Hi Kathleen
Hope this isn't too late - haven't been on the forum for a few weeks....
Yes I used Cyclogest for several years - before Utrogestan was available for menopause or maybe before it was produced at all. My enlightened GP used to prescribe it off-licence to women who wanted "natural" ie bioidentical progesterone.
As it was a different formulation the dose was different from utrogestan - and I was prescribed double the amount for cyclical use ie 2 x 200 mg pessaries for 12 days per 28 day cycle from when I started until I was about 57 or 58 and then switched to Utrogestan.
In terms of using as an alternative - it depends what you want eg Cyclogest can be used as a suppository as well as vaginally but I did not like the effect of that the next morning (!) - without going into details!!! Anyone who used the discontinued Orthogynest vaginal pessaries - Cyclogest is similar - a hard waxy thing you insert which melts on contact with warmth of your body - so a bit messy - but then so is utrogestan.
Just as with utrogestan much of the progesterone gets to the uterus where it is needed, so more effective than oral progesterone, but as with Utrogestan, is also absorbed systemically so there is no escaping the negative side effects though these are supposedly less than with oral intake.
Crinone is not like Cyclogest - and I am not sure how Crinone is inserted but being a gel is a completely different formulation.
Hope this helps
Hurdity x
