Print

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

[Mary G]

poppytoast, as far as I know, buccal progesterone is only available at compounding clinics.   I buy my progesterone gel in Spain but it's more or less the same as the Biovea cream.

[Gnatty]

I don't need to take it as I have no womb, but I started taking it five weeks ago to help with sleep and maybe to add a bit of balance to my oestrogel and testim. I knew to expect a rough ride at first but wanted to give it a fighting chance to work. The first couple of weeks I got hot in the middle of the night so switched to taking one of my pumps of oestrogel at night time to counteract this, which did the job. The daytime tiredness I am glad to say has now started to ease these last few days and my sleep is much improved. And.... I feel bouncy yet calm too. So I am glad I carried on despite the initial difficulties. It's so easy to give up on something too quickly and then never know whether it would have worked or not. I have been guilty of this so many times and am starting to finally learn not to have a knee jerk reaction..

[Hurdity]

Progesterone is only needed to balance oestrogen as part of HRT, in order to protect the womb, though a few women like it in small doses due to its sedative effect, and this is harmless as I understand. Unfortunately those of us who do need it for endometrial protection need to take it in large doses -  because it is very unstable in the body so needs to be constantly replenished, and to ensure sufficient gets to the womb where it is needed. (When it is produced naturally in the body much smaller amounts are produced in pulses, but much more frequently....The side effects as a consequence of this (the large doses needed) are too great for many of us but we grit our teeth and persevere!

Glad to hear your sleep has improved - for many of us - the sedative effect is not calming - leading to grogginess, fatigue, head fog and sometimes worse. I have vivid dreams while taking it and it irritates my bladder at night as well as the vaginal area....

Hurdity x

[Furyan]

Progesterone is only needed to balance oestrogen as part of HRT, in order to protect the womb, though a few women like it in small doses due to its sedative effect, and this is harmless as I understand. Unfortunately those of us who do need it for endometrial protection need to take it in large doses -  because it is very unstable in the body so needs to be constantly replenished, and to ensure sufficient gets to the womb where it is needed. (When it is produced naturally in the body much smaller amounts are produced in pulses, but much more frequently....The side effects as a consequence of this (the large doses needed) are too great for many of us but we grit our teeth and persevere!

Glad to hear your sleep has improved - for many of us - the sedative effect is not calming - leading to grogginess, fatigue, head fog and sometimes worse. I have vivid dreams while taking it and it irritates my bladder at night as well as the vaginal area....

Hurdity x

Hurdity - I personally have found that progesterone is about far more than protecting the endometrium. Without oestrogen, it alone controls entirely my vasomotor symptoms. I can’t understand why official medical research is skewed towards the belief that progesterone serves one or two purposes only! Considering the hormonal biochemical pathways, progesterone is about more than protecting the womb lining! It’s not protecting my joints though - which is unfortunately why I am experimenting with ways to fulfil the ‘oestrogen’ part of my HRT regime.

[Gnatty]

I take the same dose as for endometrial protection. And yes I think it does more than protect the womb. The point I was trying to make maybe badly was that I could easily have knocked it on the head because I did feel quite shitty the first three/ four weeks. The groggy head fog stuff all of that. But... It cleared and now I feel really well. And yes, balanced. Lots of women in surgical meno are finding the same. That without progesterone they just don't feel quite right. And of course the flip side is there are as many that are quite happy to do without it. I think what continually surprises me is just how different we all are. That is why I think it's so difficult achieving balance. We do what suits one woman, doesn't suit us, then try something else that suits another and so it goes on.

[Mary G]

Progesterone is only needed to balance oestrogen as part of HRT, in order to protect the womb, though a few women like it in small doses due to its sedative effect, and this is harmless as I understand. Unfortunately those of us who do need it for endometrial protection need to take it in large doses -  because it is very unstable in the body so needs to be constantly replenished, and to ensure sufficient gets to the womb where it is needed. (When it is produced naturally in the body much smaller amounts are produced in pulses, but much more frequently....The side effects as a consequence of this (the large doses needed) are too great for many of us but we grit our teeth and persevere!

Glad to hear your sleep has improved - for many of us - the sedative effect is not calming - leading to grogginess, fatigue, head fog and sometimes worse. I have vivid dreams while taking it and it irritates my bladder at night as well as the vaginal area....

Hurdity x

Hurdity - I personally have found that progesterone is about far more than protecting the endometrium. Without oestrogen, it alone controls entirely my vasomotor symptoms. I can’t understand why official medical research is skewed towards the belief that progesterone serves one or two purposes only! Considering the hormonal biochemical pathways, progesterone is about more than protecting the womb lining! It’s not protecting my joints though - which is unfortunately why I am experimenting with ways to fulfil the ‘oestrogen’ part of my HRT regime.

Furyan, I agree with you, progesterone does much more than just protect the womb.

It's worth remembering that progesterone tanks before oestrogen in perimenopause and this is when women first start to experience symptoms like insomnia and anxiety which are helped by the calming effects of progesterone.   In my case, it's when my silent migraines first kicked off.   

I think we need both oestrogen and progesterone and by that I mean body identical progesterone at a tolerable dose, not the synthetic variety.

Obviously it's a different matter for women who are progesterone intolerant.

[Hurdity]

Progesterone is only needed to balance oestrogen as part of HRT, in order to protect the womb, though a few women like it in small doses due to its sedative effect, and this is harmless as I understand. Unfortunately those of us who do need it for endometrial protection need to take it in large doses -  because it is very unstable in the body so needs to be constantly replenished, and to ensure sufficient gets to the womb where it is needed. (When it is produced naturally in the body much smaller amounts are produced in pulses, but much more frequently....The side effects as a consequence of this (the large doses needed) are too great for many of us but we grit our teeth and persevere!

Glad to hear your sleep has improved - for many of us - the sedative effect is not calming - leading to grogginess, fatigue, head fog and sometimes worse. I have vivid dreams while taking it and it irritates my bladder at night as well as the vaginal area....

Hurdity x

Hurdity - I personally have found that progesterone is about far more than protecting the endometrium. Without oestrogen, it alone controls entirely my vasomotor symptoms. I can’t understand why official medical research is skewed towards the belief that progesterone serves one or two purposes only! Considering the hormonal biochemical pathways, progesterone is about more than protecting the womb lining! It’s not protecting my joints though - which is unfortunately why I am experimenting with ways to fulfil the ‘oestrogen’ part of my HRT regime.

Hi - medical research isn't about belief though - it is about evidence from trials. and the use of oestrogen primarily as part of HRT is based on such trials. As I understand it research showed the a FEW women - very small percentage, found that progesterone along helped their menopausal symptoms (and I think this would be early in menopause before oestrogen really declines post-menopause) - but if there is any recent research to the contrary, beyond anecdotal evidence, I would be very interested to read it - hence my request, because I haven't looked stuff up recently...In very large doses ie used as a drug I think there some is evidence for this - but that is not what is being discussed.

Progesterone is produced during the menstrual cycle in large amounts solely to prepare for pregnancy, but only needed in large quantities as part of HRT to protect the womb lining. We produce small amounts throughout our lives as part of our normal metabolic processes, as do men.

I'm glad it has helped you.

Hurdity x

[Furyan]

Progesterone is only needed to balance oestrogen as part of HRT, in order to protect the womb, though a few women like it in small doses due to its sedative effect, and this is harmless as I understand. Unfortunately those of us who do need it for endometrial protection need to take it in large doses -  because it is very unstable in the body so needs to be constantly replenished, and to ensure sufficient gets to the womb where it is needed. (When it is produced naturally in the body much smaller amounts are produced in pulses, but much more frequently....The side effects as a consequence of this (the large doses needed) are too great for many of us but we grit our teeth and persevere!

Glad to hear your sleep has improved - for many of us - the sedative effect is not calming - leading to grogginess, fatigue, head fog and sometimes worse. I have vivid dreams while taking it and it irritates my bladder at night as well as the vaginal area....

Hurdity x

Hurdity - I personally have found that progesterone is about far more than protecting the endometrium. Without oestrogen, it alone controls entirely my vasomotor symptoms. I can’t understand why official medical research is skewed towards the belief that progesterone serves one or two purposes only! Considering the hormonal biochemical pathways, progesterone is about more than protecting the womb lining! It’s not protecting my joints though - which is unfortunately why I am experimenting with ways to fulfil the ‘oestrogen’ part of my HRT regime.

Hi - medical research isn't about belief though - it is about evidence from trials. and the use of oestrogen primarily as part of HRT is based on such trials. As I understand it research showed the a FEW women - very small percentage, found that progesterone along helped their menopausal symptoms (and I think this would be early in menopause before oestrogen really declines post-menopause) - but if there is any recent research to the contrary, beyond anecdotal evidence, I would be very interested to read it - hence my request, because I haven't looked stuff up recently...In very large doses ie used as a drug I think there some is evidence for this - but that is not what is being discussed.

Progesterone is produced during the menstrual cycle in large amounts solely to prepare for pregnancy, but only needed in large quantities as part of HRT to protect the womb lining. We produce small amounts throughout our lives as part of our normal metabolic processes, as do men.

I'm glad it has helped you.

Hurdity x

Hurdity - Sorry I don’t have the type of research you’re referring to. Maybe ‘belief’ wasn’t the correct word to use but my  view in this respect comes from sources other than ‘funded’ research. I prefer to draw from various sources to get as balanced understanding as I can, as they are all a valid part of this puzzle called Menopause! e.g. funded research, clinical evidence from experienced professionals, medical writers, speaking with other women etc. As long as we focus on people’s lived experience this is evidence enough for me about progesterone - and I say this coming from an ‘evidence-based’ profession myself. If I come across the type of information you mentioned, I will share it here. Just bearing in mind that all are subject to flaws.

[Furyan]

Progesterone is only needed to balance oestrogen as part of HRT, in order to protect the womb, though a few women like it in small doses due to its sedative effect, and this is harmless as I understand. Unfortunately those of us who do need it for endometrial protection need to take it in large doses -  because it is very unstable in the body so needs to be constantly replenished, and to ensure sufficient gets to the womb where it is needed. (When it is produced naturally in the body much smaller amounts are produced in pulses, but much more frequently....The side effects as a consequence of this (the large doses needed) are too great for many of us but we grit our teeth and persevere!

Glad to hear your sleep has improved - for many of us - the sedative effect is not calming - leading to grogginess, fatigue, head fog and sometimes worse. I have vivid dreams while taking it and it irritates my bladder at night as well as the vaginal area....

Hurdity x

Hurdity - I personally have found that progesterone is about far more than protecting the endometrium. Without oestrogen, it alone controls entirely my vasomotor symptoms. I can’t understand why official medical research is skewed towards the belief that progesterone serves one or two purposes only! Considering the hormonal biochemical pathways, progesterone is about more than protecting the womb lining! It’s not protecting my joints though - which is unfortunately why I am experimenting with ways to fulfil the ‘oestrogen’ part of my HRT regime.

Furyan, I agree with you, progesterone does much more than just protect the womb.

It's worth remembering that progesterone tanks before oestrogen in perimenopause and this is when women first start to experience symptoms like insomnia and anxiety which are helped by the calming effects of progesterone.   In my case, it's when my silent migraines first kicked off.   

I think we need both oestrogen and progesterone and by that I mean body identical progesterone at a tolerable dose, not the synthetic variety.

Obviously it's a different matter for women who are progesterone intolerant.

Hi Mary G - absolutely agree that we need both these hormones (and more) albeit in different amounts to suit each individual. Utrogestan is like marmite from what I can see - women either love it or hate it or anywhere between! I suspect utro might be tolerable to more women if there was more flexibility to play with the dosing a bit… from my experience anyway.