If you want to really boost libido, you need to eliminate xenoestrogens, and take Natural Progesterone. If you are really diligent about getting rid of xenoestrogens from your environment, then after a while you may not even need Natural Progesterone. You will just be healthy without taking anything.
WARNING: If you do NOT eliminate xenoestrogens you may actually get temporary low libido. OR the progesterone may increase sexual desire for the first couple of months and then create low libido.
Xenoestrogens are chemicals or natural herbs that mimic estrogen. However, they mimic estrogen imperfectly or even badly. Frequently, xenoestrogens create low sexual desire.
The truth is that most of the cosmetics or toiletries in the health food store and department store contain herbs and chemicals that are hormone active. When you put these cosmetics and toiletries on your skin, they go directly into the body, and usually create low libido. You are putting your body through a witch’s brew of hormones.
Benzene rings and phenol (benzene ring with an OH) fit into the estrogen receptor and stimulate it. Benzene rings are known in the organic chemistry world as “aromatics”. Thus, anything that has fragrance synthetic or natural is potentially hormone disruptive and can boost libido or create low sexual desire. Uncommonly, these hormone disrupters can increase sex drive and are used in perfumes and pheromones. However, most of the time these hormone disrupters make for low libido.
IF you do NOT eliminate xenoestrogens and take progesterone you may have the following temporary symptoms. These bad side effects will stop several days after you stop the progesterone. Again if you do not eliminate xenoestrogens, then you will get the following TEMPORARY symptoms:
Decreased Libido
Lower Sex Drive
Increased bloating
Increased breast tenderness
Increased headache
Increased irritability
Increased weight gain
Increased hair thinning
Increased lethargy
If you ELIMINATE xenoestrogens, and take progesterone you will get the following benefits. In fact, if you are really good about getting rid of xenoestrogens, then you may not even need progesterone after a while. Here are the following benefits of taking Natural Progesterone:
Increased Libido
Higher Sex Drive
Decreased bloating before your period
Decreased breast tenderness
Decreased headaches
Decreased irritability
Losing weight
Hair becomes thicker
More energy
The reason why you will get TEMPORARILY worse when taking Natural Progesterone and xenoestrogens is that the estrogen receptors become “sleepy” with chronic xenoestrogen exposure. And Natural Progesterone will “wake up” these sleepy receptors. Now, it seems you are getting more estrogen when you are really not. This is because the estrogen receptors have woken up and have regained their original sensitivity. Now, it is just like you are getting more estrogen when in reality your estrogen load may actually have stayed the same or is lowered.
This effect of chronic estrogen load desensitizing your estrogen receptors is technically know in the biology field as down regulation. Taking progesterone up regulates the estrogen receptors.
Let me try to make this clear. Let me tell you of an analogous situation. It is just like going to a rock concert. Initially, the rock concert sounds loud. Then after about half an hour, the concert doesn’t seem loud anymore. Your ears have down regulated or the ears have become “sleepy”. Then you take progesterone. All of a sudden the rock concert seems loud again. Has anything changed? Yes, your sensitivity to the rock concert has changed. Initially, the hearing sensitivity goes down. Then, when you take progesterone the hearing sensitivity goes back up to normal. However, the rock concert loudness has NOT changed.
It is similar to taking estrogen and progesterone levels. Initially, you get an environmental load of xenoestrogens. You become less sensitive to xenoestrogens. This is the estrogen receptor becoming “sleepy” or down regulation. Then, you take progesterone. The estrogen receptors wake up. And without any change in your estrogen load, it seems that you are getting more estrogen when you are really not.
This increased bad side effect including a decreased sexual desire while taking progesterone is typically immediate. However, the progesterone can seem to work for several months, then on the 2nd or 3rd month the patient gets worse as estrogen receptors “wake up”.
I usually get a phone call once a day or even three times a day that the patient took the progesterone and now is worse. I call this the, “Doctor, you suck call”. When they stop progesterone the patient is better. Usually, the patient is using some kind of lotion or skin cream or even laundry detergent that has a xenoestrogen in it. The “Doctor you suck call” may happen right after they took progesterone or several months after they started progesterone. This usually accompanies a low libido as well. I have had 3 different women complain that mascara made them bloat. At first, I thought they were crazy. But they were right.
I had one woman that I went through all her cosmetics and toiletries, I finally found her detergent had xenoestrogens. She did not change her detergent for two and one half years. Finally, after 2 1/2 years she changed to the detergent that I recommended and within 1 month, all her breast tenderness and bloating went away. It is very strange to think that your laundry detergent may actually be creating low libido.
You can be 95% clean and if you use just one product that has xenoestrogens in them, then this makes for a “Doctor, You Suck call.”
I had one lady from the Dakotas that was taking progesterone for PMS. After several months of progesterone and avoiding environmental estrogens, she found she was normal and did not need progesterone any more. Then she called me asking about her daughter that also had PMS. She asked, “What should I do?” I answered, “The same thing, take progesterone and avoid xenoestrogens.” She said, “It’s not working.” I answered, “There is a xenoestrogen in her environment.” She insisted that all her products were from the health food store and were healthy. The same dialogue went back and forth for 6 months.
It’s not working (probably sexual desire was bad too.)
I answer, “There is a xenoestrogen in your environment.”
Finally, after 6 months she went through all her daughter’s cosmetics and toiletries. She found that her daughter’s natural healthy deodorant had lemon grass oil in it. She changed her deodorant to the one I recommend, and the PMS went away. It is ironic that deodorant can produce low sexual desire.
Estrogen Dominance (too much estrogen) causes thyroid sensitivity to be decreased. Too much estrogen causes the thyroid receptors to be “sleepy”. As progesterone is taken and xenoestrogens are avoided, the thyroid receptor “wakes” up. If the thyroid receptor “wakes up”, then your thyroid hormone requirement is less and goes back to normal. This usually happens in 6-9 months. Thus, if you are taking thyroid hormone, you will need less thyroid hormone. And if you were taking thyroid hormone, you may not need it after 6-9 months. Changing thyroid hormone levels are very tricky though, and you should do it with your physician.
Once again, your thyroid blood levels are NOT changing. Only your sensitivity to thyroid hormone changes. After taking progesterone and avoiding xenoestrogens, your thyroid sensitivity goes back to normal.
Birth control pills contain synthetic progestins and estrogens. Natural progesterone will interact with the progestin. The artificial progestin will block Natural Progesterone. So if you are using Natural Progesterone, then birth control pills will stop Natural Progesterone from working. Some Birth Control pills are notorious for initiating low sexual desire.
If you take Natural Progesterone before your ovulation, the ovaries will look at the progesterone level in the body and think that you are pregnant. Thus, both ovaries will not ovulate. So taking progesterone before you ovulate will stop ovulation and you will have an anovulatory cycle.
Chronic use of progesterone may result in better skin. However, chronic progesterone use may result in skin thinning. This is easily remedied by taking topical Natural Estriol 0.5 mg/day topically on the skin or directly on the vagina.
