natural progesterone?

Quoted message said:

At 41, I recently gave birth to my first baby. Something strange
occured. During pregnancy, I felt so calm, happy & relaxed. I was
on bedrest and all stressors were removed from my life, but I think
there is more to it.

A friend of mine so loved the psychological effects of being pregnant
that she had to be careful not to keep having children, not because
she wanted lots of children (she didn't), but because she so *loved*
being pregant it was a serious temptation.

Quoted message said:

A doctor mentioned a lack of progesterone/excess estrogen could be at
fault. I can't believe it could be that simple... Another doctor says
taking progesterone will make my blood pressure worse, while another
says not so. I'm really confused now.

It *could* be that simple, in the sense that various hormones, so
called "brain hormones", and neurotransmitters, can in very small
doses have very dramatic effects on the way we think and feel. That's
why there's such a large street drug addiction problem. OTOH, while
the *diagnosis* may be that simple, effecting the desired change is
not, because in the body and brain these biochemicals are knitted
together in very intricate dynamic mechanisms, and simply trying to
supplement what is lacking is likely to have unexpected effects, some
of which may be pretty bad.

It could be useful to try consulting a good endocrinologist. This area
is very poorly understood, so very few docs have any clue about how
these things work, but some of the better endocrinologists have useful
intuitions and experiences, and most have a much better appreciation
than most doctors of how things can go badly wrong when you fiddle
with this stuff.
--
Chris Malcolm [email hidden] +44 (0)131 651 3445 DoD #205
IPAB, Informatics, JCMB, King's Buildings, Edinburgh, EH9 3JZ, UK
[http://www.dai.ed.ac.uk/homes/cam/]