Hi I am interested to know what other girls have experienced with cycling Progesterone.

I have now been on a combined regime of Oestrogen (Progynova) twice a day on my transitioning regime taken at 10pm and 10am every day and Micronised Progesterone (Prometrium) at bedtime - normally taken with mug of full cream milk and hot chocolate drink.

Initially my endo recommended that I try the combined regime continuously ,but after 3 months suggested I should move to a 12 day cycle (14 days first on just Estrogen, than 12 days on the combined regime). This was apparently to mimic the normal female menstrual cycle.

I have now been taking oestrogen as a transitioning dose for 2 years preceded by a low dose of oestrogen only of 3 years. I have then been on Progesterone as well for just coming up to 1 year.

What I do find is that when I start the combined regime, I get a few days of PMS type issues (feeling tired, irritable etc), but then everything clears and I feel really great. Sort of whole as a woman and interestingly I sort of feel really feminine and mentally very calm. But by the end of the month, I find it very cloying. But I love what it's done to my butt and boobs. Its given me nicely rounded buttocks - lots of people have commented and I think it has generated additional fatty tissue and my bigger thighs have all helped to push my pelvis forward. As a best girlfriend commented that I am now getting a female S curve with my buttocks now much more noticeable.  Also my breasts have rounded out nicely losing the conical look.

But I do find the times that I am on it I get irritable and a little moody, I'm tired, and I am glad that I'm not on it full time.

But by the time the next cycle rolls around both mentally and physically I will be really want to be on it again. Its a sort of craving.
Judith Lynn

I've been on a steady nighttime dose of micronized progesterone for about a year and three months. It made me feel more stable emotionally staying on it. I think it has kept my breast development rounded out. I hope to see more growth in the next year. I am a bit small to fit a B cup still. I have definitely gained fat on my thighs and rear end. If I could just loose the deep belly fat I had before I'd be thrilled. I have only run out of progesterone a couple of times. By the second day I start feeling less stable, more anxiety for sure. By then I always got my refill so I have never pushed beyond that.

Hi Judith,

It's unfortunate we cannot discuss dosages, because that is very relevant here, and you don't state your age, which is also important, I feel.

I am 61. I have been on HRT for about three and-a-half years, and about six months ago I asked my endocrinologist to put me on progesterone because I have small boyish areolas and nipples, and since progesterone is known to be essential for the development of breast tissue in cis-gendered females, I wanted to try it. My endocrinologist finally relented and prescribed the lowest dose.  I started out with daily administration, and then changed to doing a triple dose ten days out of the month.  Unfortunately , I cannot tell you if it made any difference cycling it this way, because after about four months I had a follow-up visit with my endo, and he discontinued the prescription when I told him there was minimal change.

I was not happy about that, because I felt four months was hardly long enough to know if it was working. I do feel my nipples were larger, but there was no change in the size of my areolas.  I also had breast augmentation during that time, so he felt progesterone was no longer necessary. Well breast size was not the point! He was not listening to me. Men!

Last month I had my final follow-up with my SRS surgeon, and she gave me a prescription for progesterone cream for topical administration, but it has only been a couple of weeks, so I can't tell you if it is working yet. I can tell you that low-dose oral progesterone had no effect on my body fat distribution. I intend to cycle the use of the cream, since it is an anti-estrogen, and it made sense to me to mimic a natural female hormonal cycle as far as breast development.  There are no clinical studies done on transsexuals as far as the effect of progesterone on breast growth, so all evidence is anecdotal. I am glad to hear you are getting good results!

With kindness,

Terri

I started on a daily dose of generic prometrium at 9 months on HRT. Then I went to 3 weeks on and one week off after about 6 months on HRT because I found constant daily dosing made me feel weird after a few weeks, weird meaning I just felt tired and off almost like I had been PMSing for a month straight. Now, after 24 months on HRT I am doing two weeks on and two weeks off of a higher dose of prometrium and that seems to be fine. I find that a higher dose doesn't give me more PMS symptoms but being on it constantly with no break does.

From a medical standpoint it should be cycled. 10 days of the month or so. The reason for this is simple. Progesterone competes with estrogen and directly translated from german it is described as an Estrogen " brake " . If you cycle it you prevent estrogen dominance, and progesterone dominance. If you always take it , it can severely slow the effects of estrogen.

Hi Maybebaby;

I am a couple of years older than you. I have also transitioned once before some 30+ years ago , before the days of the Internet. I started my HRT then and lived for nearly 3 years full time, but got outed at work (in the UK), then lost my job and came closed to losing my house, but an older couple I knew invited me to live with them in a poly relationship, which helped me get back on my feet. I never had GCS though, then got headhunted to an overseas job and ended up de-transitioning. But of course my GD never went away and in the end have had to transition a second time, when it all got too much for me again.
Best
JudithLynn

I've been cycling progesterone to one week per month as opposed to taking it daily for about six months. I decided to cycle because I still believed there were benefits, the appetite thing was a struggle for me.

I may go back to daily because I believe it's benefits are better on that plan. Just have to be more disciplined about calorie intake. Breast/areola and nipple maturation definitely occurred for me and in sort of a dramatic way. My weight distribution shifted more too but that could have been just the effect of estrogen over time.

One LPN at a clinic I visited said that he felt the benefits of progesterone were all in the first year and if he was managing my meds he would take me off it. That is the only time I've heard that.