Hi Bo
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There are so many new members and new posts that if a member doesn't visit for a few days - it's almost impossible to keep up! Sorry!
There are lots of threads on this - maybe the best one being the Estrogel and Utrogestan support thread - which has lots of pages!
https://www.menopausematters.co.uk/forum/index.php/topic,23372.0.html. I suggest you put your feet up ( if you can!) and have a read as I expect that will tell you all you need to know!
I am sure your side effects are due to continuous oral progesterone - I have never taken it orally and never continuously due to side effects.
In a nutshell:
Utro is not licensed for vag use as part of HRT in UK - but there is a 200 mg vag preparation for fertility.
HRT Utro used to be available in 200 mg capsules but they were discontinued ( which leads to some docs mis-prescribing doses!)
Both of these capsules are exactly the same - ie the oral and the vag ones!
Elsewhere in Europe ( I know about France) vag use is given as an alternative to oral use if there are side effects - but the dose given was similar - just an alternative route.
Some limited research ( you'll find the papers in that thread) demonstrated that used vaginally approx half the dose was effective in protecting the uterus compared to oral use. However the research is limited - and will depend on individual women, whether there are any pathological issues with womb ( fibroids, endometriosis etc), as well as the dose of oestrogen and cycle length.
Some private gynaes ( and a few knowledgeable nhs docs) are happy to prescribe Utro for vag use in prog intolerant women. In practice many women actually just take it upon themselves to use it this way.
Therefore there is no standard recommendation/dose for vag use so if you were going to reduce the dose or cycle length this needs to have the approval of your doc to monitor how your endometrium responds to your individualised regime - eg by regular scanning until you know what to expect.
That was a bit of a big nut!!!
Hope this helps
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Hurdity x