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[Ladybt28]

Trufflecoat - my meno consultant says it can be used virginally and I'm in the uk.  Taking it orally means it has to go through the digestive system and be processed by the liver that is why it's not good taken that way for some women.  I use it that way but I found that they seem to melt really quickly using a finger and yes I have found it difficult to get them far enough up!  I had a dispenser thingy which was for Canestan pessaries (its is a treatment for thrush) and I use it, bit like Bo.  I run it under boiling water each day to sterilise and put the tiny Utrogestan 100mg capsules into the top of the dispenser like you would a pessarie and insert, push up the plunger and Voila!

I am fairly progesterone intolerant and unfortunately my tolerance has not increased over time at all but that's just me.  I am currently using 200mg virginally for 12 days but I know that I will end up on a shorter cycle than that. I'm 57, post meno and still have a womb. I have to have a bleed because I cannot tolerate the progesterone continuously.

[Bo]

Just wondering, what's the problem so many people seem to have with using your finger? Are you afraid of contact with your own body? It's washable and avoids the need for single use plastic dispensers. And I've never had any problem with getting the positioning right. What's with the squeamishness (or am I  being unfair?)

Not squeamish, it's just easier and I can rely on it being high enough up. I wash the applicator in hot water after use. It's definitely not single use 

[Hurdity]

I use my finger - I just do it in bed and poke them up as far as I can - if you're lying down it's fine - and my fingers are short too. It seems to disappear ie goes up further than my finger and always does its job with the l womb lining - personally couldn't be faffed with an applicator (the 200 mg ones for fertility apparently do come with an applicator as they are "licensed" for vaginal use). Each to their own of course and whatever works for you!

Trufflecoat - my meno consultant says it can be used virginally and I'm in the uk.

Ladybt - I love phone autocorrect!

 

Hurdity x

[Ladybt28]

  oh yes - definitely born again Hurdity!  White is my favorite colour!!! 

[RubyLove]

My GP said the progesterone pessaries can only be prescribed by a gynaecologist.

[Seeker]

Has anyone got any feedback about their experience using Lutigest as part of a continuous combined regime?

I have had problems with terrible bouts of tiredness using Utrogestan - and I don't seem to be getting used to it over time.

[Hurdity]

Hi Seeker

 

There have been a couple of threads about Lutigest where I looked up some info too re dosage in response to queries:

https://www.menopausematters.co.uk/forum/index.php/topic,40628.msg643922.html#msg643922
https://www.menopausematters.co.uk/forum/index.php/topic,41146.msg649216.html#msg649216

It would be off licence for HRT just as Cyclogest is.

Hurdity x

[Poppy78]

Hi ladies
After six months of trial and error I'm finally on the right dosage of estrogen (Evorel 100) but still can't seem to get my progesterone right. Also on vagifem every other day and use Yes VM as still externally quite dry.
I had a very significant mental breakdown with the Conti patches and terrible IBS and tiredness with Utrogestan 200mg orally. Then tried Utrogestan 200mg orally which while reducing IBS led to increased tiredness all day for days 15\26. At meno clinic (first appointment waited 96 days for) in early July it was suggested I do continuous 100mg tablet. A month and a half in and I've had continuous spotting, vaginal cramps, bloating, and loss of libido etc.. so unless this settles quite soon I need to change.
I'm going through an early natural menopause and feel quite frustrated that while I finally feel I'm on the right dosage with estrogen (subject to shortages!) I can't get the progesterone right.
Is the mirena coil my only option - I'm a bit scared as not bio identical and don't want a repeat of my mental breakdown with the Conti patch.
Any help and advice please as have full on full time job and teenagers at home and really need to be back to normal as much as it's possible to be.

Thanks

Rebekah

[Ladybt28]

 Hi Poppy78 - yep, its quite difficult for some of us to get the progesterone right.  I cant see why if you couldn't take Utro on a cycle of 12 days 15-16 why anyone would think you could manage it 100mg continuously!

I take it you are in peri (you mention early menopause in your post).  The spotting is probably your own hormones kicking in ove the post of your hrt and causing fluctuations.

Have your tried Provera which is the trade name for medroxyprogesterone?  It is also a tablet but you can only take it orally. To be honest there are only 3 types of progesterone on offer which are not combined with something else oestrogen-wise.  Utrogestan, provera and as you say the Mirena.  I would also say I am progesterone sensitive and it took 4 months for my 200mg utro 12 days on a cycle to settle. 

Loss of libido is something which is not usually sorted by oestrogen and progesterone alone. A lot of us have been offered testosterone (in my case a major game changer on lots of levels including tiredness, fatigue and brain fog as well as the sex thing).  It was also in the paper today that a study shows it helps menopausal women.  Has it been discussed with you?

[Hurdity]

Hi ladies
After six months of trial and error I'm finally on the right dosage of estrogen (Evorel 100) but still can't seem to get my progesterone right. Also on vagifem every other day and use Yes VM as still externally quite dry.
I had a very significant mental breakdown with the Conti patches and terrible IBS and tiredness with Utrogestan 200mg orally. Then tried Utrogestan 200mg orally which while reducing IBS led to increased tiredness all day for days 15\26. At meno clinic (first appointment waited 96 days for) in early July it was suggested I do continuous 100mg tablet. A month and a half in and I've had continuous spotting, vaginal cramps, bloating, and loss of libido etc.. so unless this settles quite soon I need to change.
I'm going through an early natural menopause and feel quite frustrated that while I finally feel I'm on the right dosage with estrogen (subject to shortages!) I can't get the progesterone right.
Is the mirena coil my only option - I'm a bit scared as not bio identical and don't want a repeat of my mental breakdown with the Conti patch.
Any help and advice please as have full on full time job and teenagers at home and really need to be back to normal as much as it's possible to be.

Thanks

Rebekah

Hi Poppy78

 

Sorry to hear about your problems with progesterone. I agree with Ladybt28 - why not take Utrogestan cyclically and also vaginally which reduces some of the worst side effects?

Hurdity x

[Poppy78]

Thanks both of you. Yes I'm peri but even on Evorel 50 I had oestrogen levels of a post menopausal women so now on Evorel 100 which has been amazing!

I tried Utrogestan for just 12 days vaginally but at 200mg it was too much and I was pretty much a zombie for the whole 12 days.
I'm currently having to change my panty liner twice a day so definitely more than just a little spotting which is why I'm worried. Also getting bloating and cramps as if my period is due.
As I have teenagers and still working FT I can't be a zombie but bleeding all the time isn't fair. I'm happy to try for four months if it's likely it will settle.

Not heard of the other product - any obvious side affects?

Has anyone tried Mirena instead - I had a mental breakdown with Conti patches so I'm very nervous about un-natural progesterone and I heard Mirena has the un-natural progesterone in it.

Thanks so much for the advice?

[Ladybt28]

Its so hard Poppy78 - I had a breakdown on Provera but Utro is fine. There is another lady on here who can't use Utro but has been much better on Provera.  I will say I had cramps (just like you describe) for the first 3 months of using the Utro but after that it stopped and I started by using I vaginally, I never took it orally.  It also took more than 7 months to get to feel completely "well" and get all my symptoms under control using gel and Utro.  I just had to persevere.  I understand with the children being a zombie is rubbish but the only way to work out how your own body works is trial and error and not throwing in the towel too quick - some bodies take longer to adjust than others and I think the longer you have had difficult symptoms the longer they take to settle but that's just my opinion having read loads here and from my own experience.

Its not quite so easy to say that just because you had problems with the conti patches it was the "un-natural" progesterone that caused it.  I am pretty sure that none of the ladies on here could definitively say why one HRT product caused problems and another didn't - its so hit an miss.  I tried 6 (maybe 7?? - lost track) hrt preparations before getting it right for me.
I couldn't do Evorel in any form or Femeston and loads of ladies on here swear by them, but not for me). I can't do Provera continuous or on a cycle but I can do Utro on a cycle vaginally.

I was offered a Mirena but didn't like the idea because once it's in - you have to stick with it until you can make special arrangements to get it taken out and then if you wanted it back in again because you thought it was a good idea then there are special arrangements to put it back - such a faff!  At least with the Utro you can play around with days and doses and the same with Provera.  Its hard to advise - only you know your body and it also sounds like you are quite early on in your meno journey which makes it all the harder for you to work out what might be going on with you.  Trial and error was the name of my game but I got there in the end although it took a while and I thought I would never get there but I'm so glad I didn't just throw in the towel. xc

[Poppy78]

Thank you so much Ladybt28 - as I am quite young I don't know anyone else going through this so this forum has been a goldmine/godsend for me. I might try Utrogestan for three months and then if I'm still badly spotting move to Provera and see what happens. Like you I am nervous about having something inside me that I can't easily change.

I'm just so frightened after my breakdown as I have a strong family history of bi-polar that I'm so nervous but I know that being on HRT has given me back my life. Unfortunately the HRT shortages are making my menopause anxiety worse just as I felt I was coming out the other side.

By the way does anyone know where I can find an list of alternatives to Evorel 100 if I am unable to obtain a supply?

Rebekah

[Ladybt28]

I think there is currently a specific list on the forum, put it in the search bar "shortages". I also think it covers where and what the shortages are around the country. x