The Crucial Difference Between Progesterone and Progestins

progesterone versus progestinProgestins such as drospirenone, levonorgestrel, or medroxyprogesterone are not progesterone.

That’s because progesterone is not a generic term like estrogen. Instead, progesterone refers only to the hormone made by the corpus luteum or taken as oral micronized progesterone.

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How Science Got It Wrong About Progesterone

Progesterone is important for women's health.

Progesterone has been both ignored and mistakenly blamed for side effects it does not cause. How did that happen?

First, progesterone was discovered after estrogen, so, according to endocrinology professor Jerilynn Prior, missed being part of the tidy hormone dichotomy of “testosterone for men and estrogen for women.”

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What Estrogen Does in Your 40s (and How Progesterone Can Help)

Estrogen rollercoaster of perimenopause

Night sweats, mood swings, and crazy heavy periods. Is this menopause already? And you’re only 42? No, menopause could still be a decade away. This is perimenopause or second puberty, which is up to twelve years before your final period.

Perimenopause is different from menopause (or post-menopause), which is the life phase that begins one year after your final period.

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How IBS and SIBO Can Affect Periods and Hormones

IBS, SIBO, and period problems.

Did you know that what’s happening in your gut can affect your periods and hormones?

In episode twelve of my podcast and YouTube video, I discuss small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO) and its role in IBS; how SIBO can drive or worsen endometriosis, insulin resistance, premenstrual mood symptoms, and the fibromyalgia of perimenopause; plus how to treat SIBO.

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