Thanks Elizabethrose, think I need to see the doctor again, and push this. I think her concerns are that I don't suffer with migraine usually, only when I take hormones (the pill) and when I was pregnant. She says it's a progesterone problem, and it seems to be synthetic and natural that both cause it. But surely I'm just bringing my levels back up again, so i wouldn't be having excessive amounts. To be honest, I'm a bit confused with it all, not really sure what to do. I'm waiting for CBT to try to help me manage the anxiety side of it, so might see how I go with that. x
Hi again Cherrycrumble - I'm not sure what you mean here about bringing your levels up?
The point about progesterone intolerance is that it means different things to different women.
During the menstrual cycle we only have significant amounts of progesterone during the second half of our menstrual cycle which is probably at its peak at the end of the third and beginning of the 4th week of the cycle. During the first part of the cycle ( from a couple of days into the bleed and for the next fortnight approx) prog levels are very low and negligible - but sufficient - as they also are in post-menopause.
Women who are intolerant of any kind of progesterone suffer side effects for almost all of the second half of the cycle ie pms for two weeks. These women may also suffer during pregnancy when prog levels are very high indeed although this may be attenuated to some extent due to the extremely high levels of oestrogen also circulating. Most women suffer some form of pmt due to progesterone withdrawal - headache (sometimes migraine), tension, irritability etc just before the period starts ie the last couple of days.
Some women are fine with their own prog, but only intolerant to synthetic progestogens, - such as in the Pill (very high doses) or HRT (not quite such high doses), or perhaps only to certain types of progestogen.
Some unfortunate women are very intolerant of both but this is quite rare - and these women benefit from specialist help and a tailored approach to their HRT regime.
If both synthetic and natural prog are causing you problems then you defo should be on the most natural possible ie utrogestan and push for the minimum prescription (fewer days per cycle eg 10 rather than 12 to see how you get on) and regular monitoring ie scan - on NHS.
Hope this helps
Hurdity x