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[Amanda64]

Hi, Please can someone advise me before i go back to the Dr as i "think" i've been given the wrong dose of Utrogestan tablets?
This is my first time trying HRT, I'm 52, been in peri for 3 years now and have heavy periods but only every 3 to 5 months. I haven't had a period for 6 months now & i wont bore you with all the menopause symptoms i have but they have built up to "bloody awful" levels!!
So after reading up online about the best ones on the NHS, i saw a new Dr i've never met before, asked for hrt, & said i would prefer "non-horse urine" patches for the estrogen & Utrogestan as the progesterone.
The Dr, who was very young had never heard of Utrogestan & had to look it up on her computer, she said to take one 100mg tablet for 12 days, but it wasn't till i got home i realised everywhere i've read including the leaflet in the box says that for peri-menopause its 200mg for 12 days (& for post-menopause its 100mg for 25 days) out of 28.
Should i go back and query this dose? Like i say this was the first time she'd prescribed Utrogestan, she was very young & wasn't all that happy about giving me HRT to start with (but me being a total blubbering wreck probably helped!)
To be fair she did give me the types i asked for.
On day 15 i have to start the Utrogestan so i want to sort this out before then.
Sorry if i've rambled on, can anyone here help...... is this dose ok? or should i go back? Does anyone here take only 100mg over 12 days? I don't want to look an idiot if i go back & ask, my brain has been all over the place recently, but i'm a bit worried that it might not be enough to protect the womb lining.

[MicheleMaBelle]

Hi Amanda - I believe the peri dose is 200mg for 12 days and for meno it's 100 mg for 25 days or continuous use. I'd get your doc to double check the dosage just to put your mind at rest but I believe you should be on the higher dose for fewer days. And we'll done getting what you asked for first time round- a rare feat x

[Amanda64]

Thanks, thats what i thought, just wanted it confirmed, so i will go back and ask.
In a way i'm glad i got her, i think one of the older more experienced Dr's in the practice might have tried to palm me off with something {cheaper} else! & I don't think its usually prescribed there as the local pharmacy didn't stock them & had to order them in.
The estrogen part are the Elleste solo 40 patches, i've been on them a few days and no exaggeration within 24 hours i felt my mood lift 100%!! No difference in hot flushes or night sweats yet but its early days, & i wasn't expecting to feel any different for a few weeks anyway!

[Cassie]

Many ladies use 100mg for 12 days a month more or less but if you do this, please remember that you need to go for annual scans to check the lining of your uterus as it is not the prescribed dosage but as I say, I have been using 100mg per mth for 12 days for many years and it works very well as long as you have routine follow ups.

[MicheleMaBelle]

Good stuff Amanda64- sounds as if you've hit on a good combo that will work for you x

[Amanda64]

Cassie ...... So what would be the reason to take only 100mg instead of the usual 200? Is it because the side effects are too much for you on the full dose? (the worry i have is that my periods when i have them are heavy & long) Or are there other reasons to only be prescribed 100mg in peri?
But then the Dr had never heard of Utrogestan, never mind prescribed them & had to look on her computer for how many to give me, so i think it's more likely a mistake?
Anyway i will go back & ask, thanks ladies xx

Michelemabelle ....Yes, i'm hoping so, i know sometimes things start off well then go down hill but fingers crossed, so far so good!! 
Before i went on the patches, for the last few months i had such bad low moods, felt irritable and edgy all the time, bad health anxiety, & hated everyone i knew, wanted to live on my own somewhere, and overthinking to the point where my brain felt like it was literally fizzing and would explode lol  ........yet within 24 hours it all calmed & eased, and i'm definitely "starting" to feel like me again. I know it wasn't placebo because i wasn't expecting to even start to feel better for weeks or months, if it worked at all.
Mind you the hot flushes & nightsweats haven't improved much yet, nor the aches & tiredness etc, but it's just been almost a week so very early days. Fingers crossed it all improves in time x

[Cassie]

I found the 200mg far too strong, got all sorts of nasty side effects, the 100mg I have been using cyclically for many years with an annual scan of my uterus and they certainly are effective enough, used like that to keep the lining thin, well in my case at least and I know that there are many ladies who used the 100mg cyclically under supervision.

[Amanda64]

That's interesting to know, thanks. I've been given 3 months worth (of the patches & Utrogestan) to try, so maybe i will just go ahead & take the 100mg anyway and see how i get on, then ask about the dosage when i go back. I still think she meant to prescribe 200, but for 3 months it isn't going to hurt especially as its a low dose Estrogen i've got.
I also don't want to rock the boat yet in case i end up having to see one of the senior partners (she was just a locum) & they say i shouldn't have been given them & make me have something else!!
Thanks for your help, that's reassured me x

[MicheleMaBelle]

I doubt that they would change it Amanda so don't worry about seeing a different doc. I would however double check the dosage. You don't know if you might have intolerance to progesterone and you'll find out pretty quickly if you have. The prescribed guidelines state 200mg if you are taking it sequentially so I'd start with this and reduce down if need be, rather than do it the opposite way. It's entirely up to you, let's face it, we all want to get better as quickly as we can.x

[Hurdity]

Hi Amanda64

 

I totally agree with Michelemabelle. Notwithstanding Cassie's experience - and we are all different - you won't know how your uterus responds until you try and in view of your comment about heavy periods I would definitely start on the licensed dose. I would just start to take it as per the information in the leaflet and on this website and maybe after the first cycle make an appointment to say you've been given the wrong dose and point your doc to the info on here and in the leaflet. You really should try for several cycles and see what sort of bleed you get before deviating from the licensed dose.

Hurdity x

[Amanda64]

Thanks, ok perhaps i should take 200mg as the leaflet & everyone else says then. I don't want to do anything to bring on heavy periods.
Good idea to take the proper 200mg dose for first cycle then back to Drs to get more, as they are unlikely to try to change them by then as i'll have already started!
I've found at my Drs surgery, the Drs can have widely different attitudes to each other. Twice in the last 3 years i went as i had a heavy period lasting weeks & not only did they do totally different things about it, the 2nd Dr critizisied what the other Dr did!! So that's left me a bit wary of them.
Thanks so much everyone who'd replied. This is a lovely group