Most women do not need progesterone or vitamin C supplements during pregnancy. In fact, taking these supplements unnecessarily may cause adverse reactions or undue risks to the pregnancy. However, these supplements may prove useful for women who have difficulty conceiving or maintaining a pregnancy. If you believe you would benefit from either of these supplements, always talk to your doctor first. Do not take either of these supplements during pregnancy without your doctor's permission. Vitamin C helps to heal wounds, fights infections, prevents cell damage, repairs tissue and aids in bone growth. Although it is important to get enough vitamin C during pregnancy, it is possible to get too much. Generally speaking, most healthy pregnant women need about 85 mg of vitamin C a day through food and their prenatal vitamin. Getting significantly more than this amount through additional supplementation may cause adverse effects, including possibly increasing the risk of preterm birth, the medical advisory board of BabyCenter notes.
Always talk to your doctor before taking vitamin C supplements during pregnancy. Progesterone is a natural hormone found in the body. Before pregnancy, the hormone helps prepare the body for pregnancy by thickening the lining of the uterus or endometrium. Women who have low progesterone levels may need to take progesterone supplements to become pregnant. During pregnancy, progesterone nurtures the fetus and helps maintain a supportive environment so the unborn baby can grow and thrive. Women who have low progesterone levels during early pregnancy may need progesterone supplementation to help sustain the pregnancy. Progesterone supplementation may also help women who have already had a premature baby prevent premature birth, according to the March of Dimes.However, this does not necessarily mean that taking both supplements at the same time is without any risk. Always talk to your doctor about all the other supplements and medications you are taking so your doctor can make an educated decision about whether taking one or both of these supplements is appropriate for your situation.
Women who have a luteal phase defect may benefit from taking vitamin C supplements to increase progesterone levels, according to a study published in the August 2003 issue of "Fertility and Sterility." The luteal phase is the latter part of the menstrual cycle, occurring after a woman ovulates. During this phase, progesterone levels typically increase so that the uterine lining thickens and develops additional blood vessels, which helps an embryo attach to the uterus. The progesterone also suppresses menstruation. This phase typically lasts for 12 days, but it lasts much shorter for women with a luteal phase defect. These women typically have very low progesterone levels during this phase. Vitamin C supplements may increase the levels of progesterone in these women and extend the luteal phase so the likelihood of pregnancy increases, although more research needs to be done to confirm current findings. If you are interested in using a vitamin C supplement to increase progesterone levels to become pregnant, talk to your doctor.
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potential nitric oxide donor. improved corpus luteum blood flow in 83% of patients and improved serum progesterone in 67% ofimproved corpus luteum blood flow in 100% of patients and improved serum in 71%. In the control group, who received no medication to increase corpus luteum blood flow, only 9% improved in corpus luteum and 18% improved in serum . and possess progesterone-like effect and act synergistically with on rabbit endometrium, when they were goats depicted both the largest values for corpus luteum total number and serum levels, with no differences for volume corpusResults suggest a higher efficiency within the cellular-enzymatic groups defining the steroidogenic pathways in the supplemented goats, generating a larger synthesis. last is essential for ovulation of healthy oocytes, maintenance of uterine quiescence, nourishment and survival of the embryo aroundall of them of paramount significance during the maternal
recognition of pregnancy process. Dogs fed 50 mg of had significantly higher concentrations of plasma progesterone between d 12 and 26 compared with unsupplemented dogs. not influence plasma and total uterine proteins. Therefore, beta-carotene is absorbed into plasma, corpus luteum, and uterine endometrium of dogs. increased plasma concentrations during the . It is possible that dietary beta-carotene may improve reproductive function in the canine. possesses -like effect but it does not intensify the action of progesterone. On the other hand, and exhibit no progesterone-like effect and do not affect the action progesterone when they were given together. Administration of at doses of 200-800 mg/day reduces blood , increases and results in improved symptoms under After three months, the FertilityBlend () group demonstrated a trend toward increased mean mid-luteal . 26% treated vs. 10% placebo were pregnant. Endometrial thickness, serum progesterone and clinical pregnancy rate
were significantly higher when additional oral phytoestrogen (Cimicifuga racemosa)(black cohosh) 120 mg/day was added to infertility treatment from days 1 to 12. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18413068Selenium supplementation increases progesteroneSelenium supplementation did not affect the length of the estrous cycle, but it did increase the concentration of plasma progesterone in the estrous cycle. These results suggest the possibility that selenium contributes to the progesterone production of corpus luteum.http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9492375Mean plasma progesterone concentrations were higher in cows fed flaxseed (high in omega 3's) and sunflower seeds (high in omega 6's) than in those fed saturated fatty acids.http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18762721Higher protein intake, lower carbohydrate intake associated with higher progesteroneSerum progesterone levels were positively correlated with protein intake and negatively correlated with percent carbohydrate in the diet.http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15708782 Progesterone is found
in dairy products, but not very muchThe group measured salivary progesterone levels in 17 male volunteers at baseline and 24 hours later after consuming three servings of high-fat dairy foods (2 tablespoons butter, 2 ounces cheese, and a quart of premium ice cream) between morning and afternoon. The procedure was repeated a week later. Salivary progesterone increased 22 to 116 percent in all subjects both times after 24 hours of a high-fat dairy product diet. (Average progesterone in men is 0.181 ng/ml, while the average progesterone in a healthy early pregnancy is 32 ng/ml, so an additional 0.2 ng/ml is probably insignificant). Dr. Goodson said males were chosen because their normal concentrations of progesterone are lower and less cyclic than in females and hence an effect would be easier to measure. Because progesterone dissolves readily in fat, it should be absorbed more efficiently in high-fat products. Foods that were 70% to 80% dairy fat contained 175 to 300 ng/mL of progesterone (.175 to .3 mg/liter; oral progesterone is usually prescribed in 100 mg to 200 mg doses), they found.
Before and after a weight loss of at least 5% of initial body weight we analyzed LH, FSH, estrogen, prolactin, testosterone, DHEA-S, oral glucose tolerance test and progesterone, weight, BMI, waist/hip ratio and totalThe mean weight loss was 9.5 kg, which represents a weight loss of 10.96% from initial body weight, with 26 patients (86.6%) resuming spontaneous ovulation. The women's mean plasma testosterone, LH, estradiol and DHEA-S decreased significantly and there was significantly increased on progesterone. A significant negative correlation was observed between insulin and progesterone and between progesterone and LH concentrations, and a positive correlation was observed between LH and insulin. further demonstrated a significant enhancement in luteal progesterone concentration (4.9 ng/ml vs 16.97 ng/ml) in PCOS women treated with metformin. results suggest that hyperinsulinemia/insulin resistance may be responsible for low progesterone levels during the luteal phase in PCOS.
The luteal progesterone level may be enhanced in PCOS by decreasing insulin secretion with metformin. Twelve healthy postmenopausal women received 200-mg oral progesterone capsules once daily for 12 days or 40 mg twice dailyAt steady state (day 12 of each phase), whole-blood samples were collected over 24 hours (oral progesterone) or 12 hours (topical progesterone) and assayed for total progesterone concentration. significant differences were found in dose-normalized 24-hour progesterone exposure comparing the cream to oral capsules (median AUC(0-24) 12.5 ng x h/mL vs 10.5 ng x h/mL, respectively). light of the potential risks associated with long-term progesterone use, the authors question whether products should be , after treatment with 50-150 micrograms l-thyroxine daily for at least 4 to 6 weeks, elevated prolactin values significantly decreased in 9 out of 12 patients and testosterone levels slightly decreased in 5 out of 8 patients.