr. Streicher is the medical correspondent for Chicago’s top-rated news program, the WGN Morning News, and has been seen on The Today Show, Good Morning America, The Oprah Winfrey Show, CNN, NPR, Dr. Radio, Nightline, Fox and Friends, The Steve Harvey Show, CBS This Morning, ABC News Now, NBCNightlyNews,20/20, and World News Tonight. She is an expert source for many magazines and serves on the medical advisory board of The Kinsey Institute, Self Magazine, and Prevention Magazine. She writes a regular column for The Ethel by AARP and Prevention Magazine. 

 Slip Sliding Away: Turning Back the Clock on Your Vagina-A gynecologist’s guide to eliminating post-menopause dryness and pain