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[laszla]

Ladies in 2022 the EU banned the use of titanium dioxide in food which is quite a big deal as its use was so widespread but on the basis of independent scientific advice it was deemed harmful. But weirdly and maddeningly it hasn't been banned in medications which means that it will continue to be used in utrogestan which so many of us take.
Personally I could live with ingesting a dodgy additive if it was just for occasional use but given that I, like so many of us, will likely be taking utrogestan for many years I really find this a bit scary.

And the irony is that, among its many potentially harmful effects, including being a possible carcinogenic and impairing fertility, titanium has been shown to cause ovarian dysfunction and hormone inbalance (including a reduction in progesterone concentration) https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0304389412008643

I wonder how they can justify using it in meds when it's now banned in foods but in the meantime wondered if there are any other micronised progesterone products available in the UK?

[sheila99]

Thanks for posting. This is worrying though I don't suppose fertility issues are going to bother us much. I've just changed from vaginal to oral (better sleep and no mess this way) but this makes me think it might be safer vaginally.

[laszla]

Thanks ladies. Poppy another micronised prog is cyclogest but also I wrote to Besins who, after a correspondence that felt like squeezing blood out of a stone, said that the utrogestan 200 mg pessaries do not contain titanium dioxide (which could also be a back-up for you Sheila).

The crazy thing about the titanium is that its sole purpose is to give a uniform white colour to the capsule (it's literally the same stuff that's used in paint)

[sheila99]

So is it in the 100mg but not the 200mg? I thought they were the same apart from the size.

[laszla]

Sorry Sheila, I re-checked the emails from Besins and actually it's the contents of both the 100 and 200 mg that don't contain the titanium while the capsules of both do - and unfortunately unlike some supplements you can't open and remove the contents of either of these.
Besins said the reason they won't be removing it from utrogestan is that reformulating it would cause too much disruption, but there is no doubt that it is a nasty substance.
I'm currently looking into cyclogest - so far it doesn't seem as if it contains titanium.

[Viola]

Hi, I am new. Another alternative is progestogel. It´s messy to apply, purely because of the amount needed to use to get the correct dosage

[Nataliegemini]

Hi everyone,

I'm new here and wanted to thank you for starting this topic. I went into premature menopause at 39 and not wanting to do the coil/pessaries, I was also so shocked & disappointed to find out Utrogestan (and so many other millions of medications) have titanium dioxide in them. I became so disheartened I decided to come off HRT after 4 months, but am considering going back on it again, I just feel sad that the only oral progesterone option on the NHS is this.

I'd eventually like to get compounded progesterone, but as we know, without a significant bank balance this is tough for most of us.

In the meantime (and I did check with the site moderator here that this is ok to do), I started a petition to urge a ban on this nasty substance as it's time cleaner medications were freely available.

If you feel called to sign it, you can do so here: https://c.org/wLLcd78QH4

(The only annoying thing is that Change.org sends emails to ask for donations, but you can just sign the petition and then unsubscribe).

Continuing this conversation in the meantime, has anyone had any luck with using Utrogestan vaginally (which I wasn't keen on at first, but it would at least then bypass the gut and liver)? I am hearing positive things about it being able to be cycled vaginally even in full menopause because less of it is needed throughout the month when it's going straight to the womb, which I must admit would feel like some relief to me - I felt pretty spaced out on Utrogestan a lot of the time.

Thanks in advance and I'm happy to know it's not just me who was so disappointed by how these medications are being made.

------------
Approved by Emma

[sheila99]

Many on here use it vaginally and it's licensed for both ways in Europe, just not in the UK. If you're looking for oral there's norethisterone or provera.

[Nataliegemini]

Thank you so much Sheila99. Are those two options you mention body-identical?

[chopsuey]

No they are both synthetics, unfortunately. I would try the vaginal route of Utro if you want to stick with body-identical.

[Nataliegemini]

Thank you chopsuey. So grateful for this community. I was reading it about a year before I started on HRT. I'm still holding the hope that HRT will evolve in our lifetime. I know that there is a designer estrogen coming down the pipeline thar just targets the brain, but obviously that would only first be available privately. It's so good to not feel alone with all of this.

[bombsh3ll]

Honestly, I would not worry about this, and certainly wouldn't change a treatment that was working.

I remember being a bit miffed to read talc on the ingredients list of a birth control pill I used to take, but in the grand scheme of things the quantity ingested was probably microscopic.

Titanium is present in multiple implanted medical devices, it is probably in my pacemaker and I wear titanium earrings and a nose ring because I am sensitive to other metals and Titanium is one of the most inert.

Whilst any mention of carcinogenesis is potentially frightening, there is generally a threshold at which cancers are initiated, in rodents, at doses hundreds of times greater than a human could or would ever ingest.

Also the listed side effects of "infertility and reduced ovarian function" - in the context of MHT this ship has already sailed!

[Nataliegemini]

Thank you for your kind comments here bombsh3ll, and I completely agree, it's probably not too big a deal in the grand scheme of things, and you make such a good point that it's present in other things, although when I think it's a metal it's fine, whereas when it's nanoparticles I worry a little more. I do still have concerns that even though it might be microscopic, because I've gone into meno earlier than most and will probably have to take it for such a long time, the quantity is still potentially going to have an effect. I'm also uncomfortable with soy lethicin being used, and overall I just don't think any of these things should be going through the gut and liver. Essentially I just wish that Besins would do the work to make the formula cleaner, especially as other pharmacies manage to compound it, because these extra ingredients simply aren't necessary. I felt a bit spaced out and bloated on Utro but in all fairness I may just have been intolerant of the progesterone itself and not necessarily any of the other ingredients, but I don't imagine soy lethicin helped my gut health. I am definitely willing to try the regime again though whilst hoping that alternatives will be made available for women soon. I am steadily learning that there is no one 'right' answer to this journey