Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[Mary G]

Sorry, I forgot to mention it on this thread but you could also try splitting your Oestrogel dose and take 1.5 measures every 12 hours.  This helps keep the levels up and avoids the oestrogen dip. 

[Niamh]

How did you cope with that evil coil for 2 months!!!! Wow!! Yes the utrogestan isn't too bad at all I might try upping the ostrogen and splitting it but it's such early days for me that I think I'll stick to my prescription this month Nd next and review it with prof stuff in Jan and see if we tweak at all. Little nervous if I'll dip at all once I stop the utrogestan tomorrow or if I'll feel as good as I was on just the ostrogen....guess time will tell, bloody hormones!x

[Niamh]

Ps what's the ostrogen dip not something else hideous to be aware of 🙈x

[Cassie]

I cannot dip or split anything and I get a breakthrough bleed, try and keep it steady so I would say 2 pumps at night alternate legs and then your Utrogestan used cyclically. See how things go, the beauty of the gel is you can adjust it accordingly but do give it time to kick in.

[GypsyRoseLee]

I actually suffered the Mirena for 7 months because my GP kept fobbing me off telling me to give it time to settle in. It was dreadful, just felt so angry and fed up all the time.

In the end I mentioned my misery to an American friend who is married to a gynaecologist. She told me to have it removed immediately as it was well known in the States that some women react severely to the Mirena, and her DH had several patients who reacted just like me.

[Dandelion]

I find utro much easier if I squat when inserting it vaginally.
I push it as 'high' as it will go, well, the 'tube' bends when you get to second knuckle depth, like a little 'ledge' if you see what I mean.
I try to push the capsules past that 'ledge' or bend in the tube, then I know that the tablets are 'in place'
I try not to have a wee afterwards, but I can't always control that, as I have a dry mouth and like to drink a lot of fluids.

[rachthemidwife]

Hi all. I am about to switch to taking my utrogestan vaginally as I am progesterone sensitive and have been feeling so headachey, nauseous and dizzy taking it orally. I have a few questions.
1. Is it better put the capsules high up in the vagina or actually into the cervix?
2. Can I put in my vagifem at the same time or should I split it (vagifem morning and utrogestan night)?
3. Can I have sex on the nights I use the utrogestan (days 1-12)?
4. I have been taking 100mg orally alongside 1mg Sandrena gel and have been told that when I switch to vaginal use I need to increase utrogestan to 200mg. Am I likely to be just as sick and headachey?
5. If I use the utrogestan days 1-12, when will I bleed?
6. Do I just use my fingers and hold the capsules to insert them?
Thanks so much.

[Hurdity]

Hi rachel FD

There have been several threads about all of this recently. I suggest you go to the Forum home page ( line of small blue tabs above - on the left) and do a search - or just look back through this section at the thread titles - ie All Things Menopause - and there are in depth discussions which will answer all your questions.

Very briefly:

1. Poke it up as far as you can with  finger. Some women get an applicator with theirs but I never have - it always works.
2. When on Utro I do Vagifem morning and Utro night.
3. This was discussed - can't remember the outcome - I looked things up. It does reduce the dose a bit I seem to remember? Prob best not to as it would get diluted a bit by the semen and also ooze out a bit. Try to find the thread!
4. You do not need to use more vaginally than orally. If you are changing from continuous though ( days 1 -25 or Days 1 - 28) when 100 mg is the licensed dose, to sequi (ie Days 1-14 approx) then the dose is 200 mg. Vag use is not licensed but the french SPC state use the same dose. Most of us use less when using vag though as more gets into the system. Best not to play around though at first and go with your doc recommendation. If doc is saying you need to use more vag than oral for the same length of time then this is incorrect and I presume not a gynae recommending this because the scientific literature points to the opposite view.
5. Depends where you are in meno and how much of the gel you absorb therefore how much womb lining is built up from the oestrogen - if post-meno then prob between 1-3 days after stopping utro, but some start just before finishing the course and especially if still peri this could happen.
6. Yes see above - just poke it up! I do it in bed last thing so it stays there!

Hope this helps - but do look up all the other threads.

Hurdity x

[Cassie]

Agree with Hurdity just poke it up not too deep it kinda finds its place.Usually a bleed comes about 4 days after stopping the Utro but does depend on what dosage oestrogen you are taking. Good luck

[rachthemidwife]

Hi Hurdity.

Thanks for your reply.

In truth, I spent about 4 hours over two very late nights (until about 2am) reading the huge number of threads about vaginal utrogestan but couldn't find the detail I was looking for. If I had found the answer, I wouldn't have posted my questions. I decided to post on this thread as it seemed closest to what I was worrying about.

1. You are right. There is a lot about where to put it in the vagina. But nothing about the cervix. I understand that the utrogestan needs to be absorbed into the uterine muscle in order to do its work and I thought that, if i popped the capsules into the cervical opening (os) it might leak less and absorb more directly and, hopefully, cause fewer of the side effects that has caused me to seek an alternative to the oral route. I realise that the lack of an answer to this specific question in all the threads may simply be that most women have never thought to put it into the os or wouldn't feel confident to do it but that doesn't mean that it isn't possible. I just don't know whether there is a good reason why I shouldn't do it. Putting it into the vagina doesn't guarantee a quick absorption into the uterine tissue. It would be faster if put into the posterior pouch but still not as direct I don't think. Anyway, maybe I just can't find the answer. But I did look.

2. I couldn't find much about this. Lots of people saying what they do but not whether there is a good scientific reason to split the two or not. I just wondered whether I could do both at night or whether it is not advised.

3. I found one question from someone asking, just like me, if it was ok to have sex on the nights she used utrogestan. No-one had answered her so I thought I would try. I looked things up too. I was more concerned about the possible effects of progesterone on my hubby. How long does it take to be fully absorbed? If I use it at night, is it likely to be completely absorbed by morning? I have looked but maybe just not hard enough.

4. Again, I found lots about why women have moved to the vaginal route and about absorption. I googled. I looked at Prof Stud's site. I am pretty desperate to reduce the effect of the progesterone after 4 months of constant headaches, all day nausea and such bad reflux that I have had voice changes. I have been using continuous 1mg Sandrena and continuous Utrogestan orally 100mg and am supposed to change to 1mg daily Sandrena and 200mg vaginal Utrogestan days 1-12 only. I will obviously do what the menopause nurse suggests but wanted to prepare myself for possible ongoing side effects and wondered if there was anyone out there who had done the same change for the same reasons and what their experience had been - had the side effects lessened. So, if there is anyone out there who has progesterone sensitivity and has moved from continuous 100mg oral Utrogestan to 12 days of 200mg vaginal Utrogestan and can tell me if things improved I would love to hear.

5. Thanks for the detail. Again, I had looked but couldn't find much guidance on what to expect in terms of time delay from end of Utrogestan and bleeding. Maybe it isn't important but I just wanted to be prepared. I am 54 and so probably post-menopausal but I went on HRT before my periods stopped so not entirely sure. I understand form my menopause nurse that, once over the age of 51 a woman is assumed to be menopausal rather than peri-menopausal.

6. I searched all the threads to see if there was detail. Lots about poking it up but I wondered if there was an applicator I could buy, whether it took one finger or two to control the capsule... my capsules are very small and I was wondering about being able to balance it on my finger and get it directed carefully enough! I'd like to be able to get it right close to the thinnest part of the vaginal wall close to where it meets the lower part of the uterus (or, as previously stated, into the cervical os itself, possibly even the internal os). I had hoped that there was someone out there who could give me that sort of detail. Maybe a menopausal midwife?!

Ultimately, I have been on the point of panicking and just stopping the entire HRT altogether as I genuinely cannot face the side effects for another 4 months (I have been told to give each change 3-4 months to settle). I want to get the best that I can out of the next 4 months and this is why I posted, not because I hadn't spent long enough searching back through this forum.

Thanks again. And if there is a menopausal midwife out there who gets what I mean about the internal and external os and whether I should and how ...