Progestin is NOT Progesterone

The following is the content of two posts I made in a discussion on facebook. I find that I don't have time to blog when I am off doing this, so I decided to post my contribution as a blog post. I don't have any sources linked, because well, for one, facebook is so annoying in letting you link in the comments. And two, because it would take me four times as long to source as it does to write. And, "dammit Jim! I am a blogger, not a scientist!" (Free internet points to all those who understand the reference.) If you need a specific source, please let me know and I will dig it out. The woman I am addressing in the posts has health problems which she believes "need to be treated with The Pill." I have removed her name, (I hope I got all the instances), but she remains in my heart and prayers. She, and all other women deserve better than what our current culture thinks is "health care for women."

[Name redacted], I really sympathize with your position. I don't know if you will believe me or not, but I honestly do hope you get better treatment than the Pill. The regiment you are on now is damaging your body for the long term. I can go into the details if you would like, but I am not sure if you will believe my motives are genuine or not. But I will take a dive in anyway...

What you are taking now is something called progestin, or progestogen. Those two words look a lot like the word progesterone, so many people think they must be the same as progesterone. They aren't. And both are very dangerous to you, in the short term and the long term. The family of progestins is designed to mimic progesterone in your pituitary gland. But it doesn't mimic it in the rest of the body. That causes the health problems you are having to get worse.

Pregnant women, and women in the days after ovulation can't get pregnant because the high doses of progesterone in the pituitary, shuts off ovulation. But progesterone doesn't just turn off ovulation and grow the placenta. Those are just the qualities that led to it getting its name. Those are the "pro-gestational" qualities. But what many people don't realize is that all males and females have progesterone (even children) and both sexes absolutely NEED it in its natural form. Progesterone is the building block for the production of estrogen and testosterone.

When your body gets the steroid, progestin, it stops making natural progesterone. (Just like a male athlete on steroidal testosterone stops making natural testosterone and his testes shrink or swell, permanently.) Your ovaries do the same thing on the steroids. They shut down and cease making estrogen. Your body cannot use the artificial progestin to make estrogen. Some versions of the Pill add estrogen in an "average dose" to try to compensate for the loss. But the dose nearly always leads to estrogen dominance or estrogen deficiency, so some try to do without it and advise the patients to use it "short term". When estrogen (or testosterone) levels are off it affects everything about us. In women it leads to loss of libido, vaginal dryness (painful intercourse, and higher risk of STDs because of vaginal tearing,) personality changes, osteoporosis, and a whole host of other problems. (I have a list, but this is plenty long already.)...

Basically, your health problems are being made worse by the Pill, [redacted]. I promise you. I have been there. I have been off of it for 10 years now and my health problems are finally really healing. (It takes 10 years to reverse the effects of it.) Charting your fertility and seeing a doctor who honestly knows about the dangers of progestin is really the only way for living healthy now and in your future...

I am honestly posting to help your health. If you are interested in further information on real treatments, please feel free to contact me privately. I promise not to debate the morality of the Pill. My goal has always been to help other women find authentic forms of medicine. Progestin and progestogen really are neutering the environment and absolutely killing women.

And to answer the question, "If progestins are so bad for the body why don't they use natural progesterone in the Pill instead?" Answer: They tried that when they were testing it 50 years ago and in the first 20 years of "the Pill" being on the market. Massive doses of progesterone in the uterus tries to do what it is supposed to do: make a placenta. But if the building blocks of a placenta aren't there (an embryo) it just makes tumors instead. Way, way too many women's bodies also react to progestin in the same way. Note in any article that attempts to debunk the link between the Pill and cancer will almost always include the little disclaimer, "women who have been off of the Pill for 10 or more years have the same chances of cancer as women who never took it in the first place."

You have to be off of it for 10 years to get your health back! And Pill supporters have done little, to no, research on the women who have taken the Pill for all 20 of their reproductive years. The studies being performed by those against hormonal contraception show that the numbers are likely much higher, the longer a woman has been on the Pill. They are still in the danger zone for 20-30 years. The makers of The Pill are the ones with all the money. They are the ones who can afford research. I don't make a thin dime if I can convince you to switch to fertility awareness. My entire purpose in writing is because your life has value to me. I don't know you, but you are (and any woman reading this) worth more than The Pill is giving you. You deserve real healing. AND real healing IS possible! If anyone, not just [name redacted], is interested in more information, please feel free to contact me privately. We can save the moral debates for another day. For me, learning the health side came first. It taught me that things are immoral, not because people like to judge and wave fingers, but because they really are bad for us, as human persons.