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[HelloSam666]

Hi Vintage,

progesterone cream (from Biovea or the NOW brand from iHerb) worked brilliantly for me for quite a while on it's own. It balanced out the symptoms i was having and made me feel so much better. I started having some night sweats later on and turned to the Estriol cream which sorted that out but now use Lifeflo Biestro cream instead, it's better value as you don't need as much. It contains Estriol & a small amount of Estradiol and with that and the progesterone cream i am sorted.

Like you i had tried conventional HRT and it nearly sent me off the rails, i felt awful both physically and mentally. Admittedly i only tried one version of patches & utrogeston but i was too frightened to start experimenting with different types in case i had the same experience.

As Crispy says it can't hurt to try adding in progesterone and I've read so many times that even if you don't have ovaries, progesterone still balances out overall symptoms and wellbeing.

[vintagefiend]

thank you so much, Crispy and Sam

CrispyChick-

yes, I'm lucky that I can play around with stuff without having the worry of womb protection. I will try prog and estriol separately- not sure which order yet- leaning towards prof first- and keep this board posted
It actually might be good for me that the online prog creams are possibly weaker- I'm super-sensitive to tiny changes so absorption doesn't seem to
be an issue for me
I'll definitely keep this board updated, thank you


HelloSam666-

thanks so much for the info on the various creams- I'm so happy to hear that they've worked for you. yes, I have wasted so much of my life trialling stuff that makes me feel awful- I'm actually better on nothing but that's not to say that I'm good on nothing- it's just less awful!
Can I ask, were you post meno when you first tried the prog only?
My feeling is that I'll try the prog first and see how it goes then maybe add the estriol.
Is the consensus that prog only can be ok for bones, libido, mood etc etc
I'd prob ask for bone scans further down the line if I did do prog only and I guess whether it works on other issues (libido etc) will be self-evident!

[HelloSam666]

Hi Vintage,

to be honest, i'm not sure where i am on the menopause journey as i still take the mini pill and have had no periods for years. With my age, i must be menopausal but who knows.

You mention being sensitive to small changes and i think that is exactly the reason why HRT made me feel so bad and why the OTC creams work. Yes, they are probably weaker but my body needed some small tweaks to even things out and make me feel normal again. Even the lowest patch estrogen patch that i trialled was was way too much for my body along with utrogeston at 100mg per night. Sam

[vintagefiend]

Thanks again, Sam

All very helpful
I've ordered prog and estriol creams and am crossing my fingers!

[vintagefiend]

I'm feeling impatient! My biovea is going to take at least another week to arrive

Does anyone know if there's an equivalent in the UK- it's the progesterone cream I was keen to start first, estriol later (if at all)

Are they all the same in terms of strength and source (ie yams)?

last night- as a sort of test- I put in some vaginal oestrogen cream (actually estriol), called ovestin. I don't actually have VA but was curious to see what would happen. I definitely feel shabbier and unpleasant this morning- not imagining it!

So, I do seem to be very sensitive to oestrogens- even those that are supposedly localised and even the estriol in ovestin

so no more oestrogens for the moment- I want to start the progesterone cream ASAP!!!!

I do hope you're all doing ok and thanks for any help.

[vintagefiend]

just to update- I have now ordered a second (hopefully speedier) tube of prog cream

thanks for the heads-up, HelloSam666

[CrispyChick]

I tried onas.

[vintagefiend]

Thanks, Crispy- good to know alternatives

[Bunny4169]

I've tried the Biovea progesterone cream and didn't find it made any difference, but I've heard positive things about it.

 I still have some Angelique tablets which I tried for a year, I can't reply to personal messages,  as although I've been reading threads on here for a good few years, I haven't posted very often, so if anyone would like the Angelique to try, if you message with your email address, I'll get back to you.   

[vintagefiend]

thanks bunny have replied to you on other thread and will now PM you!

[CrispyChick]

Hi bunny.

What is angelique??? Is it hrt?

With regards to the prog cream, I found compounded much stronger than 'buy on line' versions. I suspect it's not stronger, but absorption is far superior.

[vintagefiend]

Hi Crispy,

angeliq is a conventional oral hrt- and one of the few I haven't tried!

But I'm definitely trying the prog and oestrogen (estriol) creams first- they should be here soon.

when you say compounded- is that by private pharmacies? are they different to utrogesten?

hope you don't mind all the questions- I'm trying to get as much info as possible on anything that might help!!

I'm currently on nothing and have no ovaries and feel pretty grim

how are things for you? think you're peri?

Vintage x

[CrispyChick]

Hi vintage.

Yes, compounded are specialist prescription only via bhrt clinics - at great expense.

The difference between compounded products and utrogestan are they are bespoke - can be tailor made in any strength and a variety of forms E. G cream, lozenge, pill, pessary. Utrogestan is set doses.

Yes, I'm peri. I'm off all hormones at the moment. Trying vitex agnus castus instead.

It certainly sounds like you could benefit from a bit of progesterone as well as the estrogen xx

[vintagefiend]

thanks Crispy- I always wondered what it meant!
I hope the agnus castus works for you x

[vintagefiend]

Hello everyone-

I just wanted to document that I started prog cream today (the Now one- thanks hellosam!)- I'm still waiting for biovea creams to arrive from the States

I can definitely feel something- I know that sounds ludicrous but I am incredibly sensitive to any hrt!
To be honest I feel a bit overwhelmed, foggy headed with a mix of anxiety- obvs not what I want eventually but waaaay to early to judge.
What I can say is that categorically is that it's not snake oil- there's definitely prog in this!

I've ordered the Dr Lee book though I think he or she writes specifically about prog therapy alone which may or may not be what I do- I have no ovaries so just zero oestrogen/prog and testosterone of my own

One thing I have done is order Dr Berg's cortisol/adrenal herbal remedy. It popped up while I was looking at prog creams and I thought I'd give it a try. I tend to feel v anxious on hormonal meds and wondered if this would mitigate that.
Has anyone tried this? I might start a new thread on it as don't want to derail this but hope you don't mind me asking for now.

Anyway- hope you're all doing well x