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[MoaningMyrtle]

Hi all

I'm after some advice and have looked on loads of posts but getting more and more confused the more I read.

2 weeks ago i was prescribed utrogestan 100 and Estraderm MX50 patches.  I haven't had a period for a year and don't want them.

I was originally prescribed 2 tablets of Utrogestan daily and the patches twice weekly.  However after 10 days I had a call from the doctor to say that she had given me the wrong prescription and I should only be taking 1 tablet of Utrogestan daily!  So I reduced the dose and have now had a period!!!  Is this usual?  I haven't been told to stop taking Utrogestan at any point and have a break, I've just been prescribed a continuous dose, I think that's usual to ensure no bleeds?  Am I right?

I've been in a right state with myself.  I've been debating starting HRT for ages and now I've taken the plunge wish I hadn't.   I've also read lots of bad comments about Utrogestan which is making everything worse. 

I've also been using vagifem for over a year.

Any advice appreciated.

[Dotty]

Hi breakthrough bleeding can happen for the first 6 months when starting any hrt. X

[MoaningMyrtle]

Thanks Dotty for your reply.  I'm having a full on period and really wasn't expecting it, especially when i thought all that was finished.  Why don't doctors explain things properly???

I'm back at doc's Friday for another chat but thinking I'll do away with HRT

[Hurdity]

Hi MoaningMyrtle - sorry to hear about your issues with your HRT regime and bleeding. The aim with HRT is for us to feel better overall on it that off it although you need to give it at least 3 months to begin to see the benefit and as Dotty says you might expect some bleeding in the first 6 months and possibly especially earlier on. It really depends on the reasons you are taking HRT and the symptoms that led you to try it - if apart from the bleeding these are much improved (although 2 weeks is a very short time to tell) then it is doing its work. If you can bear with it then things (bleeding) should eventually settle - and if you were intending to be on it for several years, it may be worth persevering if you feel up to it?

Some of us have continued with cyclical HRT well into our 60's because we don't like taking progesterone  - so are still having bleeds! Sounds dreadful doesn't it - but those of us who do feel better overall on it than off it ( well I haven't tried coming off it for a while now....)?

All the best

Hurdity x

[MoaningMyrtle]

Hi

I went to Doctors Friday and she apologised for wrong dosage and explained the bleed was probably down to reduced utrogestan.

But since my visit I've slept terribly mainly due to the hot flushes returning after they did initially stop and to top it off I'm very dizzy today.  My mood is terrible too and I feel like crying at the most silliest things.  I was basically over these symptoms and it was the pains that I was trying to alleviate.

I read lots of posts about increasing and decreasing doses but I'm on tablets and patches so I dont think my regimen is as easy to adapt.  Advise please???

I know its only been a month since starting HRT and I know I've been advised to persevere but is it really worth it?

[Dotty]

Hi it is worth it for me, but everyone is different.

What were your symptoms before the hrt? X

[MoaningMyrtle]

Hi Dotty
Looking back over the last 7 years or so:
Ectopic heartbeat
Palpitations
Severe dizziness
Anxiety
Sleep disturbances
Painful joints and muscles
Thrush
Depleting libido
Then lately hot flushes.  I'm vit D deficient too.
I haven't had a period for a year.

[Dotty]

Hi if all of your symptoms are caused by lack of oestrogen then hrt should get rid of them, but it is a matter of perseverance. It all depends on whether you can put up with the symptoms. At the end of the day, it's a personal choice. X

[MoaningMyrtle]

How often do you have reviews?  My doctor said unless I want to see her then I'll just need a check annual to take blood pressure.

[Dotty]

Once a year now I'm balanced on hrt.

When I was really struggling and really poorly I was seeing my GP every week. I paid to see a private specialist and I saw him after a month; then after 3 months; then after 6 months and now I see him once a year. X

[Mogster71]

Hi MM

Sorry to hear you have been a bit up and down with this!
I might buck the trend with this but I didn't get on with utrogestan either. I was put on 50mg Estraderm and 200 utrogestan for days 14-28. I didn't even feel settled on the oestrogen bit but when the utro was added it was awful for me. A couple of phone calls to my GP and they agreed I could go back on my previous regime, which is Femiston 1/10. Switching back messed my cycle up for a bit but after less than a week on my old regime I had settled back down again.

I'm not officially post-meno yet so still having a withdrawal bleed as it were. Could you talk to your GP about a continuous tablet instead perhaps? I'm not sure I could tolerate progesterone continuously like Hurdity says, having a bleed every month is the lesser of 2 evils to me. It may be worth seeing if you felt better on just the oestrogen part of the cycle for a little bit longer? If yes, you could then with supervision and support do a longer cycle, meaning only a shorter period of time on the utrogestan. Some ladies on here are doing that.

It really does depend on whether you feel you can stick out the trial or trials of HRT, if the symptoms are bad enough for you to go through that, or if you feel you would be better off going it alone or more naturally. I got very disillusioned with HRT and fed up with back and forth to the doctors trying different things but once I found something that works it is worth it. If you have a supportive doctor it does make things easier. If you settle on something and feel great, then yes, you'll only need to go back for annual checks unless you initiate an appointment.

I hope you feel better soon X

[MoaningMyrtle]

Hi all

I've been taking utrogestan everyday and am now getting a tiny bleed, 2 weeks after the last one caused by reduction in dose.

Is this normal?