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[belkat]

Hello ladies, I'm new to this forum and so glad I found it 

My gyno consultant is giving me a prescription of Provera 5mg for two months with the aim of counterbalance the so called 'unopposed estrogen'. More than six months ago I found out from a biopsy of the womb that I have a thickening of the womb lining and that my progesteron is inactive (?). I am anemic and have lots of bleeding for two days of my period, as well as some occasional spotting. I also have few fibroids. Since I refused to get Mirena coil and they don't believe in the alternative medicine that I am trying (acupuncture, supplements that help flushing out estrogen, healthy diet etc), I've been prescribed to take Provera. I did a research and found out Provera isn't progesterone but has a similar structure that mimics natural progesterone, and that this creates some serious side effects, quite scary.. Then I read a bit about natural progesterone cream and seems a lot of women find it very helpful etc but I also read that the progesterone gets stored in the fat and after a while it messes up levels of estrogen and testosterone etc. So what to do?
My question is, is 5mg twice a day of Provera for two months a safe dose? In other words, is there a risk of getting side effects for such a dose? And also, the gyno said to stop after two months for one month and tgen they'll do another biopsy to check if it has improved. This raises another question: if situation hasn't improved, do I still need to take Provera?

I am getting very confused and would appreciate if anyone with experience of this could give me advice 

[Hurdity]

Hi belkat

 

It is normal practice to treat a thickened womb lining with a progestogen to thin it. Not sure about the "inactive progesterone" concept. Many women experience anovulatory cycles during peri-menopause so no ovulation therefore no progesterone and the womb lining can build up and thicken. Fibroids also can cause heavier bleeding.

The alternative stuff you are doing will have absolutely no effect on oestrogen and your womb lining.

Natural progesterone cream is ineffective for thinning the womb lining  so if you want to take natural progesterone you need to take the proprietary brand available on NHS - called Utrogestan the brand name of micronised progesterone. I don't know about sdie effects - some women get side effects from progestogens of any sort but if you are only taking it for a couple of months or so then this will only be temporary.

I presume you are taking an iron supplement and making adjustments to your diet to increase iron intake?

You haven't said how old you are or where in menopause but if you are peri-menopausal (irregular cycles) and have other symptoms then HRT or the combined contraceptive pill (there is one designed for pei-menopause with body-identical oestrogen in it - known as Qlaira, also one called Zoely) might also help. The latter gives higher doses of progestogens which will also help to keep the lining thin.

here is an article about peri-menopause and cycles etc which might interest you:
https://www.menopausematters.co.uk/magazine/pdf/Article%20-%20Perils%20of%20the%20Perimenopause.pdf

Hope this helps

Hurdity x

[belkat]

Hi Hurdity, thanks so much for your advice, it's very helpful 

I'm 48 and my cycle is fairly regular, an average of 22-24 days cycle. And yes, I'm taking Hema-Plex iron with vitamin C.

I will definitely look into the article you suggested

Thanks!