Pregnancy

There is nothing so joyous about being pregnant and having a child. I would like to talk about the function of progesterone and estriol during pregnancy, and some of the common problems in pregnancy that can be avoided by knowing what progesterone is as xenoestrogens are. So, let's start off with a normal menstrual cycle.

Approximately 12 days after the previous period, estradiol begins to peak and then drops when the follicle matures just before ovulation. After the follicle pops out an egg, the used follicle becomes the corpus luteum. The corpus luteum is where progesterone is made. Progesterone goes up during the second half of the menstrual cycle. The body produces 20 mg of progesterone per day.

Progesterone then begins to lead to the refinement of tissue and blood in the uterus, making nest for the embryo to implant in. Progesterone rises at the time of ovulation, creating a rise in body temperature of about 1° F. This slight rise in body temperature is used by many women to time their ovulation.

In 10 to 12 days after ovulation, if pregnancy does not occur, both estradiol and progesterone levels fall suddenly. This triggers a period. However, if there is a pregnancy, then production of progesterone rises and the shedding of the lining of the uterus does not occur. Therefore, there is no miscarriage. Progesterone production is initially done by the corpus luteum in the first trimester. Production the production continues to ramp up, and during the second and third trimester the placenta begins to use progesterone. Eventually, 300 to 400 mg of progesterone is produced by the placenta during one day of third trimester pregnancy.

Estriol is a natural estrogen that is produced by the placenta. Normally, the level estriol is zero. Estriol and progesterone go up tremendously during pregnancy. Estriol can first be measured at nine weeks and then continues to climb. Estriol goes up 100 times during pregnancy. Interestingly, sex drive or libido goes through the roof during the second and third trimesters. Thus, progesterone and estriol increase libido or sex drive.

The body uses estriol to thicken up the skin to the birth canal so that the woman does not rip her skin during the birth of her baby. Thus, I like to use topical estriol for postmenopausal women who have vaginal atrophy. Estriol goes into the estrous receptor and also blocks all the other xenoestrogens from going into the estrogen receptor. Endometriosis is stopped during pregnancy. This means that progesterone and estriol can be used to stop endometriosis. Again, endometriosis is caused by xenoestrogens binding to the estrogen receptor. Progesterone can be used to oppose effect of xenoestrogens, if the xenoestrogens are weak and few. Estriol can be used to block the effect of xenoestrogens from going into the estrogen receptor. I have used this in one or two patients that did not want to eliminate xenoestrogens from their environment. However, one patient insisted on drinking coffee which actually elevated her estradiol, and so her case was only marginally successful. However, giving estriol and progesterone to endometriosis patients is not mainstream practice. I have not seen it given or encouraged. However, if pregnancy stops endometriosis, then why not make a false pregnancy?

How Much Estrogen And Progesterone Can I Take?

The body produces three kinds of estrogen. The body produces estradiol, estriol, and estrone. Estradiol is a strong estrogen responsible for the development of breasts and hips. Estriol and estrone are considered to be weak estrogens. Estriol and estrone go into the estrogen receptor and do not stimulate the receptor much. Women who are pregnant and deliver multiple times say 10 times over their lifetime have a smaller chance of breast cancer. It is thought that progesterone and estriol which are found in abundant amounts during pregnancy decreases the risk of breast cancer and endometrial cancer. Thus, I feel very safe in giving my patients estriol and progesterone because estriol and progesterone are found in high amounts in pregnancy.

Nutrition And Pregnancy

I usually recommend my patients take a good prenatal vitamin. Again, the egg and sperm, 90 days before conceptio,n are in suspended animation. The egg and sperm are "asleep" 90 days before conception. Thus, both egg and sperm are somewhat protected against toxic insult prior to 90 days before conception. In the 90 days before conception the egg and sperm wake-up and begin to take in nutrients for a successful conception. All the veternarians know this. The veternarians know that they must give good prenatal nutrition to their livestock for a successful business operation. Thus, I ask my couples to take a good prenatal vitamin 90 days before conception. I asked them to eat clean food. I asked them to stop all kinds of drugs even over-the-counter drugs. The women should take at least thousand micrograms of folic acid prevent spina bifida. The exact mechanism how folic acid prevents spina bifida is at the moment unknown.

I also ask them to take chromium nicotinate 200 to 400 µg per day. Chromium is used as a cofactor to prevent diabetes type II. There are chromium deposits in Europe, Africa, and Asia. However, there is very little chromium to be found in North and South America in the soil. So for North and South America, most Americans are chromium deficient. There is no chromium in the soil. There is no chromium in the grass that grows on the soil. When the cows eat the grass is no chromium in the cows. When you eat the cow, there is no chromium in it. Therefore, most Americans are deficient in chromium because our diet is deficient in chromium. The only place you can get chromium is from a vitamin bottle. There was one small study from Europe that showed that giving chromium to pregnant women with gestational diabetes would reverse the gestational diabetes. The gestational diabetes would disappear. Vanadium is also used with chromium to prevent diabetes type II. Therefore, I tell my patients to take 200 to 400 µg of chromium nicotinate per day to prevent gestational diabetes. If you had gestational diabetes while pregnant, then by definition you are chromium deficient. Of course, the veterinarians know this, but the people doctors don't.

Miscarriages And Topical Products

There are also certain herbs that are traditionally used to create miscarriage. I tell my patients to steer away from these herbs that traditionally cause miscarriage in folk medicine. This information is from the Encyclopedia of Birth Control by Vernon Bullough. For example, aloe is used during the first trimester in certain cultures to create a miscarriage. Morally, I do not agree with this. I'm including it here just for scientific information. It is likely that these herbs may block the progesterone receptor. This is how RU486 or Plan B from the drugstore works to create miscarriage. These miscarriage drugs bind to the progesterone receptor and do not stimulate it. Progesterone that your body makes is blocked from binding to your progesterone receptors. Thus you have a miscarriage. These herbs may act in a similar fashion. Many of these herbs are known to cause miscarriage but exact mechanism is unknown.

As you know, estrogen patches can be put onto the skin. The estrogen patch releases estradiol into the body. The body absorbs estradiol directly through the skin. Likewise, aloe in a shampoo will be absorbed directly into the scalp of the head. Aloe in your shampoo may be causing a miscarriage. Anything on the skin is 10 times the dose in potency compared to an oral dose because it is not 90% prefiltered by the liver. Anything on the skin goes directly into the body. Thus, the aloe in shampoo goes directly into the scalp. Is this enough aloe to cause a miscarriage? I don't know. It is so easy to change your shampoo. Why risk it? Now, I want to go on record that I am not against herbs. I am from Hawaii and the male. If I got a sunburn, the first thing I would do is to break open an aloe leaf and spread it all over my body. If you are not pregnant or if you are not the female, then by all means please use aloe for your sunburn or for your immune deficiency. You need to balance out the benefits and risks of using any herb or drug.

How To Use Progesterone During Pregnancy

Progesterone is used routinely by fertility medical doctors to stop miscarriage in their test tube babies. They typically give a shot of progesterone, or progesterone pills. Synthetic brand-name progestins are not used to stop miscarriage. Synthetic brand-name progestins cause birth defects. Fertility MDs do not use synthetic brand-name progestins to to prevent miscarriage because of birth defects.

Topical progesterone can be used prevent miscarriage in the first trimester. Topical progesterone can also be used prevent early delivery. In my opinion, a miscarriage that occurs between 5 to 8 weeks of gestation is a progesterone deficiency or due to an herb used topically unbeknownst to the mother causing a miscarriage until proven otherwise. A miscarriage occurs between 5 to 8 weeks of gestation can routinely be avoided using topical progesterone. However, the one danger of using topical progesterone to prevent a miscarriage is that if you forget take progesterone for one day, the dropping progesterone levels will cause a miscarriage. You cannot forget to take your progesterone each day. Usually I recommend taking progesterone twice a day. Topical progesterone can be used 30 mg in the morning and 30 mg at night. If you are dealing with a progesterone deficiency due to a corpus luteum failure of making enough progesterone, then taking progesterone during the first trimester is enough to prevent a miscarriage.

It is important to remember to taper off the progesterone very slowly to prevent dropping progesterone levels from actually creating a miscarriage. In some cases, slowly tapering off about 10% of the progesterone intake will result in contractions. If the progesterone was fully tapered off in these patients, a miscarriage may result. If this the case, I recommend to the patient to go right back up on progesterone and continue progesterone throughout the entire pregnancy. It is extremely critical that this type of patient does not stop progesterone. It is also possible that these patients had developed antibodies against progesterone. The late Beer M.D. documented progesterone antibodies in certain allergic patients. The advantage of using topical progesterone is that they are in the oil fraction of blood and cannot be affected by antibodies in the blood because oil and water do not mix. This is why topical progesterone can prevent miscarriage in these patients that have antibodies to progesterone. The topical progesterone does not meet the antibodies because they are in the oil fraction of the blood. The topical progesterone in the chylomicrons (oil droplets in the blood) and red blood cell membranes.

Also, remember if administered rectally or vaginally or orally, the dose of progesterone is less than topically on the skin. This is because rectally, vaginally, orally the blood goes all or in part straight to the liver and is 90% inactivated by the liver. The rectum and the vagina are drained in part by the portal vein which goes straight to the liver.

The Effects Of Xenoestrogens During Pregnancy

Breast swelling and breast tenderness often occurs during the first trimester pregnancy. I am not sure this is normal. It is normal for most American women. Again, xenoestrogens cause the body to shut down its receptors and sensitivity to estrogen because of the chronic exposure of xenoestrogens. The body down regulates estrogen receptors in response to chronic estrogen exposure. When you get pregnant the body produces a whole bunch of progesterone. The whole bunch of progesterone wakes up the estrogen receptors from its shut down state. Now, it's seems that you're getting a whole bunch of estrogen since the receptors are now woken up. The xenoestrogens and it's increase sensitivity to xenoestrogens cause water retention with increase breast swelling with breast pain and tenderness. It may be possible if you eliminate all xenoestrogens from your topicals that the breast pain and breast swelling and water retention will not be there. The breast pain, breast swelling, and water retention of first trimester pregnancy is due to the increased estriol receptor sensitivity to xenoestrogens. But if you eliminate xenoestrogens, the breast swelling, breast pain, breast tenderness, and water retention will all go away. It may be that morning sickness and nausea are also due to xenoestrogens in combination with the increased progesterone production. However, I don't have enough experience to say that this is true.

Food cravings during pregnancy may indicate a nutritional deficiency. There are extreme cases where some women feel like they need to eat laundry starch, dirt, or clay. The medical term for this is "pica". The nutritional requirements of pregnancy cause a nutritional deficiency and it is important to find out what the nutritional deficiency is because your body needs those nutrients to create the baby. This is why I advocate taking a good prenatal vitamin at least 90 days before pregnancy and potentially to continue these nutritional supplements throughout pregnancy. Eat whole foods. Don't eat junk food. Most teenage pregnancies are successful if you pay attention to good nutrition.

Conclusion

1. Progesterone and estriol go up to extremely high levels during pregnancy. Women pregnant many times character have smaller chances of breast cancer and endometrial cancer. Progesterone and estriol are relatively safe.

2. During the second and third trimester with progesterone and estriol levels are at an all time high, libido is high. Progesterone and estriol lead to high sex drive. It is important to eliminate xenoestrogens to prevent sabotaging progesterone.

3. Progesterone can be used increase vaginal lubrication. Estriol can be used to counter vaginal atrophy.

4. 90 days before conception it is important to eliminate all toxins and drugs. Make sure to take a good prenatal vitamin 90s per before conception and continue this on them throughout the entire pregnancy. Make sure to take 200 to 400 µg of chromium nicotinate to prevent gestational diabetes. Make sure to take folic acid 1000 µg of more to prevent spina bifida.

5. Certain herbs can cause miscarriage. These herbs can be helpful in other instances when you are not pregnant. But these herbs can cause miscarriage and so it is important to avoid them in your topical cosmetics and lotions because the herbs can be absorbed topically. Anything topical has 10 times the potency of it being taken orally. So, is important to pay attention to what you are putting on your skin.

6. Progesterone can be used to prevent miscarriage during 5 to 8 weeks of gestation. It is also important to avoid herbs that cause miscarriage in your cosmetics emotions. Progesterone can also be used to prevent early delivery.

7. Breast swelling, water retention, breast pain during pregnancy may be due to the effect of progesterone waking up the estrogen receptors. The estriol receptor is our asleep because of chronic xenoestrogens exposure. Eliminate xenoestrogens in your environment may prevent breast swelling, water retention, and breast pain during the first trimester pregnancy.