Average 10 drop application contains 14 milligrams of progesterone.

Ingredients:  blend of natural oils (coconut, grape seed, jojoba, safflower, sunflower), vitamin E, ethyl alcohol, isopropyl palmitate, Natural Progesterone USP from yams (1500 mg/oz), natural essential oils of sweet orange and rose geranium.  Contains no parabens.

Applications per container:  One-ounce bottle delivers about 200  5-drop applications (7 mg progesterone per application). With a daily dose of 10 drops, it will last 5 months (21 consecutive days per month) or 7 months (14 consecutive days per month).

Best transdermal absorption - absorbs readily from skin surface.
100% of the hormone is bioavailable.
Ease of use: required dose is contained in a small amount of lotion, which can be inconspicuously applied any time.  Dose measurement is achieved by counting drops.
Convenience: small 1-ounce bottle easily fits in purse.
Human-friendly ingredients, including essential oils of sweet orange and rose geranium, which are also used in aromatherapy for PMS and menopausal complaints.

Menopause or postmenopause:
2 –10 drops once or twice daily for 21 days; discontinue for 7 days and repeat.
If discontinuation causes difficult to tolerate reoccurrence of symptoms, the break can be shortened to 3 days.  The break is necessary to maintain the sensitivity of progesterone receptors, as well as to prevent its possible buildup in the body.  If you have never used progesterone and do not know how much your body requires for balance, start using 2 drops twice daily.  Increase the dose gradually until symptoms subside or disappear.  Do not exceed 15 drops per day without consulting your doctor. After 1 - 2 months try decreasing the number of drops to find the correct dose for your body.  Use the smallest dose at which symptoms don’t reoccur.

Women who do not menstruate can also use an easier to remember alternative application schedule: use the lotion for 25 days of the calendar month and discontinue for the rest of the month.

Premenopause or PMS:
Start using in the middle of your cycle between the 10-th and 12-th day depending on the cycle's length.  First day of cycle is the first day of menstruation.  Use 2 - 10 drops once or twice daily for 14 days.  When irregular cycles cause earlier menstruation, discontinue using until the middle of next cycle.  According to Dr. Lee*, cycles should become normalized after 2 - 3 months of usage.  Insufficient progesterone level in the body causes reduced sensitivity of estrogen receptors.  Initial progesterone supplementation restores their sensitivity, which may cause some women to experience certain symptoms related to estrogen dominance: water retention, headache and enlarged breasts.  It is important to remember that these symptoms will disappear in two weeks to two months*.  To avoid the symptoms we recommend starting with a lower dose, gradually increasing it until the desired dose is reached.

Dr. Lee* recommends progesterone for prevention of osteoporosis:
Follow one of the above schedules, apply twice a day.  Keep in mind that slim, small, older women usually need less progesterone than younger women with greater body weight and that even a minimal dose is beneficial.

Men:  Average daily dose is 2 - 4 drops.  Do not exceed 6 drops per day without consulting your heath care professional.  Use for 3 consecutive weeks, discontinue for 1 week and repeat.
Alternatively, use for 25 days in a month, discontinue for the rest of the month and repeat the cycle.

When to expect results?
Improvement can be noticed after a few days of progesterone supplementation, depending on symptoms.  In case of substantial progesterone deficiency, a few weeks might be necessary for the symptoms to subside.

How long to use natural progesterone?
As long as you need its benefits.
If you are using hormone replacement therapy (HRT) and want to switch to health-promoting natural progesterone, Dr. Lee* recommends complete discontinuation of synthetic progestins if your therapy includes them, and reducing estrogen dose by half then gradually taper off if possible.  Many women can discontinue using estrogens after several months of natural progesterone supplementation.  For more information refer to the books suggested below.

Contraindications:
Do not use progesterone while using hormone-based birth control.  Consult a doctor in case of a serious health condition, taking prescription medication, when using hormonal therapy, pregnant, planning to become pregnant or nursing.
Health care professionals experienced in natural hormone replacement therapy can be found at:
www.altmednetwork.net/whealth/doctors.html

* Information in this publication is based on the following books, which offer detailed explanation of women's and men’s hormone balance issues, hormone balance programs, as well as detailed descriptions of how to use natural hormones.  Although most of the information in the books has been provided for women, they contain a wealth of information applicable to men:

John R. Lee, M.D.  What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Menopause: The Breakthrough Book on Natural Progesterone.

John R. Lee, M.D.  What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Premenopause: Balance Your Hormones and Life from Thirty to Fifty.

John R. Lee, M.D.  Hormone Balance for Men. Available online at www.johnleemd.com

Uzzi Reiss, M.D.  Natural Hormone Balance.

Jonathan V. Wright, M.D.  Natural Hormone Replacement.

Joseph McWherter, M.D.  Avoiding Breast Cancer While Balancing Your Hormones.  Available online at www.femcentre.com

Most progesterone creams contain micronized hormone (ground to micron-size particles).  In most of those preparations only small portion of progesterone is dissolved, the rest is suspended as micron-size particles.  Those particles cannot be absorbed by the skin and remain on its surface.  Progesterone is wasted as a result, requiring application of larger amounts to make up for the loss.

In making ClearPatch lotions we go one step further.  We start with micronized USP grade progesterone and make it fully dissolved.  Only in this form the hormone is 100% bioavailable and can be absorbed by skin.  The efficiency of ClearPatch lotions allows maintaining physiological levels of progesterone using doses smaller in comparison with creams.

Dose is easily measured and consistent: an average drop of 5% lotion contains 1.4 mg of progesterone.