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[SilverFairy]

I have been on my 'new' HRT regime for nearly 7 weeks. I am taking  Utrogestan 100mg oral, Estrodot patches and Gynest cream. I don't know yet if I will suffer from my 'prog headaches' , as they don't kick in until I have been taking it for about 3 months but I am suffering some other side effects. I have put loads of weight on, not sure if it's water retention, but most unwanted! I have lost what little sex drive I had and I am feeling very tired and unmotivated.
One positive is that I haven't had any extreme moods.
Any idea if this is due to too much/little of oestrogen/progesterone?
Also, I still have my womb, haven't had a period for about 2 years, what is best way to take the Utrogestan, as in how many days per month?
Thank you

[Hurdity]

Hi Silverfairy

I am on a similar regime to you although I take Utrogestan 200 mg.

If you go to the home page of the forum and search "Utrogestan" there are lots of threads with discussions about the different amounts.

In your case it depends what you have been prescribed and whether you are supposed to have a cycle or not, and whether you are peri or post-meno.

You will see the standard licensed doses here:
http://www.menopausematters.co.uk/to_progestogens.php

100 mg utrogestan is usually given orally for post-menopausal women for 25 out of 28 days - or continuously and is designed not to give a bleed.

Quite a few post-meno women such as myself (and others on here) prefer to have a cycle (taking Utrogestan for 11-12 days out of 28 or a longer cycle) for the reasons you describe - that too much progesterone causes unwanted side effects eg bloating, fatigue, brain fog, headaches etc.

You haven't said the dose of oestrogen? Maybe 50 mcg? It sounds from what you are saying that you are taking it continuously so maybe an idea to restart a cycle - recommended for progesterone intolerant women. The downside is you would have a bleed, and you might experience the effects of "progesterone withdrawal".

For many of us, all HRT comes with some drawbacks - just as in our fertile years with our menstrual cycle. It is a question of which regime you feel works best for you and which side effects you can cope with!

I should add that it seems from reading on here that women under private gynaes (and some enlightened GPs) sometimes take less than the licensed amount of utrogestan, but they are monitored carefully to ensure no thickening of the womb lining. Used vaginally means you can take less than the oral dose and it is still effective in keeping the womb lining thin, but this is off licence.

Hope this helps

Hurdity x

[SilverFairy]

I am post meno. I am taking the utrogestan 100mg for 25 days per month at present. I did read the long thread on utrogestan and decided to take it for that amount of time. The only effect from that so far is some PMT type pain two and three days after stopping for the month.
 Im afraid my GP is not much help, all the things I am on I have researched myself 
I thought that it was too much oestrogen that was causing the bloating/weight gain? But now I look the Estrodot is only 25mcg x twice weekly.

[Diamonds and pearls 53]

Hi Silver Fairy, I was on exactly the same regime as you (which had been a new attempt for me to restart hrt after bleeding issues) All went well for the first 2 months but then I started to have a very light bleed in the third month, before I was due to have the 3 day break-and this continued. Also I began to feel increasingly unwell -Pmt type symptoms,anxiety,nausea and abdominal pain.
The upshot was that the GP has insisted I come off hrt pending an appt at a menopause clinic to try to find a solution. She (and I) suspect I may be intolerant of the progesterone bur strangely I didn't have this side effect on the pill hrt. (Indivina low dose)
I didn't put on weight on the regime but like you, felt unmotivated and 'down'. I am sure it is not the small amount of oestrogen causing this problem so  can only think it is more likely to be too much progesterone,or the oestrogen to progesterone ratio.
As Hurdity mentions, you might do better on a cycle so you do not have to absorb so much progesterone  but I imagine you will have to check this with your GP -and it doesn't help when they are unenlightened about hrt -as yours (and mine!) seem to be..

Diamonds and pearls x