I'd like to hear from anyone that took or takes the medroxyprogesterone and if they got any positive results from it. Also like to hear from anyone that cycles it and if that helps.
So it's been two months. I think it may be helping with the breast growth but definitely not liking the way I'm feeling mentally and I'm struggling more to lose any weight. My fat ugly man body has been effing with my dysphoria lately.
Can't be 100% sure of those being caused by the medroxyprogesterone, but the timing corresponds. My current supply will run out about 2 weeks before my next appointment so was thinking of taking a break from it and maybe stopping it depending on what happens.
I know that the micronized form is probably better but it cost 30 times as much so not really an option with out guaranteed results, which of course you can't get.
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I am doing better without any progestogen at all. Medroxyprogesterone is known to adversely affect mood in some, it is also anti-estrogenic and mildly androgenic. :(
Many studies show strongly progestogen's close relation to PMS in ciswomen and how estrogen often tends to relieve it.
I took it for 2 months before switching to micronized progesterone. It's been just a few days. I'm honestly not sure I can give much of a response. I think it's hard to pinpoint what's caused my mood changes. I think it's a combinatio of estrodial, progesterone and most importantly life stressors... I may be an odd one, but I feel that my emotion turmoil is actually a great relief. It definitely beats drinking alcohol until I blacked out or needing attention from random men. I think progesterone helped improve my hormone levels and I have noticed a bit more breast growth but I also just hit 6 months. That's bound to happen to me as opposed to maybe someone further, few years, in transition.
Everyone's body reacts differently though.
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So I stopped taking it 3 days ago. Woke up happy to be Tonya again. Wasn't feeling unhappy about being Tonya, but generally unhappy about being. Hopefully that continues.
I'm thinking it messed with my testosterone level as a lot of the issues I was having were the old dysphoria things that had mostly stayed under control for a long time.
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I'd be careful on medroxyprogesterone as it can cause serious depression in some people.
Quote from: AshleyP on April 19, 2018, 12:12:40 AMI had baseline progesterone lab tests taken and even on a "full" dosage of recently administered MPA, progesterone levels were well within the normal male range at .5 ng/mL.
Medroxyprogesterone does not turn into or get broken down into progesterone, hence why P blood levels wouldn't be affected. MPA directly triggers progesterone receptors and other receptors, albeit less strongly (glucocorticoid and androgen).
There's a big danger of neurosteroid depletion from taking medroxyprogesterone, which might explain why it seems to often cause depression. One important role progesterone plays in the brain, is to act as a raw material from which the neurosteroid allopregnanolone is made. Medroxyprogesterone activates the same hormone receptors as progesterone, however it doesn't act as a raw material for neurosteroid synthesis, and I think is likely to deplete neurosteroids instead.
Furthermore, in the 2002 WHI study, medroxyprogesterone led to increased mortality from things like cancer and blood clots. Considering that bioidentical progesterone is readily available, IMO you'd be much better off taking that than medroxyprogesterone. If cost is an issue, I've heard that injected progesterone in oil (which is a lot more active than oral micronised progesterone, so can be dosed a lot lower), works out to be relatively inexpensive.
Yeah I stopped the medroxyprogesterone. Didn't get the full blown depression but might have been on the way if I kept going.
Still have not heard from anyone that got benefits from it so don't think I'll be trying it again.
The micronized progesterone is "covered" by my insurance but goes toward deductible so I basically pay for it and it's not cheap. I'd see about switching if I knew there were benefits.
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Had my four month estrogen follow up yesterday and was talking to the doc about progesterone. With the more I read about it the more I feel that not getting the prescription was a proper move
I guess only time will tell and the girls are happily moving along and my mood and spirit are in a great place.
Quote from: HughE on April 26, 2018, 09:19:48 AM
There's a big danger of neurosteroid depletion from taking medroxyprogesterone
Has this been actually shown in studies?
QuoteFurthermore, in the 2002 WHI study, medroxyprogesterone led to increased mortality from things like cancer and blood clots.
Increased mortality or incidences without mortality? Not the same. If mortality, was the increase statistically significant and how much was the absolute increase?
QuoteI've heard that injected progesterone in oil (which is a lot more active than oral micronised progesterone, so can be dosed a lot lower), works out to be relatively inexpensive.
Wouldn't this require frequent injections, at the very least every 2-3 days and be impractical? By 24 hours, a study showed levels already significantly dropped in most and in pregnant women, injections are done daily to keep levels steady.
Quote from: KayXo on April 27, 2018, 09:28:48 AM
Has this been actually shown in studies?
If you're comfortable reading scientific papers, I'd suggest looking art this one:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23914154
Role of hormones and neurosteroids in epileptogenesis.The paper is open access, so if you follow the links to the journal website, you can download a full copy of the paper free of charge. Although it's specifically about their role in preventing epilepsy, it has lots of useful information about how neurosteroids are produced, and how progesterone acts as a raw material from which allopregnanolone, one of the key neurosteroids, is made. It also mentions how progesterone can be used as an anti-epilepsy treatment in people who are deficient in it, and how finasteride depletes neurosteroids and raises the risk of epilepsy by blocking 5 alpha reductase, one of the enzymes involved in producing allopregnanolone and other neurosteroids.
Although it doesn't talk about progestins as a cause of neurosteroid depletion, unlike progesterone they don't undergo conversion to allopregnanolone (so are no substitute for progesterone in that regard). Furthermore, I know from what I've read elsewhere that many progestins are quite strong inhibitors of 5 alpha reductase, so probably block neurosteroid production by that route in a similar way to finasteride.
Neurosteroids don't just prevent epilepsy, they drive neurogenesis (the creation of new brain cells), and appear to be crucial in maintaining a healthy brain and nervous system.
Quote
Increased mortality or incidences without mortality? Not the same. If mortality, was the increase statistically significant and how much was the absolute increase?
I think in the published results from the WHI study showed roughly a doubling in all causes mortality. Whatever they found, it was bad enough that they cut the study short, and doctors no longer routinely offer postmenopausal HRT because of it.
Quote
Wouldn't this require frequent injections, at the very least every 2-3 days and be impractical? By 24 hours, a study showed levels already significantly dropped in most and in pregnant women, injections are done daily to keep levels steady.
Yes, it has a short biological half life and you'd probably have to inject it every other day to maintain steady levels. Unless you're doing subq injections, it probably wouldn't be practical. I'm just going on what I've seen other people saying that you can inject it, I use the cream so don't have personal experience of the injected form.
I took MPA for two months. Then I asked my endo to switch to micronized progesterone. MPA can have some bad side effects including depression. Real progesterone has all of the benefits Hugh mentioned.
Breast tissues reach full maturity only with activation of progesterone receptors, BUT progesterone works with HGH and two insulin like growth factors to fully stimulate those structure growths. Activation of androgen receptors can somewhat inhibit breast growth as testosterone prevents estrogen receptor activation of growth in breast tissues in males normally.
I spent a good deal of time researching the different medications commonly prescribed to trans women. I built a chart of known receptor activity, metabolites, and enzymatic effects of these medications. Here are MPA and bioidenticle P
(https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4738/25149345078_56f07ca98e_b.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/EjmY6U)Screenshot MPA (https://flic.kr/p/EjmY6U) by Josie H (https://www.flickr.com/photos/149006210@N03/), on Flickr
(https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4579/24155958877_46df7943a6_b.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/CNzAZB)Screenshot Progesterone (https://flic.kr/p/CNzAZB) by Josie H (https://www.flickr.com/photos/149006210@N03/), on Flickr