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[Fairywoods]

Hi,

I'm 52, recently decided to try hrt due to sleep disruption/night sweats.  I have been taking oestrogel 2 pumps and utrogestan (200 for 12 nights).  The first month on the utrogestan phase I woke up every morning with a thumping headache.  The second month slight headache, but awful sedated feeling, worse than extreme tiredness, like I'd just woken up from a general anaesthetic.  After 9 nights, I decided to take 100 for the last 3 nights and it's only now four days after finishing the utrogestan that I feel normal.  I've just been to my GP and she hadn't heard of women feeling sedated on utrogestan and offered me a coil instead, a referral to a gynae to see if I could reduce the utrogestan dose or said I could try it vaginally.  I said I had read it can cause bladder irritation if taken vaginally.  I forgot to ask her what dose I would need to take vaginally, as lovely as she is she doesn't seem to know an awful lot about utrogestan.  Anyhow, I decided to continue taking utrogestan for another month (on the same dose of 200 for 12 nights).

I'm in two minds about HRT.  I've recently discovered Dr Louise Newsons website and keep reading about how wonderful it is and how important estrogen is and I almost feel like I need to persevere or otherwise it might mean I end up with osteoporosis etc.  Although the estrogen is definitely helping me sleep and reducing night sweats, the utrogestan made me feel awful.

Is sedative effect common?  If you take it vaginally, what dose and does it irritate your bladder?  Thanks so much for any replies!

[Ladybt28]

Hi Fairywoods,
welcome to our happy band!  There is no real difference in the dose when you are starting off taking the Utrogestan vaginally instead of orally.  I take it that way not because of sedation but I have other issues with progesterone. I don't get bladder irritation but some women do.  It does have a sedative effect on some women when taken orally and so it is a common  feature on the forum but some are more susceptible than others which it seems applies to you as you say it feels like a general!  Some women deliberately take it orally because it helps them with insomnia if they suffer from it or if they suffer nighttime anxiety.

If you take it vaginally it is absorbed locally and doesn't go through the stomach and is not processed through the liver giving those side effects.  You are still in early days for your regime to settle and if you are having those effects change to 200mg for 12 nights vaginally (that is what I take) and see if you have any problems with it that way.  What is there to lose. Regarding the bladder, it is impossible to say whether you will have a problem until you try because each of us is so different.  You may find it works just fine for you that way.

[Fairywoods]

Hi Ladybt28,

Thanks for your reply.  I'll give it a go vaginally.  I'm currently feeling worse than pre HRT but then I don't know how I'd be feeling without the HRT!  I'm sleeping better than I was but now waking at 4am/5am with a start and hot flushes, not sure whether I need to up the Estrogel.  I was hoping for a miraculous improvement and didn't realise it was all so individual and variable.  I went back to my GP this week and she hadn't heard of Utrogestan making you sleepy/zombie/sedated, so I came away agreeing to continue for another month and feeling that I was going crazy.  But then I googled it and found a French document that talked about using it vaginally as it can cause sedation.  I feel so confused at the moment, as to what to do for the best.  I know it's early days so I'm going to give it another month and see. Thanks for your help.

[Fairywoods]

Hi again Ladybt28,

I'm not sure if there's a way I can bump/alert you to see this - I can't figure out quite how this forum works!  Anyhow, if you see this, do you know if it's normal to have very scant withdrawal bleed?  First month was 4 days medium flow but much less than my pre HRT periods.  This month, virtually nothing.  Thanks for any advice.

[Ladybt28]

I don't know how to bump either but I replied to your other post 

[Pinkjan4288]

I'm on the same dose as you and it really knocks me out and I was getting up in the morning feeling drowsy but it's now passed.
I'm on pack 3 now and felt better very quickly.

[sheila99]

I use it vaginally and still get dopey on it though it's not bad except for those months when my body also produces prog (I'm in peri) when I assume I'm getting far too much. Haven't tried orally so I can't compare.

[Fairywoods]

Thanks Pinkjan and Sheila