Hi Trufflecat
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from me too.
Sorry to hear about your headaches.
To add to what Briony said - I was just like you when I first started HRT. I was also given Evorel sequi but my periods were only very occasional so I could have been almost at menopause. However I got bad headaches - which were actually migraines, sometimes on the patch itself ( only the second two weeks) and sometimes got the progesterone withdrawal headaches - which were the same as I got pre-menstrually when fertile. Mine too got much much worse as I headed into peri-menopause - and in fact before my periods even becoame irregular. I had never suffered from migraines before.
I did change to patch oestrogen and separate vaginal progesterone (Cyclogest pessaries - utrogestan wasn't available then) - but still got the withdrawal migraine because it's just like the menstrual cycle. I also had a foggy head and general exhaustion during the progesterone phase too. Once the progesterone has cleared and I was on oestrogen only all was well.
Some like Briony can tolerate the progesterone especially in the lower dose of 100 mg so only get the withdrawal symptoms.
These usually will only last a couple of days but by the time you've got back to normal and had your bleed then it's almost time to start taking them again - so I can see why if you tolerate the prog OK, a longer course of them might be the answer as Briony suggests - not if the prog itself it gives you migraines though!
The different times for getting the headaches could be because this patch is not strong enough to suppress your own cycle so could also be a case of your own homrones breaking through?
If you want to try progesterone you probably need to ask for "micronised progesterone" which is the generic term for Utrogestan. My regular GP couldn't find it when I asked for Utrogestan as she hadn't heard of it but found it under the generic name.
Once I was in my late 50's I went onto a longer cycle - with the OK of gynae GP - to minimise the amount of time on the progesterone - but probably won't work if you are still peri-menopausal due to possible breakthrough bleeding and your own cycle kicking in.
Hope this helps - sorry it was a bit of a ramble!
Hurdity x
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