Progesterone for breast development when biologically meant for newborn feeding

[Evelyn K]

And temporary at that.

From wikipedia

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Progesterone#Female_breasts

Female breasts

Progesterone plays an important role in mammary gland development in females. In conjunction with prolactin, it induces lobuloalveolar maturation of the breasts during pregnancy to allow for milk production, and thus lactation and breastfeeding, after childbirth.

So can someone explain why M2F's are trying to increase their breast size by taking progesterone to emulate newborn breast feeding? Are you planning on breast feeding? You do realize women normally return to pre-pregnancy breast size after weaning, do you? You're opting to live with breasts filled with milk on a day to day casual basis? Because ultimately that's what you are doing.

And then there's this

"Progesterone also appears to be involved in the development of breast cancer, though its role, and whether it is a promoter or inhibitor of breast cancer risk, has not been fully elucidated."

So taking progesterone without a natural cause for the long term just sounds risky, and alveolar's engorged with stagnant milk must be unhealthy. Thoughts?

[ImagineKate]

Isn't P present during the menstrual cycle, even in the absence of a pregnancy?

[Evelyn K]

^^ Sure but in miniscule amounts compared to what M2F's here are using "therapeutically".

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Progesterone#Levels

[Isabelle]

I took it for almost 2 years. I stopped. I don't know if it did anything for me except possibly made my depression worse.

[jfong]

it helped me to sleep better, but haven't seen any possible result in terms of growth or producing any milk at all.

[Jill F]

In conjunction with prolactin, it induces lobuloalveolar maturation of the breasts during pregnancy to allow for milk production, and thus lactation and breastfeeding, after childbirth.[/i][/b]


"Progesterone also appears to be involved in the development of breast cancer, though its role, and whether it is a promoter or inhibitor of breast cancer risk, has not been fully elucidated."

I think the 4 words in bold were important here.

Also, the odds of getting breast cancer are probably going to go up when you have breasts.   The good news is that the odds of you getting testicular or prostate cancer drop dramatically.     

[Evelyn K]

And in the absence of prolactin I wonder what progesterone is doing then.

But it doesn't explain in a positive light why a M2F would try to emulate a biological activity that is only meant to be temporary.

[Eveline]

I think for some people, the answer to your question is "hope".

In the absence of total agreement among the experts, and with anecdotal reports that it may help glandular development, that's enough for me to give it a shot...

[Isabelle]

I might be wrong here but, isn't prolactin produced in your brain in the presence of estogen?

[jessical]

While the low points in the menstrual cycle are close to males, females experience a significant monthly dose of progesterone.  If I don't have progesterone in my HRT regiment I am missing out on something cis females have.  Yes, it's more even, but we also have more even doses of estradiol.

For me personally progesterone helped even out my mood.  I can't complain about the breast growth either.  In terms of levels, I am higher than the low points cis females experience in the cycle, but I am well below the mean average levels in the monthly cycle.  Part of the goal with the early days of HRT is to kick off puberty, part II.  And it I would want to closely match that, as much is safely and technologically possible.  I feel like leaving progesterone out would be missing the goal.

[katrinaw]

I use it for around 10 - 12 days p mth just to try and mimic the cycle, only thing I get, very slightly, is a mood swing.... Breasts may very slightly??? Never measured tho  been on for around 4 ~ 5 yrs

L Katy

[Jenna Marie]

I am firmly against progesterone for myself, but I can't resist pointing out that there's no "filled with stagnant milk." Breasts produce milk on demand after the baby is at most a few weeks old, basically; there's perhaps a certain amount in there all the time for a fully lactating woman with a newborn (which is how she can become engorged and uncomfortable), but that goes away in a few days if she never breastfeeds or pumps. And for someone who is not feeding a baby or pumping enough to stimulate full production, and who did not have the full hormonal cocktail from or simulating full-term pregnancy, it's usually a matter of a few drops. Incidentally, the trigger for full lactation is actually a combination of steep *decline* in progesterone combined with oxytocin and a couple other hormones.

http://www.breastfeeding-problems.com/breastmilk-production.html

Nor do all breastfeeding women go back to their original size, unfortunately for my poor sister...