LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Progesterone
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Progesterone is one of the 2 main hormones (the other being estrogen) produced each month by the ovaries of menstruating women (and is produced in smaller amounts by the adrenals). It is the major female reproductive hormone during the latter 2 weeks of the menstrual cycle, made by the corpus luteum of the ovary. It is normal for the levels of progesterone to rise and fall during the monthly cycle. Progesterone production starts just before ovulation each month and increases rapidly after ovulation. It is what enables the fertilized egg to survive.
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Progesterone is a hormone that prepares the lining of the uterus for the fertilized egg and maintains pregnancy. The name tells the story, promotes gestation hormone. Progesterone is derived primarily from the corpus luteum in the ovary after ovulation. When the follicle ruptures, it is transformed into the corpus luteum. Progesterone is ... produced by the placenta during pregnancy and in small amounts by the adrenal cortex. Progesterone is a "precursor" hormone that is converted into other steroid hormones like testosterone, estrogens, cortisol and aldosterone.
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Progesterone has several important roles in women. It maintains a normal menstrual cycle and plays an important role during pregnancy by preparing the tissues lining the uterus for implantation by the fertilized egg. It ... helps prepare the breasts for milk production. The growing fetus also uses Progesterone to produce steroid hormones that are essential for normal fetal development. Progesterone plays a protective role in preventing some breast and uterine cancers. It also stimulates normal bone growth and thyroid function.
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Progesterone has many opposite, balancing activities to those of estrogen. In addition to normalizing blood sugar levels and water metabolism, progesterone ... has a calming effect on the central nervous system. Supplemental progesterone during the luteal phase of the reproductive cycle (days 14-28), has been found to address many of the symptoms of PMS listed above.
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Progesterone injections (50 mg or 1 ml of progesterone in oil) are commonly given after egg retrieval during an IVF cycle. This is a very effective treatment but can be painful with time as the “oil” tends to accumulate, it is thick and difficult to inject intramuscularly (usually requires a 1.5-inch needle). A new progesterone formulation that is less viscous and easier to inject is now available in the US (requires compounding) which uses Ethyl Oleate as the base rather than peanut, cottonseed or sesame oil. This has been available in Europe for several years. During frozen embryo transfer (when Lupron® and exogenous estrogen such as oral Estrace® is used) cycles both intramuscular and transvaginally progesterone is often used to optimize the endometrial development since the ovaries are not making any progesterone on their own. Treatment cycles using oral ovulation enhancing agents such as Clomid® or Femara® prior to intrauterine insemination (IUI) may be supplemented after the IUI with vaginal progesterone preparations.
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Progesterone is made in the ovaries. Progesterone production begins just prior to ovulation and increases rapidly until it reaches an average production of about 20 mg per day. If an egg is not fertilized, progesterone production falls, triggering the menses. Progesterone is necessary throughout gestation for the survival of a fertilized egg, the resulting embryo, and the fetus. During pregnancy, the placenta produces 300 mg to 400 mg of progesterone per day.
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Progesterone