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Utrogestan used vaginally

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Stellajane:
Is anyone using Utrogestan vaginally on a cyclical basis? If so, would be interested to know what dosage you're taking and whether there are any particular side effects.

Hurdity:
Hi Stellajane

I was sure there would be others out there doing the same thing! Maybe they are not looking in at the moment!

Yes I use Utrogestan vaginally on 2 monthly cycle 200 mg - 12 days per 2 calendar months (just about to start at the weekend...).

Side effects I notice are: initial tiredness especially in the morning, more foggy headed than usual - but not unbearable, intolerance of alcohol while taking it ( ie a small amount of alcohol will set off a migraine) - but that is avoidable! A degree of fluid retention but not uncomfortable, and the need to get up to pee in the night more often (sometimes twice). This is more a pressure on the bladder thing (like when pregnant) rather than actually having a full bladder.

After a few days I generally get used to it but for me the worst but is sometimes having a migraine on withdrawal of the progesterone. This hasn't happened every time so I can't understand why sometimes and not others.

One thing I thought was that I must be absorbing more systemically the times I get a migraine on withdrawal - and the only reason I could think for this was that my vaginal tissues were thinner than usual. This time therefore I am going to use Vagifem every day until Sunday when I take the Utro and see if this makes a difference.

Also because of the difficulty of using vag oestrogen at the same time as vag Utro I may have missed a few over the 12 days, which could have thinned the tissues sufficiently so that more prog was absorbed.

So for me - nothing major - apart from the migraine.

Hope this is helpful and I also would be interested to hear others using the same method...

Hurdity x

Diana:
Hi,Hurdity & StellaJane.

I am on the Utrogestan 200mg on a 3 monthly cycle.It's great just on the Estraderm patch for 10 weeks! :)
Didn't have any real problems with the first use(vaginally)of the Utro.
I started on the 2 monthly course.The Doc said it is up to me if
I'd like to take it 3 monthly.So long as there is no breakthrough bleed,it is OK.
I am due to start the 2nd course of it mid April so,fingers crossed I won't get any
nasty side effects.It's so much better than the nasty Norethisterone.
Doc said it should only cause a normal period type bleed but if very heavy drop back
to 2 monthly cycle.
Will let you know how the 2nd course goes .

Gig:
Please tell me more about why Norethistorone is 'nasty' :)

I react badly to progestins because I have a bladder condition ( like IBS but bladder is the easiest way to describe).  The 2nd half of my normal cycle pre meno was always the worst for me.  Now when I take Noreth, the side effects of weeing more tend to kick in after about 5 days, so I just grit my teeth to get through to the 9 or 10 I need to take.
It's for this reason that I won't have a Mirena because although I think it's good in theory i am not going to have any progestins drip-  dripping into my  system all the time.

I have never thought about trying Utrogestan and surprisingly my dr never suggested it, even though he is wildly enthusiastic about Oestrogel and bio hormones generally.

Hurdity:
Hi Diana
Would be interested to hear about what sort of bleed you have with the three month cycle. For me the bleed is just about right with two months. Since I am almost 60 - in a few weeks (eek!) and have been on HRT for 6 years I don't want to have heavy bleeds so I feel that another 4 weeks of unopposed oestrogen before adding the prog would be an inconvenience too much. I don't want to start worrying about flooding and when am I changing tampons all the time and with a two monthly cycle I don't worry. Have probably 1 1/2 heavy days or so. Also - as an aside - when I told my husband this morning that I was bleeding he said he didn't want to know! He used to be really sympathetic and lovely when I had natural periods and was feeling rubbish, but goes deaf when I talk now about all my added hormones!!

Gig I imgine your doc chose norethisterone because he can get away with prescribing it for 7 days if you are prog intolerant and are monitored regularly, but really I would have thought most private docs would choose bio-identical over synthetic. I presume it's a balance between negative symptoms. As I said on the other thread - don't want to repeat the argument - but I would not take synthetic progestogens at all and would recommend anyone planning to stay on HRT for a long while after menopause to do the same if they possibly can (ie use bio-identical - Utrogestan), especially after 60. There really needs to be more research done.....

Hurdity x

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