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[westie]

Cassie do you find you get a heavier bleed if you leave it six weeks?

[Cassie]

Not any more, think my lining is getting thinner as I age and I only use 1 pump of gel so possibly not too much build up.

[Ladybt28]

I push mine out too Cassie (200mg 12 days - 6 weeks) and I am 57 and post meno.  Seems to work just fine for me but it is not for everyone.  I have had problems with progesterone in the past and was put on continuous at one point and it dam near killed me (literally - I went off my head!) so I use it on a cycle and push the cycle longer than the prescribed days but everything is settled and I know exactly what to expect.  I use 4 pumps of gel though which is quite high but I cant seem to reduce it otherwise my symptoms come back and I just don't feel well so I do what works.

My bleeds have stayed the same regardless - they haven't got any heavier cos I leave it 6 week Westie.  I used to get a bit of cramping when I started on utrogestan but over the year, it has stopped.  My periods were heavy when I had them naturally.  They now last 3 days and would still be regarded as heavyish but not to me. x

[westie]

Thanks ladybt

I have just finished my first cycle of Utrogestan. Am doing 12 days at 100mg as I have had an ablation so my gynae says there won't be much to be shed. I had terrible stomach cramps and bloating mid way through but it did start to subside towards the end of the 12 days. Made v very lethargic too. Am due to have a scan end of Oct ( when I have done 3 months on this regime) . If all is well I might ask if I can prolong cycle to 6 weeks.

I am v lpost meno but am doing cycle as gynae says daily might be too much because of ablation and therefore hardly any womb lining.

Will see how it goes.

Thanks for the info

All the best

W x

[Ladybt28]

It took at least 3 months for me to settle with my cycles Westie, so persevere and it should settle.  The body just needs to adjust to what it is supposed to do, it gets a bit confused...that's how I describe it.  The cramps should subside and as you say they are probably because of ablation and there is little to shed as you are only just starting off.

If you are taking it orally, it is known to have a sedative effect which some ladies like, if they are having trouble sleeping but others complain it makes them groggy and they don't like it.  I use it vaginally so don't have that problem.

[jefner]

I am not understanding some of these posts. My meno specialist advised that because I am post meno I have to take the Utrogestan every day without a break to protect the insides and also because I no longer cycle.  I note that some of you are only taking it for certain days of the month.

I am very confused right now.  Can some of you please explain as to why you were advised to take only so many days a month.  I think I am struggling on mine.  I was doing OK up until the 5th month and I started a bleed a week ago with cramping and pmt symptoms and it's not stopping.  My specialist advised I up my Utrogestan but I don't want any more side effects because my anxiety is through the roof and I feel like I am losing my mind.  I want to come off it so have cut back by one gel squirt 3 days ago in the hope things will balance and the bleeding stops but no signs yet.  I am crippled daily with anxiety and the want of ending it.  I do not know what to do

[Ladybt28]

So...I am 57 post meno but I cannot take continuous progesterone.
The medical professionals believe that when you are post meno you should take a continuous regime to avoid a bleed because they can't see why we would want to be bleeding when we don't have to (its not a natural cycle) but and its a big but, some of us cannot take progesterone continuously because it messes with our heads or causes other side effects so, we use it on a cycle and have a bleed which is a small price to pay for not having the side effects.

With gel there are mainly 3 prescribed hrt ways of getting the progesterone part - a mirena coil which contains and dispenses continuous levogesteral, Provera tablets (which is medroxyprogesterone) or utrogestan (micronized progesterone) tablets taken orally or vaginally.  Some women cannot tolerate provera (me it sends me loopy!) and some don't get on with utrogestan and swap to provera.  Both the Provera and Utro can be taken continuously or on a cycle - only utro can be taken vaginally.

My anxiety was through the roof jefner - very very bad which was fixed by upping the pumps of gel but I have to tell you that it has taken one full year of gel and utro on a cycle for me to get back to feeling ok.  I would say it took 6-7 months to balance out and the morning panic and daily panic attacks to stop.

[jefner]

I was advised that being post meno you have to take progesterone continuously, not to avoid a bleed, but to protect your insides against cancer and alike

[Ladybt28]

It is not how you take it jefner that provides the protection, it is the act of taking it at all.
Any women with a womb who is post meno (or in peri) must take progesterone full stop.  It doesn't matter whether you take it continuously or on a cycle.  The idea is that... on continuous the lining of the womb should remain thin enough so there is no shedding or bleeding build and on a cycle the progesterone causes the lining so it doesn't build up to a thickness which is considered unhealthy.

If the womb lining becomes too thick then you get the health problems.  There must be enough progesterone in the system to stop the lining becoming too thick regardless of whether you take it continuously or on a cycle.#
Hope that makes sense and I haven't confused you? x

[jefner]

I have noticed when I insert mine at night that my insides look quite thick compared to before I was taking

[Ladybt28]

You wont be able to see the bit inside jefner...they use an ultrasound scan to check the womb lining so don't start worry about that kind of thing.

In menopausal women, the vagina can change shape but it is nothing to do with progesterone - any changes in vaginal skin is usually thinning not thickening and has to do with lack of oestrogen,

[jefner]

I am just so very scared I have really messed things up for myself by trying this damn hrt.  I was on the Evorel Conti patches for 2 years prior to March but never got back to my specialist during that time because of the other issues I was dealing with, with my functional practitioner.  Didn't want to change too much at once because I would not have known what was and wasn't working.  Anyway i had bloods done about 18months ago around 6 months on being on the patch which I produced to my meno specialist in March when I approached her again and she said I wasn't absorbing properly, which is when she moved me onto the gel and Utrogrestan.  I haven't felt any positive changes since March, just a mega decline in the last 3 weeks with debilitating anxiety, just do not know what to do for the best.

I am thinking of approaching another specialist because to be honest even though she calls herself a meno specialist she is just a GP and I am not keen on her attitude and when I started on it she told me nothing of what I might expect.  She just prescribed and told me to come back to her in 3 months with a blood test.  Hardly supportive, informative or what I would consider a specialist

[Ladybt28]

You cannot mess things up for yourself jefner by trying hrt - don't let anyone tell you it is bad. Some people just decide it is not what they want to do...some like me cannot live without it but have spent about 5 years trying to get it right.

Lots of GP's know nothing about hrt - men are the worst although some women ought to know better.  If you were not absorbing from the patches then there may be the same thing with the gel and 2 pumps might not be enough but you have issues with breakthrough bleeding so there is an imbalance somewhere.  Do you have a menopause clinic near you?

[jefner]

omg I could not survive the side effects spending another 5yrs to get it right, I have felt so ill for so long now it's hopeless for me.

oh I am definitely absorbing properly with the gel from my last two blood tests.  Initially she started me on 4 squirts but after a few days I had the most severe symptoms I have ever experienced.  She said estrogen overload so wanted to drop me to 3 squirts but after feeling so very ill I said no and wanted to start at 2 which I did. I thought her decision to start me on 4 was wrong and she should have known better to be honest.  She didn't seem to care about how bad I felt considering I was paying to be under her wing privately 

First bloods were taken in June after being on 2 squirts but my estrogen level was only around 173 so she upped me to 3 squirts and said to retest in two months which I did at the beginning of this month.  Level came out at 313 which she said I was now at a therapeutic level which she said was OK although she would prefer me on 450-650 levels but told me to hold at 3 squirts for another 3 months and then retest and that's where I have been sat and have just gone downhill bigtime in the last 3 weeks.  I don't know how I get through every day, thank God for my Diazepam.  I have even been feeling suicidal again too and my very long history of anxiety issues since childhood hasn't helped.

I really thought hrt might be the answer since my body crashed nearly 4 years ago when my low thyroid suddenly went over active and then I found out I have Hashimoto's.  My AD also worked wonders for 15yrs but has stopped working but I refuse to up it because it is the worst one on the planet to come off unfortunately after being considered the wonder and non addictive drug years ago. 

I always thought my hormones were a big part because after being diagnosed with under active thyroid, it was around the time I was peri

[Callisto]

Hi there,
I have two pumps of gel and 12 days Utro 200mg. I haven't had any bleed for a year despite the utro, this adds to my suspicion that my increasingly bad insomnia and anxiety attacks are caused by too low estrogen..