Re: Progesterone Cream/ Info. and Buyers Caution by Dr.B.

[Guest guest]

Dear List:

Regarding BioIdentical Hormones: I've used natural hormone replacement

clinically for many years at our TJ Cancer clinic and in my own practice as well

as personally. This is a speciality of mine along with enzyme therapy and

oxidative therapy.

A word of caution or Caveat Emptor: There are some manufacturing practices

Consumers need to understand and you need to be very descriminating about buying

Progesterone Creams or other hormone creams or products that are OTC at the

healthfood store or from an Internet supplier, etc. In this realm, you do get

what you pay for... cheaper is definitely NOT better...

Hormones products which use USP Micronized Progesterone (not yam) are subject to

the limited shelf life of the base hormone powders. Hormones that are swallowed

have to go through the liver (what is called first pass) and destroyed by

enzymes for the most part, there the best routes for utilization are creames,

sublingual, oils, suppositories.

BioIdentical hormone powders are manufactured from bacterial cultures in

controlled conditions. Products made from BioEngineering (fermentation) are

labor intensive and expensive. Probiotics, Enzymes, etc. are examples.

The bugs congugate (make) the hormones as byproducts from their food source

(wild yam and other substrates) and depending on the other foods fed them, they

produce specific hormones. The end product is a liquid hormone which is

filtered off and separated which is either freeze dried or spray dried,

sometimes onto rice powder, etc. The raw powdered material should be stored in

air and light free containers. Since they're fat soluable by nature, they

unstable and can oxidize easily and have a short 1/2 life, which means their

activity

decreses quickly over time, usually to 50% in 6 mos. or so.

Private Label Manufacturers get their products from their mixing

houses/packagers, who are the ones who tell them how much " active " hormone is in

each batch based on their estimates unless they take the time and exense to test

each batch of powder they'll use the C of A given them by the raw material

supplier (which is sometimes not the manufacturer but a distributor...). So,

many products out there are mislabeled (like in herbal products also) because

the private label manufactuer has no accurate information they're going by

unless they pay

for a 3rd party analysis of the end product which is expensive and few companies

do it... there is alot of potential for error and fraud and it does occur... too

much for my taste frankly.

If the powder that was mixed into the base was fresh (less than 2 mos. old) then

you'll have about a 1 year shelf life for the unopened product to where you can

expect that the dosing is pretty accurate as to what you'd be getting. For

Progesterone cream, you need 900-1000 mg/ 2 oz. of finished for a month supply.

If they don't know how old the active hormone powder is (the mixing houses

should be getting COA's from the actual raw material manufacturer, not a

distributer, with each batch so they know accurate activity levels of the

hormone powder ) then you could essentially be buying hormone product which

declares one strength on the label but which in fact is perhaps already a year

or more old and basically inactive... these are the realities of industry

practices which the consumer is usually unware of.

Good manufacturers know the manufacture date of the hormone powder is the key to

a good active product and declare the mixing date, batch and expiration date

based on the age of the original powder, not from the date the mixing house

mixed up the end product, (which is usually some arbitrary number (a guestimate)

told to the company having it mixed for private labeler) by the mixing house.

The key to knowing if the Progesterone Cream you're looking at is a good active

one is to ask the company you're buying from a few questions:

1. What is the original hormone powder manufacture date ?

2. What is the date when this batch was mixed and the 1/2 life?

3. Can you get a C of A (certificate of analysis) of the product?

4. What type of preservatives are in it? Natural preservatives like Vitamin C,

E, etc. only give a short shelf life of a year or less if refrigerated and kept

light free...

5. What is the return policy if the product is ineffective?

I can have any type of hormone product made by our compounding pharmacist for

our patients and often do... however, I've used only one OTC Progesterone Cream

myself personally for the last 3 years (which Dr.Mercola recommends as well as

Dr.Lee, Dr.Peat) because these people take the time to only do small batches and

put both the mixing date and expiration date based on the age of the original

hormone powder, and know exactly where all the ingredients originate and do 3rd

party testing on each ingredient. The product is called NaturaGest by

Broadmore Labs. It's sold to practitioners and the public. It is packaged in 2

oz. cream and retails for abot $32. It has 900 mgs. per jar, which is the lower

more effective levels we want. (See Dr.Mercolas website for an excellent paper

on it)...

By the way, it is always a very good idea to get a salivary hormone baseline

before starting any type of hormone replacement or agumentive therapy since you

can exaccerbate conditions if your imbalanced ...for instance DHEA turns

primarily into Testosterone in men but in women it is Estrogenic and only a

small % turns into testosterone... most people (men too) unless the're very thin

or have had a hysterectomy or are already menopausal, don't need more

estrogens...they need bioidentical progesterone and testosterone. We now have

topical

testosterone and androstenadoils, estriol, progesterone available also as well

as pregnenalone (master hormone), which turns more into estrogens. What needs

to be avoided is an increase in sulphated estrogens which are the fractions

which are carcinogenic...we now have an excellent urine test to measure

S-Estradoil levels as well.

So, depending on how your own enzyme systems split the hormone pathways, you

should always test yourself to see how you're responding. I test about 3x/year

or as needed if symptoms develop to be safe. Saliva and urine tests are more

accurate than blood, less expensive and more user friendly since they don't

require a phlebotomist to draw blood.

Carolyn Bormann, N.D.,C.P.

http://www.arrowheadhealthworks.com/

***********

kallie miller wrote:

> A quick message:

>

> I get my progesterone cream from The Honeycomb Natural Foods in Port Huron,

Michigan. Honeycomb Natural Foods Sells health and nutrition related

products, organic food, supplements, vitamins, and more. 3900 Pine Grove Rd.,

Ste.4 Fort Gratiot Twp MI

> The brand is Happy P.M.S, is recommended by Dr. Lee and costs $14.50 for 2

ounces which is about a month's supply. Shipping is extra.

> If you purchase a few months at a time, you will save money.

>

> Kallie

>

> Kallie , Optimal Life Coach

> http://www.4optimallife.com

> Magnetic Sleep Pads, Zappers,

> Ionizing- Alkalizing Water Filters,

> Rebounders, Energy Therapies,

>

> Re: Progesterone Cream

>

> << I got mine shipped in

> from the US at $14.95 a jar. >>

> ==

> Kallie, would you be so kind and share that source with us? I paid $27.00

for

> mine at a local HFS.

> Thanks

> Christel

>

>

[Guest guest]

Dr. Bormann, I'm just wondering if you also administer injectibles at all and

which you prefer, or if you have an opinion, please. Obie.

Re: Progesterone Cream

>

> << I got mine shipped in

> from the US at $14.95 a jar. >>

> ==

> Kallie, would you be so kind and share that source with us? I paid $27.00

for

> mine at a local HFS.

> Thanks

> Christel

>

>

[Guest guest]

Dear Dr. Bormann, loved this post, so much detail. I'm starting to think this

is the way for me to go and want to know if you'd be interested in working with

me, please. Obie.

Dear List:

Regarding BioIdentical Hormones: I've used natural hormone replacement

clinically for many years at our TJ Cancer clinic and in my own practice as well

as personally. This is a speciality of mine along with enzyme therapy and

oxidative therapy.

<snip>

[Guest guest]

Dear Obie:

I'd be glad to help. I've replied to you privately off list.

Dr.B.

Obie wrote:

> Dear Dr. Bormann, loved this post, so much detail. I'm starting to think this

is the way for me to go and want to know if you'd be interested in working with

me, please. Obie.

>

> Dear List:

> Regarding BioIdentical Hormones: I've used natural hormone replacement

clinically for many years at our TJ Cancer clinic and in my own practice as well

as personally. This is a speciality of mine along with enzyme therapy and

oxidative therapy.

> <snip>

>

>