First off, this forum is amazing, as are the women who post on it! I've learned FAR more here than from any health professional! Thank you!
To my 'problem'..... I am 57 and postmenopausal. I had no vasomotor symptoms in perimenopause so didn't even consider HRT. I did go to my GP about 5 years ago asking for help with depression, which I now think was (in part?) hormone related. I was prescribed anti-depressants, which made me very very drowsy, so I didn't take them. I feel now that my GP should have offered me HRT, maybe done a blood test to check my hormone levels.....but it seems depleting hormone levels wasn't even considered as the cause of my depression. So, I bought a SAD lamp, monitored my diet, exercised more, etc..... and struggled on with depression, anxiety, etc. ...while my responsibilities increased and my life got more complicated. How I wish I'd been offered HRT back then.....
About 6 months ago, I hit rock bottom..... depressed, stressed out, excruciating upper back pain and TOTALLY EXHAUSTED. I asked my new GP at the practice I'd just moved to if HRT might help me feel better, and she said yes. But the combined patches she gave me made my legs dance a jig at night time. I did some research and decided it might be the progestin keeping me awake. So I went back to my GP asking for Estrogel and Utrogestan. She'd never prescribed these before and had no idea how to, so I went to see a consultant for advice. (Should we really have to fork out hundreds of pounds for advice that GPs really really ought to be able to give?!!! More than half the population go through the menopause and many women apparently struggle with it, yet most GPs, even the females, seem to know squat about it and HRT!)
I've been using 2 pumps of Estrogel and continuous Utrogestan 100mg taken orally for 4 months now. Within a few weeks, my mood was lifted, my energy levels improved markedly and my back pain was gone. The Utrogestan was also helping me sleep, and I am a much better, nicer person on a good night's sleep! Fantastic! However, a month ago, I had a very very dark, groggy day, so thinking it was the Utrogestan, I took a break for a few days. Then I was fine again until yesterday when I had another horrible dark, groggy, headachy day.
Based on all I've read on here, I think I'm getting overloaded with progesterone, that the balance between it and the estrogen isn't right and that I need to cut back on the Utrogestan somehow, most likely by using it vaginally every other day. I may also increase the oestrogel dose to 3 pumps a day (though I'm unhappy about the number of non-recyclable plastic bottles I'm getting through and the plastic mountain I'll create over the years! I wonder if patches would be a more eco friendly alternative.).
However, I am using an Estring - which I love as it delivers an effective local dose of estradiol, doesn't require me to remember when to use it (a bonus when there are so many other things to remember!) and is comparatively eco friendly compared to Vagifem (again, more non-recyclable plastic to add to my mountain) - and I am wondering if I can put the Utrogestan 'up there' while the Estring's in place.
I do actually have an appointment with Louise Newson in August (which was the earliest I could see her!) regarding Androfem, and I was going to wait till then to get advice on this, but then I thought I'd ask here in case anyone has any experience or advice that might help.
Thank you in advance!
Author
Topic: Okay to use Utrogestan vaginally with Estring? (Read 1017 times)