Customer Reviews

I while back my doctor (reluctantly) prescribed progesterone cream for me from a compounding pharmacy after my insistence on having my hormones tested.

The cream changed my life. My night sweats disappeared, I was no longer prone to fits of rage, my family actually enjoyed being with me again, I was able to think clearly again and the brain fog was GONE (essential because I am the sole supporter for my family), and my energy levels, while not quite what they used to be, moved back into the acceptable range allowing me to actual have something of a social life again.

The pharmacy and provided me with a cream I ended up having a severe allergic reaction to and weren't able to provide the cream in a formulation that was safe for me.

So I turned to Amazon to find an over the counter cream. I have tried a number of creams trying to find the right one for me. Reading the other reviews available, it is quite clear that the cream works for most people, while there are a few for whom it doesn't work. Since there are plenty of reviews about whether or not the cream works, and I know what the cream can do for me based on my experience with the progesterone from the compounding pharmacy, I decided to write a comparison of the creams I tried. I had a hard time decided which cream to use soI tried several to find the best one for me. Following is my assessment of the different creams I tried.

The Source Naturals is the product I stuck with, using the tub form, which got 4.5 stars from me. Had there been an easier way of dosing or had the company actually provided me with something to measure in, it would have gotten a full five stars. Instead, I had to purchase a dedicated measuring spoon to use with this. (I gave the tube a rating of 4, please see below for more details.)

There were several factors that were important to me and on which I'm basing my reviews. You may have other factors that are or are not important, so please take those into consideration when reading my evaulations. The factors for me were

1. Effectiveness/strength of the cream (MOST important, worth 3 stars).
2. Ease of use (this includes type of packaging and ease/difficulty of self-dosing) (worth 1 star).
3. Smell and feel (some of these products had a smell or feel to me that was just horrible), obviously the most subjective of my criteria (worth 1 star).
4. Most of the products were close in price, but one was about twice the cost of the others (the Emerita Pro-Gest). For me, if that were the only choice it wouldn't make a difference, but since there were otherwise comparable products out there, I subtracted a star from the expensive one for being close to twice the cost of the others.

That's a potential total of 5 stars per product.

To summarize what I've found, the best quality of progesterone cream in terms of how well the cream relieved my symptoms was found in either the Source Naturals products or the Emerita Pro-Gest.

The easiest to use were those with the dosed pumps, but I didn't like any of those creams because they either didn't work well or had an offensive smell or feel. The one I ended up using regularly is the Source Naturals in the tub. I bought a dedicated measuring spoon so I can get a consistent dose. It's not as easy as the dosed pump because I have to clean the spoon after each use, but the cream is otherwise excellent, so to me it was worth the extra work.

Here's my opinion of each cream, with my star rating. (For the Amazon ratings, I've rounded up since they don't allow half stars.)

SOURCE NATURALS PROGESTERONE CREAM. Available in a tube or tub. 4-4.5 stars
1. This is by far the most effective at relieving my symptoms. It works just as well as the pharmacy cream did. 3 stars.
2. The tube is a little difficult to squeeze as it got emptier, and I was never sure if I was getting the last bit out. The purchase of the measuring spoon to use with the tub made it an easier way for me to get a consistent dose. 0 stars for the tube, 1/2 a star for the tub.
3. Nothing offensive about either the scent or feel of this product. 1 star.
4. This is the most reasonably priced product I've tried so far.
Total: 4 stars for the tube version and 4.5 stars for the tub version.

NOW FOODS PROGESTERONE CREAM. Available in a dosed pump, unscented or lavender. 3-3.5 stars or
1. This worked reasonably fine at relieving my symptoms. I would have a frequent but mild night sweat on this but that's about it. The other creams did a better job of controlling my symptoms. 2 stars.
2. Comes in a dosed pump. They pump often (every few pumps) seemed to get an air bubble and not deliver a full dose, so even though I really like the concept, it didn't always work so I'm taking off half a star. 1/2 a star.
3. The feel is fine. There's an unscented version and a lavender one. The unscented had no objectionable odor, but I really didn't like the lavender scent (I normally really like lavender but didn't like this one. 1 star for the unscented, 1/2 for the lavender.
Total: 3 stars for the lavender and 3.5 stars for the unscented.

LIFE FLOW PROGESTA-CARE. Available in a dosed pump. No rating (please see below)
I can't full evaluate the effectiveness of this product because I couldn't use it for more than a couple of nights. The cream felt so horrible on my skin. It was sticky and tacky and wouldn't feel like it absorbed in. My clothes would stick to me after using it, kind of like the way they would stick to you on a hot humid day, which didn't happen with any of the other products I tried. I tried to tolerate it, but ended up having to wash it off in order to sleep. Not rated. Some reviewers didn't seem bothered by the feel fo this, but a few others did. I am not usually a princess about these things, but I really couldn't stand the feel of this. Please read the other reviews for alternative opinions and perhaps you might have better luck with this product than I did.

EMERITA PRO-GEST CREAM. Available in a tube or single-use packet. 2-3 stars (3-4 stars if you don't care about cost).
1. This worked fine. I would have a very rare and very mild night sweat on this, but otherwise no complaints about effectiveness. 2.5 stars.
2. The tube offers no easy way to get a consistent dose, and, like the other tubes, gets harder to squeeze as it gets used up and I was never able to tell if the tube was empty or close to empty. The single use packets eliminated the dosing problem. 0 stars for the tube, 1 star for the packets.
3. The cream felt fine, but it had a slightly unpleasant odor. 1/2 a star.
4. This product costs almost twice as much as the others so I subtracted a star for that. Please add a star if you don't care about cost.
Total: 2-3 stars.

283 people found this helpful

By Karwee on July 11, 2014

*updated: go straight to Ona's 10% cream. 100mg per pump. She has a 20% cream on her website! Even better! Start at 200mg a day & go up till symptoms are gone. You cannot OD on natural progesterone. 600:1 is the progesterone to estrogen ratio you want if you do blood testing. Progesterone needs to be GIGANTIC. Progesteronetherapy dot com

Previous review:
I've tried 5 different brands & this one is my 2nd fav. It absorbs quickly, does not leave skin tacky & is the second highest concentrated progesterone cream I can find on amazon (22mg per 1/4tsp)! Reminds me of a menthol type muscle cream I've used before. Has a slight menthol smell to it & totally soaks in.

I've tried LifeFlo & Now metered pumps, Karuna Pure squeeze tube & a squeeze tube brand called Natpro not found on amazon. Metered pumps are the cleanest & easiest, but I've yet to find a cream in one of those that's doesn't leave my skin tacky or horribly stink. This tub style is perfect bc you can scoop out your teaspoon & level right there.

The benefits of progesterone cream are no more hair falling out or sore breasts & pretty painless periods now. It even shaved a couple days off of my heavy periods. Also, I sleep way better!

My go to cream was out of stock, so I bought this to try. This product works beautifully & I would buy again in a pinch. But outside of amazon, my go to cream is at a concentration of 33mg per 1/4tsp & costs $15! Can be found at progesteronetherapy dot com.

If you are new or struggling with progesterone, I'd visit that site as well. It changed my life, as my symptoms were worse when first starting on progesterone cream. The cream gave me swollen feet & legs, super sore breasts & deep vein pain in my neck when I followed the back of a store bought bottle's instruction! The website I listed taught me I wasn't using enough. Progesterone has to become the dominant hormone in order to get sweet relief. Never use less that 200mg a day or your symptoms will be worse.

12 people found this helpful