Hey Fullmoon, Stellajane, Hurdity, Mary G - Apologies for disappearing but I never get alerts when there are new posts to threads. Guess I just need to keep checking the most recent pages of the Estrogel / Utrogestan group.
To clarify: the Swiss gynaecologist - a surgeon schooled in Italy and France, - put me on one pump Estrogel and 100mg Utrogestan, vaginally, three times a week. I was taking the Utro on Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday nights. No bleed. No spotting. Regular lining checks and last one (memory here) was 4mm.
My experimental one-month holiday off both has produced mixed results: hot flashes arrived after two weeks; boobs smaller, less dense; mood same, which is medium to low; lack of motivation; hair shedding seems to have stopped but that is likely because I have resumed taking 2 grains natural desiccated thyroid; meno pot is thriving - basketball form and never goes down, even when keep carbs to 15grams per sitting. Frustrating but many deal with much, much worse.
The most telling development one month after quitting Estrogel is that my RA has flared across the knuckles of both hands. Late at night, joints are warm to the touch, painful, and skin is a bit red, inflamed and squishy.
I think my bio-HRT keeps my inflammation in check, in combination with my ridiculously saintly eating and exercise regime. (There are only the rare three-glasses-of-wine evenings out with friends).
Libido is still a distant memory.
Anyway,, good luck with the 3 x weekly Utro regime Fullmoon.
It worked very well for me for about two years and I'm resuming it again to get rid of the RA symptoms and get my thermostat back on an even keel.