About Hormones Women What is Progesterone?
Bioidentical Progesterone compared to Provera®
To protect the lining of the uterus from constant stimulation due to estrogen, almost all physicians following typical ERT protocols prescribe Provera®. You may ask whether it is progesterone. They'll almost certainly say is. But it is absolutely not. Provera® is actually medroxyprogesterone acetate. It is natural progesterone but it has been modified. The manufacturers included a molecule so it will be patentable and absorb more easily. An important thing for you to know is that the molecule changes Provera's impact on other tissues besides your uterus.
A lot of women discontinue ERT mainly because they don't like feeling irritable and frequently depressed. The bioidentical micronized progesterone we use is usually referred to as the "feel good hormone." It improves mood and can make you feel particularly tranquil. Women who get mood swings and migraines from taking Provera® frequently observe total elimination of those symptoms as soon as Provera® is replaced with bioidentical progesterone. Moreover, in the PEPI trial, bioidentical progesterone was found to achieve the most effective HDL cholesterol levels. This study is the most significant thus far to include bioidentical micronized progesterone. Regrettably, when WHI did its study, they did not include progesterone - just Provera®. If they had, we expect the results would have been quite different. Another bonus: bioidentical progesterone can also work as a natural diuretic. Provera® frequently triggers fluid retention or bloating.
There is an increasingly compelling justification for protecting yourself from negative side effects of Provera®. Recent studies from many different researchers have been done and because the results were consistent, they are not likely to be disproved. All those diverse scientists established that Provera® can undo the coronary artery-dilating effect of estrogens by 50%. Progesterone does not produce that negative result.
This may clarify the outcome of the HERS trial regularly cited in the media that showed estrogen fails to protect your heart as was formerly believed. In this very large, prospective trial, the actual progestin administered was Provera®, not progesterone. The study showed that in the first year there was a slight increase in the development of heart attacks in women who had confirmed diagnoses of heart disease. That might well have resulted from the negative impact of Provera® on the coronary arteries. (One other probable cause for the rise in heart attacks in the first 12 months of treatment is that oral estrogen raises the tendency towards clotting in women with arteries already shrunken by atherosclerosis. This condition can certainly result in coronary clots--heart attacks.)
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