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[PeriWhat?!]

How shocking PeriWhat?!

I cannot believe what our nhs service has come to. Please remember the Samaritans if you have a dip before Monday and just present at a&e if necessary!

Sending love & positive vibes xxx

Thank you, this is so much appreciated! Another more positive day today. xxx

[PeriWhat?!]

So sorry to jump in on this post, but I am new to this forum and my post from the other day hasn't been seen, so I am doing something wrong 

This was my post below - can anyone help me and also how do you post a new topic in the right area??  Thanks so much ladies xxx

Hi everyone, this is my first post so thanks for any help you can offer me.

I’m 58, last period 3 years ago. Had the usual hot flushes, no sweating, mainly at night and not terrible, just annoying waking up. A few years ago, I had aching feet mainly in the morning but that symptom has gone long ago. The symptom I still have and find the worst, is anxiety. So, I have started HRT on advice from my GP. She is very pro HRT. Also read everything on the Dr Louise Newson website and follow her Instagram.

So, I started slowly. Estradot patch 25 for 4 weeks. I’m now on Estradot 37.5 and have been for 4 weeks. I’m about to start the Utrogestan and will do so vaginally 3 times a week at night. (I’ve just had a pelvic scan and uterus is fine so I’m not worried about delaying the progesterone and did so on GP advice).

On the 37.5, I had 3 great weeks. Slept well, had no anxiety, best I have felt in a long while. I was actually amazed. However, not so now. My sleep is terrible. I fall asleep easily around 9pm but wake constantly after 1am. I’m about to start the Utrogestan (vaginally and 3 times a week as per GP). I am nervous about this because I have been told that this is the downside of HRT and if you are going to have issues, this is where it will occur. However, it is not an option of course to not take it.

I was worried about HRT but I have read so much on it now, and can see so many benefits. I am trying to to work out why the sleeping has gone downhill and is this making my anxiety rear it’s ugly head again ?? Lack of sleep is shocking and certainly wrecks your day.

I thought 37.5 was a low dose so surely I can’t have TOO much estrogen on board. Is it the delay in starting the progesterone maybe ?? Is it just overthinking this, causing bad sleep and my anxiety has resurfaced as a result ??

I’m so confused about what to do and beginning to regret starting HRT. But, I did not want to take Anti Depressants and felt this was a safer option with other health benefits. I am so tired of Anxiety, especially when I have no reason to be anxious !!

Sorry for the long post, but I am feeling lost and searching for answers on the internet is draining.

Look forward to hearing from you and thanks for reading x

Hi ELM2712 it looks as though you have posted a thread elsewhere now, welcome to this forum, it's an amazing place for support. Please don't let my perimenopausal experience with Utrogestan in this thread worry you, we are all different and respond differently to every combo. I'm also sure it must be different whether you are peri/post. x

[PeriWhat?!]

No, I have to contact them through an online form now. I got a text to say a GP would call me back before 6.30pm yesterday Friday but they didn't so I imagine it will be Monday now.
It's not a great response to someone having suicidal thoughts, is it?! Although, it did trigger an automatic question, asking if I had set a date, time or place and I said no, so... 
I decided to stop taking the Utrogestan, because it all felt too much, so I need them to give me an alternative.
Maybe coincidence but I am feeling more positive today. Thanks for asking.

Well. It seems hormone-related suicidal thoughts are not considered important enough to get even a phone call from a GP - obviously that automated question asking if I had set a date was key here. You would hope so anyway!

I just got this email response. Doesn't say what progesterone alternative the GP has decided to send to my nearest pharmacy. No opportunity for me to ask to speak to a specialist clinic, or to give any more detail. Not ready to think about the Mirena coil option yet as they terrify me, so I'll keep that in reserve for now.

I know the NHS is stretched and I truly do appreciate them, but also... really?!


"Thank you for your recent eConsult request. Your comprehensive answers have been very helpful. I agree that it sounds like you're getting side effects from the utrogestan. We know that this progestogen component can cause PMT-type symptoms so that fits with the mood swings you're experiencing. I'm glad to hear it's been helpful in managing some of your other symptoms. I suggest we stick with the same dose of oestrogen (which treats the symptoms) but an alternative progestogen and see if this suits you better. I've sent a prescription for three months supply to your chemist. Another alternative would be to have a Mirena fitted as the progestogen component which would reduce the progestogen side effects to almost nil. If this appeals please contact the practice to discuss further.

Take care,"

[PeriWhat?!]

I've just got back from the pharmacy to pick up my new prescription and I'm so angry.
The pharmacist was baffled because the GP had sent a prescription for a type of HRT - FemSeven - that they said has been discontinued.

"The GP really needs to speak to you," said the pharmacist... I know this, and I've been waiting for the GP to speak to me for a telephone consultation since Thursday when I filled out my online request for an appt because I was at absolute rock bottom, but they decided they didn't need to speak to me!

So I've come away with nothing because the only other thing they had was Evorel Sequi, which I've already tried and rejected because it didn't really improve the mood swings. In hindsight, it wasn't as bad as the mood swings on Evorel50/Utro. The pharmacist is going to email the GP to tell them to call me... they were as frustrated as me, it's such a farce.

I still have some oestrogen patches left on my last prescription, but I stopped taking the Utrogestan part of that prescription so I need a new progesterone option.

Are there really only two options for perimenopause now?? Evorel Sequi and Evorel50/Utrogestan

[PeriWhat?!]

I also had to talk about all my symptoms and what I'd tried in front of everyone in the pharmacy, while they tried to work out how they could help, which was embarrassing.

Fun times. Glad I'm in a more positive mental place to deal with this crap today than I was last week, today I'm just angry!

[Dotty]

Hi you could use Provera instead of Utrogestan x

[PeriWhat?!]

Hi you could use Provera instead of Utrogestan x

That's fantastic to know, thank you Dotty.

It's so hard to speak to anybody. I contacted the gp surgery again and a receptionist said Femseven wasn't discontinued at all, but may be unavailable at the pharmacy the prescription had been sent to... so they sent me a text with the reference no on it and said I could try calling any other pharmacy in my city to see if anywhere else had it.
It shouldn't be this hard, should it?!

[Cookie25]

Hi PeriWhat?!

I get more and more frustrated with the nhs in each post of yours I read. In personal experience I am also finding the gp surgery doing less and less for their patients. We may survive covid but we will die of everything else.

I had a scary incident with my sight last August and was told by the optician that my scans were so bad that I'd be seen at the eye clinic within a fortnight... 2 phone calls a week and numerous emails from my optician and they still haven't given me feedback or seen me.....

My hubby filled out the online questionnaire for an appointment at the weekend to get the response in red - phone the surgery you need to be seen soon - to which the surgery told him to go to Boots....

It's terrifying.

PeriWhat?! Keep hounding them to refer you to the menopause clinic. Phone the receptionist every day!!!!! As I said before, remember the Samaritans  or A&E xxxxx

[PeriWhat?!]

That's awful that you're waiting to be seen at the clinic, but doesn't surprise me, unfortunately.

I've just had some unexpected progress actually - not a conversation with a GP, but a GP has asked their surgery pharmacist to call me and offered some new treatment options. In order of recommendation:

1) oestrogen patch + Mirena coil (so the progesterone is not systemic, which I seem to be struggling with)

2) Femoston oral tablets

3) Timbolone (not HRT, synthetic)

4) oestrogen patch and progesterone pessary (sounds gross, but principle is same as #1, I guess)

The GP's pharmacist was very helpful on the phone, but said I should look on this website to help me make an informed decision, and tell them what I decide through the surgery group's online form, so I'll do that.

Wonder if anyone here has any positive experiences of the above combos for peri?

[sheila99]

I would go for 1 or 4. Transdermal is safer than oral. Is the progesterone pessary utrogestan or something else?

[PeriWhat?!]

I would go for 1 or 4. Transdermal is safer than oral. Is the progesterone pessary utrogestan or something else?

They didn't know, the pharmacist who was passing this info on to me said it was off license!
Thanks for the advice @sheila99.

[sheila99]

I think some people have been given cyclogest which is licensed for ivf but not hrt (similar to vaginal utrogestan). I wonder if that's it? IMO provera would be worth a try too, some people who were unable to get on with utro have been OK on it.

[PeriWhat?!]

Thanks @Sheila99 I've had some more progress that I've forgotten to put in this thread.

An actual GP called me in response to my (pretty desperate) online request for help that as you can see from this thread was fudged and botched a bit. It was a week after I'd made initial contact.

I had questions the GP couldn't answer about coils and vaginal progesterone, so they asked if I would like to be referred to the menopause clinic - YES PLEASE!!!! - and also gave me yet another prescription for now my third type of HRT - Tridestra - which is meant to tide me over until my menopause clinic referral comes through.

Tridestra is pills, not patches, and gives one HRT-induced bleed every three months. Perhaps the thinking is that if you're going to feel bad, at least it's only every three months? Unless your own hormones jump in of course!

The instructions for Tridestra say to stop taking cyclical HRT for seven days before starting Tridestra.

I'm so happy to be getting a referral to a menopause clinic. Fingers crossed the appt comes soon.

[Cookie25]

Thanks @Sheila99 I've had some more progress that I've forgotten to put in this thread.

An actual GP called me in response to my (pretty desperate) online request for help that as you can see from this thread was fudged and botched a bit. It was a week after I'd made initial contact.

I had questions the GP couldn't answer about coils and vaginal progesterone, so they asked if I would like to be referred to the menopause clinic - YES PLEASE!!!! - and also gave me yet another prescription for now my third type of HRT - Tridestra - which is meant to tide me over until my menopause clinic referral comes through.

Tridestra is pills, not patches, and gives one HRT-induced bleed every three months. Perhaps the thinking is that if you're going to feel bad, at least it's only every three months? Unless your own hormones jump in of course!

The instructions for Tridestra say to stop taking cyclical HRT for seven days before starting Tridestra.

I'm so happy to be getting a referral to a menopause clinic. Fingers crossed the appt comes soon.

Wow brilliant PW! That is progress!!! Let us know how you get on xxx

[PeriWhat?!]

It feels really positive, Cookie, a massive step in the right direction! It might be a while before I get my appointment but I am feeling hopeful.