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[EnglishRose]

So For those that don't know, I 've been using cyclogest (progesterone) for years... 500mg applied to my skin (I melt the pessary in my hand)
Plan is to reduce and come off Cyclogest
Reduced to 300mg Cyclogest recently

Hormones blood tests show
Oestrogen  <18
Progesterone 20
FSH 70

After a bit of a breakdown following some unusual genital symptoms (now mostly pain)  which I think is Vagina Atrophy (no diagnosis ) I ended up with acute health anxiety
and in bed depressed clinically.

After seeing a private meno doctor
Was given a private prescption for Oestrogel and Utroestan
Been using Oestrogel for 10 days only 5 of those on two pumps prior, just one pump. so far no issues that I've noticed other than my breasts are about to burst which usually happens before a period.

Then out of curiosity I decided to not use cyclogest last night and try Utrogestan to see if there's a difference..
Felt drowsy, which I expected. I know a lot of women struggle with progesterone but I assumed as I was already unsing it albeit a different delivery method I felt I had nothing to lose.

But today as the days worn on all of my physical symptoms have increased and I'm so depressed again.  The mood and physical symptoms appear to go hand in hand I think which would indicate hormone fluctuations.

Spent all day in bed again couldn't eat dinner went back to bed,  the area above my buttocks or bottom of spine is hyper sensitive and sends shivers up my spine and down my buttocks and legs I can't stand the feeling...

my vagina hurts and aches and seems worse in terms of pain despite 14 days loading dose of Vagifem. (In addition to new HRT)

The last week I've been getting better physically and emotionally then this afternoon I've crashed right back to square one which is disheartening.

Initially i had terrible disturbing sexual urges genitally for a month and it's been a while since I had those now, they've been replaced with more pain and burning. The shivers shudders to my back and legs started at the same time but was very minor, not sure if they're connected.
(I had a pelvic exam And pudendal nerve issues ruled out)

I'm terrified those sex urges will come back....I'd rather have pain and burning any day,.. absolutely terrified of my own body

I guess it's too soon to expect a smooth transition on HRT just sad when you think you're making progress then end up back to square one. 😔

[racjen]

Sorry, i don't understand - if cyclogest was working why on earth did you change, and why not just go back to it now?

[EnglishRose]

Sorry, i don't understand - if cyclogest was working why on earth did you change, and why not just go back to it now?

I believe Cyclogest is onky given for fertility reasons it's not prescribed as HRT
I asked my local doc to prescribe it (long story) many yrs ago but I was not interested in Oestrogen. Fast forward 6 years and here I am

Plan is to wean off Cyclogest and start the progesterone pill. I just wanted to see how it compared

[dangermouse]

I did the same with trying Utrogestan instead of my progesterone cream to see what the difference was a few months back. I only tried one and it made me feel awful, no comparison at all to transdermal and sublingual progesterones. It was suggested that it could be to do with it being oral and the metabolites causing issues as they break down.

[EnglishRose]

I did the same with trying Utrogestan instead of my progesterone cream to see what the difference was a few months back. I only tried one and it made me feel awful, no comparison at all to transdermal and sublingual progesterones. It was suggested that it could be to do with it being oral and the metabolites causing issues as they break down.

Thank you 🙏
Well I'll stiick to what works for me... I was expecting a nice deep sleep which I got I wasn't expecting to feel like 💩 the next day

[Trufflecat]

You don't have to swallow the utrogestan....lots of women on here use it vaginally instead.

[Hurdity]

I believe Cyclogest is onky given for fertility reasons it's not prescribed as HRT
I asked my local doc to prescribe it (long story) many yrs ago but I was not interested in Oestrogen. Fast forward 6 years and here I am

Plan is to wean off Cyclogest and start the progesterone pill. I just wanted to see how it compared

Although Cyclogest is not licensed for HRT it has been used off licence for many years for this purpose (HRT) by enlightened doctors before Utrogestan was available. I was prescribed Cyclogest by my GP for a few years when I first started HRT and switched to Utrogestan in 2011 after finding out about it on here and when it was relatively new.

There is no reason not to continue with Cyclogest if you can get it prescribed and it suits you - but as you haven't been using it the way it is intended, if you want to use it as part of HRT for uterine protection you would need to use it either vaginally or anally - and at a dose which was sufficient to protect your womb. I suspect if you did start to use Cyclogest in this way you would also experience some side effects as you are noticing with Utrogestan.

You haven't said how you took the Utrogestan - orally or vaginally? Yes as dangermouse says I have said many times on here about the metabolites from oral use being very different from vaginal use and causing more side effects in some women than when used vaginally.

Progesterone from any source won't give you sex urges - testosterone ( either your own or added) and/or high oestrogen are responsible for these.

Hurdity x

[Robin]

What was the dose of cyclogest you used Hurdity and did you use that on a long cycle as you do with utrogestan?

[Hurdity]

Hi Robin

The doc prescribed me with 400 mg Cyclogest for 11 days per 28 so not the long cycle at that point. I had it as 200 mg pessaries and I used to put one up the front and one up the back  .  I started using it when I was late peri-menopause and initially had a bleed but continued this regime for 4 years, and by the end of this time I was not getting a withdrawal bleed at all used in this sort of cycle - so I supect that this dose was probably higher than needed.

I then stopped HRT for a while and when I restarted doc suggested 25 mcg patch (was on 50 mcg), so came on here and together with another Cyclogest user we worked out how much we needed to take for continuous combined HRT (then I told my doc!) in order to protect the uterus. I think it was one (200 mg) capsule every three days or something (maybe alternate days?). Then flushes came back (on the low dose oestrogen) so increased back to 50 mcg and decided to restart cycle (but with Utrogestan for the prog instead) and at that point knew I didn't need to take prog monthly because of my previous history with Cyclogest and lack of bleeding each month.

No reason not to use it for long cycle but you would need to work out with your doc the dose and frequency you need to protect your uterus from whaetever dose of oestrogen you are taking.

Hurdity x

[Robin]

Hi Hurdity,

I'm on quite a high dose of oestrogen so from what you're suggesting would need a higher dose of cyclogest. Utrogestan used as a pessary caused lots of swelling rawness etc so looking at cyclogest as an alternative. I don't have many options as I can't tolerate tablet form at all.

Thanks

Robin x

[jillydoll]

I felt really weird on Utrogestan.
Went straight back on my Femoston Conti.
Better the devil you know, it's not perfect, but then what is?
I won't be changing again, I'm quite happy with the prog in that.

Sometimes though, you don't know if things will be better or worse on another  type
until you try them.....xx

[racjen]

Yes, but I suspect that unopposed oestrogen also makes me feel terrible after a while. I'm trying to do Utrogestan 100mg 10 days per month, but I rarely get beyond 7 days before the side effects become too much. But after 6 weeks on Evorel 100 with no progesterone, my anxiety is the worst it's ever been, and one day on utrogestan has lessened it significantly. I'm convinced there is a positive side to progesterone, I clearly need some to balance the effects of oestrogen as well as to protect the womb, but haven't found the balance yet.

[jillydoll]

Yeah, I'm up and down on the femoston.
Sometimes I need more progesterone, don't ask me how I know, I just do,
and so when I up the dose I start to feel better, but I have to be careful because too much,
And I get chest pain. So I drop back down again.
This happens probably about once a month or 6 weeks, or so,  so really I can't complain.
I used to think that I needed more oestrogen, so I'd have more Sandrena, but all that did was give me really sore boobs, and gave me an oil slick down below, lol, then one day thought maybe it's extra prog I need, so I took an extra femoston, and it worked.
So my conclusion was that it was the prog I needed....it does help with anxiety.