Lara Briden - The Period Revolutionary
Leading the change to better periods and hormones
Progesterone is a beneficial hormone for mood, hair, and lightening periods. It has a natural anti-androgen effect and is different from the progestins of hormonal birth control.
Progesterone is important for women’s health. Yet for decades, it has been ignored or wrongly blamed for side effects it doesn’t cause. How did that happen?
Progesterone was discovered shortly after estrogen, missing the chance to be included in the simplified narrative of “testosterone for men and estrogen for women.” To complicate things further, progesterone couldn’t initially be made into an oral medication, so it was sidelined in favor of synthetic progestins.
Almost all types of hormonal birth control switch off ovarian function and, therefore, switch off the ovarian hormones estradiol, testosterone, and progesterone. Here’s a bit more about each method.
Natural anti-androgen supplements reduce testosterone or block its effects. In women, androgen blockers can improve androgen or testosterone symptoms, such as hirsutism, acne, and weight gain. In other words, they can treat PCOS (polycystic ovary syndrome) and other types of androgen excess.
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 the decade or so 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.