Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[Sfifties]

Hi ladies,
Wondering in anyone else is on 2 pumps of oestrogel and taking utragestan 100 mg vaginally every other night only on a continuos regime and would want to share experience etc.
I have only started this week but would like to keep this thread open and share how is that working for you

[Polpringle]

Hi
Sorry to hop on board but this is something I’m thinking of trying so would be really interested to hear how you get on & other’s experiences

[Hurdity]

Hi Sfifties

Alternate day dosing of 100 mg vaginal utrogestan is off-licence so only to be done under the guidance of a specialist. How you respond to this will very much depend where in menopause you are and on how much oestrogen you absorb from the two pumps. If you absorb a lot then this reduced dose may not be sufficient since the amount of progesterone needed to protect the womb is dependent on the oestrogen dose - but the licensed amounts do not allow for this, insteasd, giving one universal dose for cyclical use ( 200 mg 12 days per 28 day cycle), and another for continuous use (100 mg daily).

I'm assuming you are post-menopausal if you have been put onto this regime and probably having private consultation?

Also if you have already been taking HRT you will have some idea how your uterus lining is responding - in terms of your bleeds. If yuo are new to HRT - personally I would want to start on the licensed dose and depending on how it goes, gradually reduce the dose - but again depends on your history.

Hurdity x

[pollywollydoodle]

Hi Sfifties - I've used the alt prog protocol - many times! It was better than sequi and conti just wasn't an option for me on utro (incredibly intolerant to high prog doses), but if you're relatively tolerant to utro, it might be your solution so why not give it a shot? You'll only know once you've tried it. There's loads of posts on here about alternate day dosing so put it in the search box and have a read. You'll know fairly quickly if it doesn't suit but I think you need to try and sit it out for at least a full cycle - 28 days, as some women report that the 'stopping/starting' of prog caused some issues initially but which finally resolved with continued use once the body was used to that method and presumably the prog reached a certain level systemically.

Good luck.

[Sfifties]

Hi Hurdity and pollywollydoodle
Thanks for your replies.
I have not had  periods for almost a year and gp advised starting directly on conti regime .
I am not followed by a private Consultant ( can’t afford it ) and i know that this method is unlicensed.
I have suffered all my life with pms and was told that this per se means that i could most likely be suffering from the progesterone side effects in hrt and with all the other symptoms that means  i havent slept a good night for a couple of months, i would like to avoid and if possible prevent  more symptoms that progesterone can clearly cause on many of us ,so i have spent hours  reading and watching videos and i came across Dr Newton video on identical progesterone and  she clearly say that on the conti regime there have been studies and it is safe to take it vaginally every other night.
She seems to make it a general acceptable regime so i thought i would try it as only started hrt a week ago but i am anxious as my gp didn’t even know about this way of taking utragestan..
Pollywollydoodle:
May i ask was the primary reason you  used the alternate nights suggested by specialist to minimise the side effect of progesterone or is there any other reason this alternate nights would be suggested ?
U wrote  that u used this method but not an option for you because intolerant to high progesterone doses , is utra100 mg considered a high dose ?
Hurdity: as only one week in i will have to wait and see about bleeds, i have had no benefits from the two pumps of oestrogel ( am one in each  arms) at all, actually have had more flashes and night sweat than ever.
 I am nervous about this as gp prescribed me only one month of oestrogel and utra100 and will have to tell her that i am using the unlicensed way)which she had no idea about) and worried she might thrn no prescribe it any more because of the way i am taking it …
No idea how i can approach this conversation in 3 weeks..
But surely a Specialist on the matter like Dr Newton wouldn’t put a vidro on you tube if not sure of safety of her advice and feel like i can trust her more than a gp who wasn’t even aware of this method .
Hurdity i do appreciate your wisdom though …
I really am a mess at the moment, nothing prepared me for this …

[pollywollydoodle]

Hi Sfifties - I wan't advised by a specialist, I think I read it on here. I had to use progesterone as I was using a high dose of oestrogen (75 patch or 3 pumps oestrogel), and I really struggled with progesterone of any kind, it made me really ill, black moods, excessive brain fog, rage, extreme water retention, bloating and various digestive issues, insomnia, night sweats and hellish dreams whenever I did sleep, but I had to find a way to use progesterone, so I reduced my oestrogen to 2 pumps or 50 patch and tried the alt day method. I can't really remember how I felt on it as I started having spotting (coincidental) and was investigated, a polyp was found and I had to have it removed. The polyp was probably due to high oestrogen and not enough progesterone for quite a few years, I don't know this for sure, but the biopsy said it was oestrogen fed. Please don't let this put you off, I was using high oestrogen and very limited prog for a number of years.

The 100mg utro dose is much higher progesterone than we would naturally produce during a natural cycle (20-40mg, except in pregnancy), and I just couldn't tolerate that level, it made me insane. Whether it's utrogestan or a synthetic progestin, the dose is high in hrt to ensure the womb lining is either properly shed or impaired from growing under the influence of oestrogen.

You're right that it's not licensed, however, many women have used/tried it and dependent on where you are in your meno, you may find it works for you, you won't know unless you try it. The problem, as with all standard hrt is that women are not standard! But we're given 'standard' doses, presumably reached through controlled clinical studies, but not nuanced to incorporate the incredibly complex way each of us metabolise these products.

In effect your taking a 50mg dose, daily vaginally of utro which for some women, will offer enough protection. There are some clinical studies to prove that it is effective, I'll see if I can find them and you can show them to your GP.

[pollywollydoodle]

This is one:

https://www.fertstert.org/article/S0015-0282(05)00403-6/fulltext

[Sfifties]

Pollywollydoodle,
thank you , the study in the link is reassuring .
And i have found other posts to that support the utro100 every other night.
I am just very anxious about my review with my gp as i was only prescribed one month of hrt , I don’t know how to break it to her that i have been used it differently than how she prescribed it ( utro oral every night) .
It just angers me that this is the only gp in my surgery who is the one whose special interest is women health and gynaecology and the one to go for any hrt related treatment but she wasn’t even aware of this utro use , and i am worried she will not prescribe it any longer .
I cannot believe how much more some of you know about treatments than some gp .

Surely i shouldn’t be penalised for trying to prevent some side effects that i know given the state i am in i could not deal with too.
My moods are so low i cannot risk progesterone making them worse , iam hardly coping with all of this how it is.
Any advice on how i could approach my usage of utro with gp ?
Thank you

[pollywollydoodle]

Sfifties - I think it's really unlikely your GP would chastise you.  You're being honest with her, and you're educating her! I know there are GP's who don't accept that the patient is trying to outmanoeuvre  them, but hopefully yours is not like that. If you print off the study I posted, and look for the others on here too, it would be difficult for her to refuse. You could ask for just another month's trial to see how it works for you and emphasise that the conti method of utro is just too much and making you feel unwell. Some women (me included) offer that they will have private womb scans (available at Babybond throughout the uk, approx £90-£100), twice per year, to prove that the womb lining is under control on that dose of utro. It seems unfair that we should have to pay, but if it means that you can continue on something more suitable, it's worth £200 per year. The NHS won't scan you for routine checking, only for problematic symptoms.

[Hurdity]

Hi sfifites - I dont have time to reply in detail at the moment but I have bumped a couple of threads here about use of utrogestan vaginally and about studies re vaginal use: https://www.menopausematters.co.uk/forum/index.php?action=post;topic=43633.0;last_msg=823454

In there I am sure will be the studies Louise Newson refers to and probably the one pollywolly posted.

It must be stressed again that this is off-licence and I would still suggest better for you to go by the licesned method first and see how your womb reacts before maybe reducing dosage.

All the best

Hurdity x

[Sfifties]

Hurdity and pollywollydoodle

Thank you for your advice and links .
On another note may i ask if you have ever used the £30 email service available here with Dr Currie for one question?
I paid and received an email confirming payment , the email instructions were to  write my question to the same email address  that the confirmation had come from so i went ahead and hit the reply button , it has now been a few days and haven’t heard back and wondering how long it usually take to get a reply or if I shouldn’t have replied to that email directly( although the email address given in the email to which to send the question was the same )and something has gone wrong.
Day 9 on hrt and hot flushes , palpitations and night sweats decreased in number , very dry mouth at night and insomnia, mood up and down….
Libido still inexistent , in your experience is the only way to help with that testosterone?
Husband understanding but can sense
frustration and i think the long this goes on the more disconnect that will cause between us…

Thanks

[pollywollydoodle]

Good morning Sfifties - I haven't used the e-mail service so I'm afraid I can't help you there.

I can give my tuppence worth on partners/husbands who fail to understand or support women during this phase of their lives. I had a husband like that, although to be fair to him, he lacked any kind of understanding whenever I was unwell. I remember him coming into hospital the day after I'd had a miscarriage and D&C and standing at the side of the bed with a 'come on, up you get and lets get going' attitude. He got short shrift from the nurse and I should have followed her lead. Your husband took vows - in sickness and in health, and although you're not strictly 'sick' you are going through a hopefully, brief, transition with tumultuous effects on your physical and emotional health. You need to be supported, not chastised for not 'putting out'. Do not ever feel you're letting him down, it's your body, your emotions, and your time to decided when you are ready to re-start the sexual part of your relationship. Point him in the direction of blogs, info on meno for partners etc, and tell him to get informed.

In the meantime, intimacy doesn't just mean sex, show him you still love and care for him in ways that he'll understand and tell him that you miss that part of your relationship too, that it's not anything that he's done and that you're aware of the disconnect in your sex lives and it will resume when you feel ready.

He's your partner, he's there to support you as you would him if he was going through a difficult time, he needs to get informed and understand that support is more likely to bring you closer together than a childish huff.

Good luck.

[Sfifties]

Hi Pollywollydoodle,
Wise words , i just think men are built differently!
I have sent him some links on what symptoms i am experiencing, he reads them very quickly and often makes jokes but not in an offensive way.
Spoken to some family members women older than me and  they  didn’t experience much at all apart from an occasional flush so somehow i feel like he thinks i am making a big  deal of something that many women just put up with …although he’s seen how much disrupted my sleep is .


Anyhow , will keep waiting for the email response from Dr Currie .
Thank you for your kind and wise words .

[Natalie1969]

to the lady who states she on utrogestan vaginally 100 mg every other night and oestrogen two pumps daily are you post menopausal how are you feeling mood wise etc