Menopause Matters Forum
Menopause Discussion => All things menopause => Topic started by: abbyH on September 22, 2015, 09:49:59 PM
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Just wanted to check in and say 2 months in: on 2 pumps Oestrogel and 200mg Uterogestan for 12 days per month I've felt really good.. have lost weight, skin is great and energy levels much improved.. Insomnia still a bit of an issue but not waking up at 4-5-6 am as before
Stick with it ladies! you will feel the benefits
I am convinced this regime is wonderful and has much to offer us.. I think the progesterone in particularly has helped me, I feel better than I have done for years..
My hair has still not fully recovered, but I guess that might take more time
Abby x
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Good for you! I feel great also on estradot and utrogestan - I find the progesterone very helpful - long may it continue
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Glad you're feeling better abbyH and long may it continue - wish I could lose weight!
Hurdity x
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Great news, thank you for sharing with us. :)
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I always like reading positives about progesterone Abby as so often gets negative 'reviews'. I usually feel great on the utrogestan part too - apart from tiredness! Must be very satisfying finding a regime that's working so well for you. Kitty x
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:thankyou: for the up-date!
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Update on update ;D After I stopped the progesterone phase I immdiately plummted into quite a dark place, - similar to how I've felt with really bad PMS.. I got my period and it pretty quickly diminished, but wondered if anyone else had experienced this, maybe I really do need the prog part more, as I felt pretty good prior to this.
Was also wondering if perhaps doing the days 12-26 on 200mg might have been more intense for me than the 100mg over days 1-25, which I did before?
I know I can keep experimenting til I find the right way to take it, which is also another wonderful positive to this regime
Thanks for the support ladies!
Abby
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Always lovely to hear some good news Abi.
I have been taking the BCP for nearly 2 months and I feel so much better on it. It really has worked like a charm.for me. Insomnia has disappeared. Mood upbeat and stable. More energy.
It's made me realise how very low and miserable I had become before hormonal help.
But what I'm thinking is that my body is very much happier taking progesterone every day. I think it calms me slightly and improves my sleep.
Back when I was on HRT I was always fine on the 12 days of Utro. It was coming off it that caused the misery.
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HI Gypsy!
yes, I think that's whats happened to me, I was fine until I stopped, no pmt no breast tenderness or any period like symptoms but just a big weep and feeling bad... it has calmed down a lot, but thinknig I might go back to the prog spread more over the month, it seemed to level me out more!
but no side effects apart from that, feeling fine and much better! so will push on with it
good luck to you also
Abby
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Hi abbyH
The pms feeling when you stop progesterone is absolutely normal (if unpleasant!)- it's the last bit of the second half of the menstrual cycle that you will have felt for years. It doesn't mean you "need" progesterone because you feel like this when you stop - it's just the withdrawal phase which happens monthly. After the withdrawal has happened and your physiology reverts to how it was - you will feel good again - on the oestrogen only. The problem with cyclical HRT is that it sometimes lengthens this phase so you have perhaps 12-14 days on progestogen and then another few days of the pms phase before the bleed. In the menstrual cycle all this usually happens within 14 days. Also on HRT as you say you take a high dose for the whole time and then stop whereas in the natural menstrual cycle it (progesterone) increases gradually to a peak and then declines (pms).
This is why many of us opt for longer cycle HRT (which is more difficult when you are peri) so that the few days withdrawal is just that - a few days amongst the rest of the time feeling good if you are not prog intolerant, or good on oestrogen only if you are prog intolerant.
Many women expect HRT to be a magic cure but at its best most of us will feel like we did during our fertile years - ie good at some times of the month, with the pms during the prog withdrawal phase, but with sweats and flishes etc banished so that we feel better overall!
Nevertheless if you feel better with 100 mg on days 1-25 then why not carry on with this? It doesn't mean you need the prog more - just that the few days withdrawal are not so intense. You just need the prog to keep the womb lining thin, essentially!
Hurdity x
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Hi Hurdity and thanks for the explanation yes, I was just experimenting to see which way of taking it worked best for me, and I think I'll go with the days 1-25... I didn't have a big 'drop' in mood as I did this month
Its just a question of finding the right balance I guess
thank you!
x
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Hi
Q - why should we take 100mc day 1 - 25??? do you need to have that break or can you just take it every day for consistency??
Wx
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The licensed dose of "continuous" progesterone - although it isn't continuous - for post-menopausal women - is 100 mg utrogestan from days 1-25 with a 3 day break. I assume this is to enable a bleed to take place in case the lining has built up? Many women who take this in post-menopause actually don't bother with the break (docs are OK with this) especially if not on a high dose of oestrogen.
Also though, some women who are peri-menopausal also take it like this - as ideally it should reduce the monthly bleed and the intensity of the prog fluctuations, although the downside is taking progesterone most of the time - which many women don't want to do.
Hurdity x
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Thanks Hurdity
Like others, I am ok whilst taking it but the PMT I suffer prior to a bleed was unbearable :(
Wx
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This explanation of the progesterone withdrawl was really interesting. I was wondering if you're on a long cycle and you want to ease the effects of the progesterone withdrawl, could the progesterone be reduced over a few days (after the full dose for 10/12 days) to help? Or maybe this is unrealistic and playing around too much?
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I'm sure that's a possibility Sunnydays. Years ago when I was using Cyclogest which came as 2 x 200 mg pessaries nightly for 11 days in 4 weeks - I tried doing this (ie starting with 200 mg and gradually increasing over a couple of days to 400 mg and doing the same when coming off) as I was getting migraines, but a friend who was keen on progesterone advised me against it and said it was more likely to cause migraines. I hadn't read anything about it then so not sure she was right. However because of that I stopped and just carried on. With the 100 mg utrogestan capsules this is possible but it would mean extending the number of days - to ensure you get the same total amount of prog ( depending on your oestrogen dose of course). It's certainly not playing around too much as it's the same total amount and actually is more natural in terms of how our cycle works naturally. I don't know anyone who does this though!
Hurdity x
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Abbyh do you mind me asking how old you are? Brill that you're feeling good! X
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Hi abbyH, I'm really hoping that you are still around as we have so many of the same issues! Peri, anti-thyroid abs, fibroids, low ferritin...
Would love to know how you are doing now?
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I also feel good on this regime and when I come of the utro it is not as bad as my normal pmt was so that's a plus for me...I still get a bit low and sensitive round my period but before hrt and most of my fertile years I was seriously depressed and almost suicidal most months then as soon as my period came within an hour I was normal, so the little low I feel on utro I can handle much better...so if you find what works for you stick with it xxx
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:welcomemm: Nell
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Thank you! :)
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Browse round Nell. Make notes ;)
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Oh I am :o Read all 41 pages of the estrogel and utrogestan support group last night. Am now trying to squeeze a new person's post out of my befuddled brain...
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Thank u for giving those of us New to this regime hope for . light at the end of the tunnel :)
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How are you doing today, Tink? I'm feeling much better today and hope you're feeling a bit better too. Hang in there!
And welcome, Nell! I'm kinda new too. :welcomemm:
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Tempest I feel terrible. Dizzy head all over pain cant stop crying zero energy. I upped my dose to 2 pumps this morning not sure if its right or wrong but feeling seriously like this can't go on. I cant go in. The house is a mess I am a mess. Stomach cramps constantly feeling like a need a poo but lower down like period pain....Sorry tmi. Sorry for going on jusy ive had 18 months of this when will it stop >:(
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Hi Abby, just want to say that I am so pleased you are finally feeling better. I replied when you first posted as our stories were so similar.
Unfortunately, despite being on a very similar regime (estradot 75) I am still suffering with awful fluctuations and have been off work for 6 weeks as cannot string a couple of decent days together. I feel so despondent 😢.
I pray that your good health lasts and want to thank you for showing us that there is hope xx
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When you get a 'better' day Girls, try not to do too much - enjoy the feeling! If you rush into stuff energy is burned up so you get back to square one >:( ::)