Progesterone

Other Names: Corpus Luteum Hormone, Hormone de Grossesse, Hormone du Corps Jaune, Hormone Lutéale, Hormone Progestative, Luteal Hormone, Luteohormone, Lutine, NSC-9704, Pregnancy Hormone, Pregnanedione, Prégnanedione, Progestational Hormone, Progesterona, Progestérone, Progesteronum, 4-Pregnene-3; 20-Dione.
Progesterone is a hormone that occurs naturally in the body. It can also be made in a laboratory.

Special Precautions of Progesterone

• The progesterone prescription products that have been approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) are safe for most people when used with the advice and care of a healthcare professional. However, progesterone can cause many side effects including stomach upset, changes in appetite, weight gain, fluid retention and swelling (edema), fatigue, acne, drowsiness or insomnia, allergic skin rashes, hives, fever, headache, depression, breast discomfort or enlargement, PMS-like syndrome, altered menstrual cycles, irregular bleeding, and other side effects.
• In some cases, use of progesterone cream may promote moderate weight gain and trigger a number of side effects, including drowsiness, nausea, headaches, and breast pain.
• Since repeatedly applying progesterone cream to the same area of skin may lead to skin irritation, proponents suggest rubbing the cream into different areas with each use.
• Pregnancy and breast-feeding: Intravaginal progesterone gel is LIKELY SAFE when used as part of infertility treatment. But don’t use progesterone otherwise. It’s also best not to use progesterone if you are breast-feeding. Not enough is known about how it might affect a nursing infant.
• Arterial disease: Don’t use progesterone if you have arterial disease.
• Breast cancer: Avoid use unless you are directed to do so by your healthcare provider.
• Depression: Get your healthcare provider’s advice first before using progesterone if you have major depression now or a history of major depression.
• Liver disease: Progesterone might make liver disease worse. Don’t use it.
• Vaginal bleeding: If you have undiagnosed vaginal bleeding, don’t use progesterone.
• Estrogens interacts with Progesterone.

Benefits and uses of FProgesterone are

• Use with estrogen as hormone replacement therapy (HRT). Micronized progesterone (Prometrium) is FDA-approved for use with estrogen as a component of HRT.
• Absence of menstrual periods. Taking progesterone by mouth and applying progesterone gel intravaginally are effective strategies for treating absence of menstrual periods in premenopausal women. Micronized progesterone is FDA-approved for this use, as is intravaginal progesterone gel (Crinone 4%).
• Infertility, when used as a vaginal cream. Intravaginal progesterone gel (Crinone 8%) is FDA-approved for use as a part of infertility treatment in women.
• Breast pain, when used as an intravaginal gel.
• Preventing or reducing abnormal thickening of the lining of the uterus (endometrial hyperplasia).
• Symptoms of menopause.
• Infertility when used as an injection.
• Progesterone cream is a product typically used to improve women's health. A hormone found naturally in the body and produced mainly in the ovaries, progesterone is a key element of hormone replacement therapy (a treatment commonly pursued by midlife women experiencing menopausal symptoms). Typically made from soy or wild yam (Dioscorea villosa), progesterone cream is applied directly to the skin rather than taken orally as in hormone replacement therapy.
• Skin Health : In a study published in the British Journal of Dermatology in 2005, scientists determined that progesterone cream may help increase skin firmness and elasticity. Involving 40 peri-menopausal and post-menopausal women, the four-month-long study also found that progesterone cream helped fight wrinkles.