Smoking & Progesterone
1. Smoking shuts down the Progesterone Receptors in the body (and yes I'm a smoker).
2. Low blood sugar shuts down the Progesterone Receptors in the body (and yes I'm sure mine is all over the charts throughout the day - I'm not diabetic, I just have very erratic eating habits.
Ok, now add that to the other stuff for the MTF's among us:
Men have systemic progesterone and progesterone receptors. The receptors are primarily in the endothelial linings of arteries. Progesterone smooths those linings assisting in the prevention of blood clots, strokes and angina. Estrogens make these linings clumpy and bumpy so the Progesterone (not Progestins) is absolutely necessary to help counteract the negative effects of the Estrogens.
But also and just as important, by us reducing our testosterone levels so much we create a very serious risk for our prostate. Men too have estrogen, albeit much less than women. By reducing our testosterone levels so much we are at risk for enlarged prostates and prostate cancer - in a big way, just with respect to our natural low levels of estrogen. That's why most men don't have prostate problems until their mid 40's or later because that's when their testosterone starts to drop considerably. Now add much more Estrogen to that picture for feminization and the chances increase exponentially. Real progesterone can prevent this from happening too.
It is important to recognize that the receptors DO NOT activate with Progestins, only real/natural progesterone.
So what has to be done? Well from what I can tell you need to introduce high dose progesterone into the regimen. It cannot be metabolized in a pill form though. If done transdermally it has to be done a couple times a day because it's half life when introduced to the bloodstream through fat is very short. If done via intra-muscular injections its half life is about 72 hours. This is the method I chose in that you can save a lot of money this way. I'm injecting .25cc of 50mg/ml progesterone every 3 days.
The other considerations are osteoporosis, men get this sooner than women and MTF's even earlier due to the introduction of high dose estrogens. Progesterone helps here too.
Progesterone is also needed to maintain the myelin sheaths in the brain. Women because of the higher progesterone do very well recovering from trauma as compared to men, especially during menstruation.
Progesterone also minimizes water retention in the body.
What else works against us - well Stress and Adrenaline. Adrenaline blocks or neutralizes the Progesterone Receptors too.
So I have found that the keys are:
1. Get a blood sugar monitor and eat properly maintaining even blood sugars, and
2. Reduce Stress however you can - workout, laugh a lot (really works well), whatever, just reduce your stress keeping the adrenaline in check. Type A personalities pay attention here - I'm a Type A and am constantly checking myself, and
3. Get off the Progestins - they don't help and can hurt you, and
4. Take Coenzyme Q-10 for the brain functions, and
5. Don't Smoke, and
6. Keep a low body fat percentage and exercise, even just walking a lot.
This way we can more safely handle the benefits of our regimens.
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