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[Tracey E]

Am on 1 pump of oestrogel, currently on day 7 of my 12 days of Utrogestan 100mg, use every other month, try to push it as long as possible, the reason being, I have had chronic insomnia since starting the tablets, feeling jittery, palpitations, stomach bloated as if 6 months preggers...

Hi Cassie, I had the exactly same symptons only took Utrogestan for 7 days every month..

[Cassie]

Did you get a good enough bleed on 7 days and does it keep your lining thin, would love to reduce to 7 from 12.

[Tracey E]

Yes, a normal period Cassie. Never had a scan so I don't no about the womb thickness.

[coldlittleheart]

I spoke to my GP last week because I was feeling really exhausted all the time - more than without hrt perhaps? - I asked her about doing a few days utro rather than taking it daily but she wasn't sure about that and wanted to read up about it before saying yes. So she suggested I increase the Oestrogel to two pumps instead, for the time being. I don't feel much more energetic and woke up with a terrible headache, nausea, upset stomach and I am feeling angry and low. I am wondering if this could be due to the extra pump of estrogel or is 5 days too soon to have made such a difference?

[Tracey E]

Hi, when I upped my gel to two pumps I felt the effects within a few days. Palpitations, acid reflux and an upset tummy being my main side effects but also being very irritable. It didn't settle with me so I had to stop using the Estrogel. I had the same side effects with the patches.

[coldlittleheart]

Hi, when I upped my gel to two pumps I felt the effects within a few days. Palpitations, acid reflux and an upset tummy being my main side effects but also being very irritable. It didn't settle with me so I had to stop using the Estrogel. I had the same side effects with the patches.

Ah thanks, I will go back to one pump then, I feel awful, weepy, I feel like I am hating everyone today (recently?), snapped at my husband for a very trivial thing yesterday and it's not something I normally do. I am feeling very lost and scared right now, it's crazy how hormones can affect us so much. I wasn't feeling that bad on one pump so it might get better once I go back to one. I have acid reflux too, no palpitations though.

[Ladybt28]

I'm with Birdy - 5 days is way too soon.  My own opinion from experience and reading a lot here is here is a period where you incease doses when you start and things can get worse rather than better whilst the period of adjustment is going on...it's almost like you have to get "over the hump" before you feel the benefit which seems to creep up on you without you noticing it.

I'm definitely convinced that hrt response is a slow burn and hrt are not the kind of chemicals which produce an immediate "good" response. It took me 7 months "to feel better" and there are still rough days but by and large I am a million times better than I was.  Mine worked out that I started to get good days like maybe 2 in a row and then some more bad ones before I woke up one day and realised I had felt relatively well for a whole week.  That's not to say that when you start out the next week will be the same.  Like I said I'm one year in on the right hrt for me after 3 years of trying to find out what worked an then that took 7 months to settle down to a proper "feel ok" pattern. x  I'm on 4 pumps and the GP started me on 2.  I was started on continuous progesterone but now use it on a cycle because I found I couldn't do continuous.  You have to find what works for you no one can tell you nor can you guess how you will react over a 6 month period. x

[coldlittleheart]

Hey Birdy LadyBt

It's good to have different inputs I really am new to this so I really have no idea. All I know is that aside from the flooring fatigue, I did feel better on one pump and suddenly I feel terrible, so that's why I wondered if the extra pump could  cause the symptoms. I didn't know if it can or cannot make a difference so quickly. so maybe I should step down to 1 and a half pump for awhile? I went from 1 to 2 so maybe I am sensitive to it? Given how incredibly low I feel today, I don't think I could ride this hump for very long - it is very very bad.

Sorry if I sound oversensitive, I just feel really depressed today and I can't cope with anything at all

[coldlittleheart]

Birdy yes I use utrogestan 100mg vaginally, every day. I have fibromyalgia so I am very fatigued at the best of times, menopause didn't help at all, but it seems that utro has taken the fatigue to a whole new level where I can't function. I asked the menopause doctor at my practice if I could try utro on a cycle instead but she is not familiar with that treatment for women who are well into menopause, she said introducing a bleed would be unnatural. Anyway she said she would look into it and get back to me, but in the meantime just to increase to two pumps oestrogel until she gets an answer. I have read that progesterone can be a problem for a lot of women, so I am at a bit of a loss. I started feeling really pissy yesterday, but I am a complete wreck this morning.

[Ladybt28]

So I am post meno at 57 and I can't take progesterone continuously so I take it on a cycle.   Continuous progesterone makes me depressed, irritated, and monumentally tired and after 2 weeks downright suicidal, so I don't take it that way.  I use utrogestan vaginally to minimise things like stomach issues, reflux and it being processed by through the stomach and the liver.  I take it for 12 days 200mg but when I get to day 8 I start to feel down and bit tired, but I can manage because I know it is going to stop.  I found out what to expect after about 6 cycles so now I don't worry.

Yes, it's "unnatural" to bleed at 57 but it could also be considered "unnatural" to take hrt and put your hormones back into your body so you don't feel crap everyday honestly some doctors... don't they just spout unnecessary nonsense.     If you are having absolutely horrendous symptoms with menopause and it is affecting your quality of life then you just do what is necessary to get some of that quality back, we that's my theory anyway.  Just because she doesn't have a clue....you shouldn't have to suffer.

I have a diagnosis of fibro too but my aches pains fatigue and soreness were off the scale until I got onto the right hrt and the right regime.  Now they are much more under control.  The massive drop in oestrogen cause the fibro symptoms to become much much worse.  In fact the testosterone I got given after 6 months gave me my life back....I actually managed to do some decorating in the house without having to go to bed for a week!  You will see from some of my previous posts on the forum that that is the first time in 10 years I have done anything relatively productive!  In fact I have had only a couple of "duvet days" in the last 6 months instead of every week!

The thing is that often our hormones are getting lower and lower as we move through peri and into meno and then we need to kick start them again before we "pick up" and the body has to adjust to having them again which takes a while.

[coldlittleheart]

So I am post meno at 57 and I can't take progesterone continuously so I take it on a cycle.   Continuous progesterone makes me depressed, irritated, and monumentally tired and after 2 weeks downright suicidal, so I don't take it that way.  I use utrogestan vaginally to minimise things like stomach issues, reflux and it being processed by through the stomach and the liver.  I take it for 12 days 200mg but when I get to day 8 I start to feel down and bit tired, but I can manage because I know it is going to stop.  I found out what to expect after about 6 cycles so now I don't worry.

Yes that's what I've read about, the fatigue and how it affects so many women, I am also 57, and if I had a choice of having a bleed or feeling like this all the time, I think I know which I would choose! And I think that once you know how your body responds and reacts, you know what to expect, it's not as daunting as when you have not got a clue.

Yes, it's "unnatural" to bleed at 57 but it could also be considered "unnatural" to take hrt and put your hormones back into your body so you don't feel crap everyday

Exactly. That! It didn't make much sense. The only natural way to deal with menopause would be to just go without any treatment.

I have a diagnosis of fibro too but my aches pains fatigue and soreness were off the scale until I got onto the right hrt and the right regime.  Now they are much more under control.  The massive drop in oestrogen cause the fibro symptoms to become much much worse.  In fact the testosterone I got given after 6 months gave me my life back....I actually managed to do some decorating in the house without having to go to bed for a week!  You will see from some of my previous posts on the forum that that is the first time in 10 years I have done anything relatively productive!  In fact I have had only a couple of "duvet days" in the last 6 months instead of every week!

I was diagnosed awhile back but I know I've had it for longer than that - since my 20s. I do work but I am self employed so work at my own pace which is a massive bonus. I wouldn't be able to work for someone else, I am far too unreliable due to my health, I think you know what I mean. I have been more sedentary in the past year or so though, much less energy, less motivation, more anxiety that was so intense it froze me on the spot for hours on end where I could not move. I have managed to do no work today. So today is a partial duvet day. Sounds like testosterone is working really well for you.

If things don't settle and are too unbearable I think I will ask to be referred to the menopause clinic or I will just self-refer to a private consultant. I am feeling at a loss. If all I had to deal with was the hot flashes, I would carry on as I did before, but the emotional, psychological and physical upheavals are just a little much for me to cope with at the moment. All I've managed to do today is cry.

[coldlittleheart]

I know the feelings only too well! Lots of tears and duvet days, feeling lost and scared and downright hopeless.

It's really rubbish and scary when you don't know what's going on. I had a long battle with depression about 20 years ago, and it was so hard, I eventually came through the other side after several years, so I am terrified of getting back to that point 

[Ladybt28]

So same here coldlittleheart - when I was 26 the GP told me I had ME (then called yuppie flu!) and said there was nothing to be done about it.  Depression started when periods started...always thought that interesting only no one else seemed that bothered!
so it all goes way back.  I too am self-employed and work from home primarily for the last 30 years so I could sort out my health and work when I wanted and when I could.  No one would have had me to work for them either!!

When I got to peri then it got even worse but I didn't know why or what it was all about, but after 10 years of messing about, turns out the last 10 years of absolute hell were down to hormones and looking back I reckon a lot of the stuff prior has something to do with hormones too!  I am now better than I have been for at least 15 years or more!  4 days of feeling a bit rough is small beer and I had to work it all out for myself.  I have to say there is no doctor in the world who is going to stop me from doing what I have been doing even if they thought it was dangerous (them doctors who know nothing often spout the Cancer word! - mainly in ignorance!) off licence or I could do myself some damage...well I know it's not dangerous from my research and I'd rather have a short life which was a life than no life at all!
Sorry I go on a bit of a rant about these types of things but its our choice to make and if they are young women doctors I often wonder whether when they get to peri etc whether they will still be spouting the same thing or whether they will be scouring this forum in order to find some solution and hope!  xx

[coldlittleheart]

I totally understand. I'm sort of in the thick of it now. I started using mirtazapine roughly three weeks ago.

I feel for you, it's really difficult to go through, I hope it helps you. I am more worried now than I used to be about depression because I don't tolerate any antidepressants, so that would leave me up the creek without a paddle.

[Ladybt28]

Gave up all pain meds and AD's 4 years ago after 40 years! GP has wanted me back on them but I won't.  They just made me numb.  When I was really bad a Christmas I was given sertraline but only took 2 weeks worth and then ditched them as all the side effects from AD's were back.  Bad time passed so now I know that the depression wont come back and stay either which really helps psychologically.  Don't anyone think I am suggesting for one minute it is mind over matter because I know from my life it's not, its just that I think that if my hormones were better balanced when I was younger even when I was ovulating, I reckon I wouldn't have had the levels of problems that I had.  Hindsight as they say..is a wonderful thing