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[foreign body]

I took Angeliq for two months and was a complete mess. Cystic acne, depression, low energy, anxiety. As soon as i stopped, i started to feel better, though for weeks i had to deal with unsightly scars left by those cysts once they were reabsorbed. Definitely intolerant to progesterone. Then i switched to estrogel+utrogestan (i take utrogestan vaginally for 10 days a month) I am not happy with the progesterone phase but cannot avoid taking it. No acne on utrogestan, but after a few days the depression comes back, and  i become antisocial. I just want to hide! I lose interest in my usual activities, my energy levels plummet, my muscles ache as if i had flu, working out becomes almost impossible, i just want to curl up in bed with a book and a cup of tea. It's like being sick for a week a month.

[CLKD]

It's awful ain't it, even though you know that it is cyclical 

[GypsyRoseLee]

It's funny how I felt so good for my first pack of Gederal, then after just 4 days off it all the horrible anxiety, dark thoughts and panics came back. But then just seemed to intensify as I sent into the 2nd back, and 2 weeks into the 2nd back I was no better.

Can only think it was a reaction to a build up of synthetic progesterone maybe? The fact that two separate consultants in here advised posters to stop the progesterone immediately shows they must 'know' it can have this effect.

Maddeningly I can't really remember how I genuinely tolerated Utrogestan. I was so up and down the whole 4.5/months I was on HRT. But I think my oestrogen dose of only 25mg patch, then a 50mg patch was never high enough for me.

[Briony]

Briony : That's the same as me. Typically, I don't respond well to synthetic estogens (Dienogest being the closest to tolerable). Yet with Utrogestan, I felt great ... Until I stopped it! Now been prescribed it fr 25 days, despite still having periods, but am not going to switch until my stomach cramps have eased.

Following this with interest!

Briony can you please explain re your stomach cramps? Do you think it is progesterone related? Reason asking I also have stomach cramps and backache which are more like periodlike pain and not sure whether it is my estrogen dosage being too high or my progesterone I take oralle...??

MatildaMouse
Sorry only just seen your questions. Within days of starting Marvelon, I realised I was constipated. A few days later, I would get period like cramps, especially before I needed a wee. Some days, I needed pain killers. Within a week, I was so bloated and miserable because of it. I struggled to tell if it was a bowel or uterus area issue, but did then start spotting too. Within a month, I looked and felt pregnant so decided to stop it. It remained crampy for a week - not all the time but painful when they occurred - and I got quite worried, but by day 9 of no Marvelon, it was much much better.

Hope that makes it clearer x

[MIS71MUM]

A letter from my consultant said that he wouldn't suggest I use the Mirena coil because of my mood issues, but suggested I use the evorel patches....surely they both have synthetic progesterone in them - I'm confused🤔

[CLKD]

Confusion comes with the territory    ……..

[Hurdity]

Miss71Mum - that is very strange!!! However, the idea with Mirena is that very little of the (synthetic) progestogen - levonorgestrel - gets into the system, although even this small amount it can cause problems for some women, and if it does I suppose it is there all the time, trickling out a little progestogen into the system, as well as where it is required ie the uterus.

Yes Evorel does contain a different synthetic progestgoen - norethisterone - but because it is being taken cyclically, you only have it for 2 weeks of the month. I presume that is behind your consultant's thinking?

Hurdity x

[Tangerinedreams]

Hi ladies, I also don't get on well with the progesterone tablets.  I am on Femoston 1/10 and doing ok with it, finding it much better than Prempak C!  But still not feeling good during the 2nd half stage of the packet, when I take the blue tablets they give me stomach cramps and period pain about 10 days before the period actually starts.  The last couple of months I resorted to cutting them in half, and I still end up having a period at day 28 so do I really need to take a whole tablet?  I am about 1 year into peri so still having my own cycle going on in the background.  The other thing I do when I was taking whole blue tablets was, once my period started which might be before I get to the end of the pack.  I am like yippee had enough of you blue horrible things and throw the remainder away.  So I never take the whole 14 blue tablets.  As long as I am getting a period is this ok?

I am thinking of changing to the oestrogel/ utro regime instead, does anyone think this will suit me better?

[Mary G]

Tangerinedreams, I know how you feel!  I have tried lots of different HRT preparations and find the Oestrogel/Utrogestan combination the best and most effective by far.  No other HRT came even close and it was not until I started using the gel that I felt completely normal again and realised how bad the other HRT regimes had been. 

There is one small problem and that is the Utrogestan.  I am severely intolerant to all types of synthetic progestins (including the Mirena coil) and, to a lesser extent, bio identical Utrogestan so I have to limit my intake (100mg for 7 days per month) and this has to be taken vaginally for both greater absorption and minimal side effects.  I also take 1 pump of oestrogel every 12 hours and a tiny bead of testosterone every day. 

It sounds like you are also intolerant to synthetic progestins and you might want to give it a try.  I honestly think you will find it a big improvement and you may even find that you get on well with the Utrogestan.