Are You Eating Enough to Get a Period?

Keto period or amenorrhea

Lost your period? You might just need to eat more. A lot more. Losing your period to undereating is called hypothalamic amenorrhea and is common, especially in women under thirty.

Unfortunately, hypothalamic amenorrhea can sometimes be misdiagnosed as polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) because both hypothalamic amenorrhea and PCOS can have “polycystic ovaries” on a pelvic ultrasound exam.

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How Science Got It Wrong About Progesterone

Progesterone is important for women's health.

Progesterone has been both ignored and mistakenly blamed for side effects it does not cause. How did that happen?

First, progesterone was discovered after estrogen, so, according to endocrinology professor Jerilynn Prior, missed being part of the tidy hormone dichotomy of “testosterone for men and estrogen for women.”

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The Right Way to Test Progesterone with the Menstrual Cycle

testing progesterone

The next time your doctor orders a progesterone test, ask yourself: “When is the right day to do this test?”

Forget “day 21 progesterone.” There’s no reason to test progesterone until you are approximately one week before your period. That will depend on how long your cycle actually is.

Here’s what you need to know about progesterone testing.

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Cyclic Progesterone Therapy for PCOS

Progesterone has anti-androgen benefits and can promote ovulation. That makes progesterone therapeutic for polycystic ovary syndrome, as described in my recent paper The central role of ovulatory disturbances in the etiology of androgenic polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS)—Evidence for treatment with cyclic progesterone.

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