It has some pluses and minuses. If someone is hypothyroid, making it a staple can be problematic, due to the reduced ability to process carotene. It is also mildly goitrogenic. Some people also claim wild yams (which are a different thing than sweet potatoes) to be dietary sources of progesterone but this isn't true. While in a lab setting, progesterone can be enzymatically derived from the diosgenin found in wild yams, humans do not have the enzymes to convert diosgenin into steroids (such as progesterone). Sweet potatoes are a good potassium source though.
I’ve been tracking my cycle and supplementing with progesterone. I realized during my last cycle that I really ought to just be using the progesterone during my luteal phase so I began doing that. My question: I notice I get spotting that’s pink in color and thin like clockwork about a week before my period. Only lasts for a few hours and then it’s gone. I know this is usually about the time (halfway through luteal) where hormones would start falling in preparation for my bleed. Could the spotting be caused by that? It wouldn’t bother me if it were maybe 2 or 3 days before but that it’s 5 or so makes me wonder what it could be.
Thank you Kaya for this! What about teens (13) going through puberty, not cycling yet, but complaining of breasts/nipples being sore. Is this from higher estrogen? Or just normal around this age?
Thank for this informative article Kaya. I read the Dutch gynecology guideline on PMS and they are adamant that there is no place for progesterone in the treatment of PMS (based on the Cochrane review, ignoring all of Katharina Dalton's work). The recommended therapy for PMS is cognitive behavioral therapy. And if medications are used it is either inhibition of ovulation (with progestogen or worse) or an antidepressant. The guideline states that there are no hormonal differences between women, with the exception of serotonin. Serotonin is lower in women with PMS - so hence the recommendation to prescribe SSRIs. What do you think of the PMS - serotonin connection?
Addressing PMS with CBT is actually diabolical, wow.
Serotonin degranulates mast cells (worsening all the high histamine symptoms associated with PMS) and is increased by estrogen. Serotonin receptor blockers, such as bromocriptine, have been very successful in treating PMS.
For a very long time, serotonin levels were measured indirectly by measuring the breakdown product of serotonin called 5-HIAA, assuming that low 5-HIAA means low serotonin. However, more often than not, low levels of 5-HIAA actually mean that serotonin breakdown is slowed and serotonin levels are actually high. In my sleep article I cover how the hypothesis of low serotonin being associated with depression stemmed largely from the observation of low 5-HIAA in depressed patients, however this 5-HIAA actually meant they had higher serotonin levels than non-depressed individuals (low serotonin breakdown), which makes sense as serotonin is an energy conservation molecule and depression is the mental manifestation of a low energy state at the cellular level.
Famotidine is another drug successfully used against PMS. It's an antihistamine, but since histamine and serotonin potentiate each other's action, antagonizing one often antagonizes both. Famotidine has also been successfully used to treat serotonin syndrome.
Thanks so much for your response Kaya (I only just saw it). That is so interesting about measuring 5-HIAA. I will read your article on sleep. It just doesn't make sense serotonin is low in PMS!
Isnt sweet potato also a good choice for luteal phase support?
It has some pluses and minuses. If someone is hypothyroid, making it a staple can be problematic, due to the reduced ability to process carotene. It is also mildly goitrogenic. Some people also claim wild yams (which are a different thing than sweet potatoes) to be dietary sources of progesterone but this isn't true. While in a lab setting, progesterone can be enzymatically derived from the diosgenin found in wild yams, humans do not have the enzymes to convert diosgenin into steroids (such as progesterone). Sweet potatoes are a good potassium source though.
I’ve been tracking my cycle and supplementing with progesterone. I realized during my last cycle that I really ought to just be using the progesterone during my luteal phase so I began doing that. My question: I notice I get spotting that’s pink in color and thin like clockwork about a week before my period. Only lasts for a few hours and then it’s gone. I know this is usually about the time (halfway through luteal) where hormones would start falling in preparation for my bleed. Could the spotting be caused by that? It wouldn’t bother me if it were maybe 2 or 3 days before but that it’s 5 or so makes me wonder what it could be.
Thank you Kaya for this! What about teens (13) going through puberty, not cycling yet, but complaining of breasts/nipples being sore. Is this from higher estrogen? Or just normal around this age?
Thank for this informative article Kaya. I read the Dutch gynecology guideline on PMS and they are adamant that there is no place for progesterone in the treatment of PMS (based on the Cochrane review, ignoring all of Katharina Dalton's work). The recommended therapy for PMS is cognitive behavioral therapy. And if medications are used it is either inhibition of ovulation (with progestogen or worse) or an antidepressant. The guideline states that there are no hormonal differences between women, with the exception of serotonin. Serotonin is lower in women with PMS - so hence the recommendation to prescribe SSRIs. What do you think of the PMS - serotonin connection?
Addressing PMS with CBT is actually diabolical, wow.
Serotonin degranulates mast cells (worsening all the high histamine symptoms associated with PMS) and is increased by estrogen. Serotonin receptor blockers, such as bromocriptine, have been very successful in treating PMS.
For a very long time, serotonin levels were measured indirectly by measuring the breakdown product of serotonin called 5-HIAA, assuming that low 5-HIAA means low serotonin. However, more often than not, low levels of 5-HIAA actually mean that serotonin breakdown is slowed and serotonin levels are actually high. In my sleep article I cover how the hypothesis of low serotonin being associated with depression stemmed largely from the observation of low 5-HIAA in depressed patients, however this 5-HIAA actually meant they had higher serotonin levels than non-depressed individuals (low serotonin breakdown), which makes sense as serotonin is an energy conservation molecule and depression is the mental manifestation of a low energy state at the cellular level.
Famotidine is another drug successfully used against PMS. It's an antihistamine, but since histamine and serotonin potentiate each other's action, antagonizing one often antagonizes both. Famotidine has also been successfully used to treat serotonin syndrome.
Thanks so much for your response Kaya (I only just saw it). That is so interesting about measuring 5-HIAA. I will read your article on sleep. It just doesn't make sense serotonin is low in PMS!