This is indeed a tricky question to address since a lump anywhere on the body is really not a good sign and a possible indication that you have an abnormal growth of cells. However, the fact that you are taking progesterone supplements could have something to do with it. This is because progesterone causes the secretion of another substance called epidermal growth factor 1. This is the growth factor that stimulates the growth of cells and therefore could be responsible for the unnatural lump on the labia minora. In fact, an experimental treatment to inhibit epidermal growth factor 1 is being developed as a possible cure for cancer. You must stop taking the progesterone or modulate its doses after consulting an endocrinologist.
Progesterone is a hormone that is secreted in both men and women but has a greater effect on women. Called the pregnancy hormone, it is progesterone that is responsible for the changes that occur in the body after an ovum is fertilized into an egg. At this point, the levels of progesterone increase substantially in the body and trigger uterine changes as well as other hormonal changes. The effects of progesterone wane after delivery because the secretions stop and this, along with a reduced secretion of estrogen, induces the production of prolactin to start the process of creating breast milk. Progesterone just like all steroid hormones is created in the body after synthesis from cholesterol. There are many complex reactions that cholesterol goes through before the creation of estrogen, progesterone, and estradiol. Since it is biosynthesized in the body itself, there is little need to have a dietary intake of it. In fact, in a fact finding study conducted, it was shown that there is a high level of progesterone in dairy products since it comes from pregnant cows. Progesterone has powerful effects and is an anti-inflammatory and immunosuppressant that is as powerful as a corticosteroid. This is probably necessary as well to avoid a mother’s immune system reacting to the growing fetus inside her womb.
After menopause, the production of progesterone shifts to cells of the breasts and is an important source of the hormone. If the requirement is to keep the hormone levels in balance, then your best shot is to increase your intake of dairy and the Mexican yam, Dioscorea Mexicana, from which synthetic progesterone is created in a laboratory. Also increase your doses of phytoestrogen from consuming more flax seed.
answered by M W