Menopause Matters Forum
Menopause Discussion => Postmenopause => Topic started by: Dyan on August 04, 2025, 01:40:10 PM
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I am post menopause and after having a trial run off Estradol gel ( which didn’t work out) I’m now back on it, 2 pumps on my thighs each morning, along with taking 100mg Utrogestan at night for the progesterone.
I’ve been on the gel and ultrogestan 100ml for 3 days now.
It would be nice to hear from anyone on this combination of HRT, as I’ve always had the mirena for the progesterone part, and it’s a first time taking tablets.
Has anyone had this switch in their HRT treatment?
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Hello Dyan, I went onto that combination ages ago going from a tablet form of HRT to patches then gel/utro because neither of those worked for my symptoms.
I am on 4 pumps & 200mg utro now though.
For me it's been the best combination of HRT it really helped my symptoms particularly insomnia & flushes & night sweats. I haven't had any problems but others will probably tell you Utrogestan is one that we often seems to mean we can get spotting/bleeding etc & there are other progesterone that control that better. But its said to get the safest & therefore very commonly prescribed. I believe the mirena is far better to control that but that was not an option for me.
Don't know if that gives you the answer you need.
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Hello Mrs Mitch,
Thank you so much for your reply.
Yes that is very helpful to know you are doing good on gel/ Utrogestan.
The only thing I will say is that the first night I took the Utrogestan it didn’t make me sleep.
The 2nd night I fell asleep within minutes but woke up after about a couple of hours.
This is how it has been for the other 2 nights I’ve been on it.
I take it around 10pm.
Is this something that will get better the longer I take it? X
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For me it took about a month for my sleep to be more normal & in 2 weeks it was much improved. So I think time is obviously a factor. I can take mine either at bedtime, an hour before or early evening which I know isn't how the instructions tell you to take it but it doesn't make any difference for me. But I would think the time you take it is correct. It's just a patience thing, which is difficult when you've been struggling for a while, I know.
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That’s a relief to hear.
Thank you so much.
I’m a patient person but when it comes to my well being I want to feel better now🙄🤣
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I know, we all do. But it's very much trial & error with HRT, it seems. I certainly had to go through a number of different types & then doses to get a reasonable result.
I'm sure you'll improve in time.
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For most people it improves sleep but for me it disrupts it yet leaves me feeling doped all day. It didn't improve, it was tolerable until day 8 after which I was a zombie. But worth giving it a bit longer as most people are fine with it. I have a mirena now and have no side effects. It might be worth you getting another one if you don't tolerate utro well.
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Thankyou sheila99
I’ve only been on it 4 days so early days yet. Just need to get my sleep 😴
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I’ve been on the Utrogestan 100mg and back on my Estradol gel now for just over a wk.
Sleep is not great yet but I understand it can take time.
My mental health has suffered, especially my OCD thoughts, and I’m still getting bouts of really bad depression. Yesterday I had a meltdown. Hubby found me on the floor crying and in a state.
I’m taking some clonazapam to help with the anxiety,that my psychiatrist gave me for when I have a MH crisis,to get me through until my hormones get back to normal and I feel myself again.
Saying all that though, I think there has been a slight improvement. Looking back to a wk ago I felt much worse.
I wished I’d never agreed to have a trial run off my estrogen. My biggest fear was that it might impact my MH and it did, but at the time I was in a good place, so went ahead.
I just want to get back to my old self. I know it takes time so onwards and upwards.
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I hope you feel better soon.
It's so sad and bizarre how women are constantly pressured to reduce or come off treatment that is integral to their physical and psychological wellbeing and stability.
I have a friend who was really highly functioning and had a career as a professional musician until she just completely disintegrated mentally around the time of her menopause. Since then she has been in and out of psychiatric hospitals and is on an absolute cocktail of drugs now, antipsychotics, lithium, you name it and nobody ever thinks about trying to reduce these even though they have made her diabetic, but heaven forbid she asked for estrogen, this is treated like a narcotic!
At least now you will be in a better position to advocate for your ongoing treatment should this be attempted again.
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I hope you feel better soon.
It's so sad and bizarre how women are constantly pressured to reduce or come off treatment that is integral to their physical and psychological wellbeing and stability.
I have a friend who was really highly functioning and had a career as a professional musician until she just completely disintegrated mentally around the time of her menopause. Since then she has been in and out of psychiatric hospitals and is on an absolute cocktail of drugs now, antipsychotics, lithium, you name it and nobody ever thinks about trying to reduce these even though they have made her diabetic, but heaven forbid she asked for estrogen
All those drugs will do is mask her problems & give her the idea she has permanent mental health issues that can be resolved. It's infuriating. But your comments about them wanting us off HRT are so true. I was chatting to a lady just this morning who is now in her 80s & in terrible pain from osteoarthritis. She had a hysterectomy at 40 but was refused HRT when she was catapulted into menopause. I wonder how she'd be if she'd been taking it all these years.
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I have a friend who was really highly functioning and had a career as a professional musician until she just completely disintegrated mentally around the time of her menopause. Since then she has been in and out of psychiatric hospitals and is on an absolute cocktail of drugs now, antipsychotics, lithium, you name it and nobody ever thinks about trying to reduce these even though they have made her diabetic, but heaven forbid she asked for estrogen, this is treated like a narcotic!
Menopause can exacerbate existing mental health problems.
Antipsychotics are not given out lightly and for a reason.
Lithium which is a mood stabiliser often replaces any antipsychotic which might be given initially.
Agree HRT given alongside but it is not always the full answer.
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Thank you bombsh311
I’d rather stay on it for life.
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I will be on it for life too - there's no age at which my quality of life ceases to matter or at which I am willing to accept osteoporosis, which both my parents have.
I believe only a minority of the perimenopausal and menopausal women on psychiatric medication actually need it. My approach would always be to adequately restore ovarian hormones first, and then any physical or psychological symptoms that remain, that's when individual treatment for these becomes reasonable.
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Dyan, I'm on two pumps of Oestrogel every day and I split the dose by 12 hours. I find it works very well. I hate Utrogestan and I think it has far more side effects than synthetic progesterone. Far too many women have problems with it and it's not particularly good at controlling bleeding. Doctors seem wedded to it because it's natural progesterone but the virtually non existent risk with Utrogestan is only slightly lower than the virtually non existent risk of synthetic progesterone.
I think Duphaston (dydrogesterone) oral progesterone is available in the UK now and that would probably be a far better bet for most women or perhaps Cerazette or a Mirena coil.
What is this sudden anti HRT stuff with GPs all about? We keep hearing about doctors getting sniffly about prescribing it and constantly forcing women to reduce their oestrogen dose or have a trial at stopping it altogether. Perhaps the NHS need to be honest with people and admit they can't support women on HRT unless they have very basic medication at a very low dose and they don't need any support.
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Well, it does seem to gave got worse since all the publicity with Davina McColl et al gave the topic. I know we hoped it would improve things but it clearly hasn't.
The NHS is happy to prioritise large numbers of certain people who haven't contributed a penny to the NHS like we have (sorry don't want to do go down the route on this wonderful site of mentioning too much about that) but we really do seem to be being prevented from being well unnecessarily. We are being let down yet again & no one seems to care.
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That documentary slagging off Newson clinics was an organised witch hunt and complete BS. It wasn't even remotely convincing either.
I used to think Kristy Wark was a good TV presenter on Newsnight but she came across as a mindless air head on that documentary and she was the same in the documentary she did on the menopause a few years ago in Scotland. Stupid, embarrassed laughter and no substance and look what's happened.
Nice hit job and great attack on women's menopause treatment. That wretched documentary had set women back once again and it suited the NHS to jump on the bandwagon and cut costs.
I'm trying to help my sister who is being failed by the NHS and I'm finding the private menopause clinics expensive but far superior to the NHS and their knowledge is completely up to date. If you can afford it, get proper menopause treatment at a private clinic.
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It'd definitely had a negative impact because of the stern warning from.my GP to be careful what I watch. It's a fine line between getting help & complying & letting the so called professionals know we are in possession of a huge amount of good information. I do wonder with my GP, if 3 months of Intrarosa helps, whether she'll refuse to supply it on the NHS. Her comments about weight loss jabs were that if you can afford to get a private prescription then you have no right to ask for follow-up prescriptions on the NHS. She said its surgery policy to refuse. I wonder if that means everything will be the same.
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I believe only a minority of the perimenopausal and menopausal women on psychiatric medication actually need it. My approach would always be to adequately restore ovarian hormones first, and then any physical or psychological symptoms that remain, that's when individual treatment for these becomes reasonable.
Do you really believe this in the case of psychosis ? A GP can give antidepressants but in my experience do not give antipsychotics.
Maybe too many antidepressants are given out where HRT would be better.
Your friend mentioned above may have been masking her illness well until perimenopause brought it out.
My daughter was bipolar managed to wean off Lithium in her 30s and stay well through excercise etc until she hit perimenopause.
A 'friend' then convinced her that HRT was going to solve it. An NHS prescrition for Evorel Sequi was unlikely to "adequately restore ovarian hormones" as you describe. That may have required a utopian world or deep pockets.
(Apologises Dyan for intervening with this on your thread).
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No problem minusminnie 👍🤗
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I was put on Utrogestan 100mg nearly 3 wks ago and also put back on my oestrodial gel after a break from it.
My sleep has significantly improved, my mood is brighter and I feel that I’m getting back to myself, not 100% but certainly on the way.
I still get a bit of anxiety but control it with clonazapam which I have for my MH.
Coming off the oestrodial impacted my mental health which in turn exacerbated my OCD.
This too has diminished, not gone completely, but a lot better.
Just thought I would update you all, as it’s good to hear positive news about us ladies on HRT.
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I’m now into my 4th wk back on oestrodial gel and taking 100mg Utrogestan at night.
It’s working but I’m not there yet.
I’ve had a couple of days where I’ve just felt so depressed.
How long before this gets me back to my normal self?
Could somebody please let me know how they are doing on this combination of HRT?
I need some reassurance- thank you 😊
I did post the other day with an update, see above (so I don’t have to write it again) which mentions my MH.
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It'd definitely had a negative impact because of the stern warning from.my GP to be careful what I watch. It's a fine line between getting help & complying & letting the so called professionals know we are in possession of a huge amount of good information. I do wonder with my GP, if 3 months of Intrarosa helps, whether she'll refuse to supply it on the NHS. Her comments about weight loss jabs were that if you can afford to get a private prescription then you have no right to ask for follow-up prescriptions on the NHS. She said its surgery policy to refuse. I wonder if that means everything will be the same.
Interesting thread
Was that said 9in bold) in relation to your weightloss jabs, that you must not ask for a repeat on the NHS?
I too am on weightloss injecgtions, since January. I have never asked my surgery to supply it, I self fund and happy to do so , but I noticed only the other day a note on the bottom of my prescription slip in CAPITALS saying not to be supplied by the community pharmacy blah blah blah. Cheek of it. I have never even considered asking for it from them! >:(
I also fully agree with other points on this thread, I suffer from very bad anxiety, always been anxious - but BOOOOM, since perimenopause I am a shadow of my former self. I crumble at anything, overthink, over analyse, go in spirals, so much so that I was recently diagnosed as autistic. That explains my inability to regulate my emotions, much much worse since perimenopause. I was coping, masking it seems, pretty well, living as a normal person with a normal life before this. Now I feel unable to cope with a lot of things. 'life' is hard for me now.. I even had to resign from work, I am not claiming benefits thankfully as we don't need me to, but I would be unable to go through with all that palaver anyway. I'm SO grateful for that, and I feel so badly for other ladies in my position, ikt is awful..