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[SueLW]

Hi

Been a while.   

I have a Mirena coil, which I love, does a great job, and I use the Lenzetto spray, which I also love. The problem is I have water retention.  Loads of it.  Particularly in my feet. They are bad and it makes my toes tingle and sting and my shoes are too uncomfortable and tight, walking hurts.

As I am on quite a high does of oestrogen I thought I have two options.  Reduce the oestrogen (I'd perhaps rather not right now) or adding some progesterone into the mix to balance the oestrogen.  I happen to have some Utrogestan here so thought I'd try it.  First night was lovely, I had my first dream in years.  However, it's making me feel dopy in the morning and I also feel sick in the morning.  I'd rather not have either of those.

Has anyone had success with general hormone balancing with Utrogestan using it every other night?

I'm generally interested in the thoughts of anyone who has used this product for balance and wellbeing rather than womb protection.

[Gilla999]

Would be interested to hear how you get on with this Sue, as I am also wondering if my issue could be not the high dose of estrogen itself but the lack of Prog to balance it out (I currently take 100mg Utro vaginally). I tried taking Utro orally about 8 months ago and  only managed a couple of days as I literally couldn't function the next day, I was so sleepy. Would love to hear how it goes for you

[Bumblebeer7]

@SueLW, what does estrogen are you on?  I’d like to know how you get on as I am similar.

[Mary G]

I thought I was progesterone intolerant until I started using 50mg progesterone every day.  I then realised I needed it for balance.   The seesawing hormones of a cycle and the bleed were making me ill and causing migraines.

I think most women need some progesterone, just not too much of it and for me 100mg in one hit is too much. 

Progesterone at the right dose aids sleep and helps to create hormone stability but if the dose is too high, I find it lethal.

[Gilla999]

Mary can I ask how you get 50mg? I thought the tablets came in 100mg only. Would love to know!

[warwick01]

Yes = me too

Wx

[Mary G]

It's bespoke progesterone and I get it from the Specialist Pharmacy in London but it has to be prescribed.

In theory, my 50mg progesterone lozenges should be the equivalent of 50mg Utrogestan if such a thing existed although I can't imagine ever being able to tolerate it.  However, there are plenty of women on here who take 100mg Utrogestan every other day and tolerate it well. .

You might find it helpful to take a look at my thread on compounded hormones in the Alternative Therapies section on here.

[Mary G]

SueLW, you have a Mirena coil for womb protection so you could try using natural progesterone cream for balance.   This can be bought online and you have nothing to lose by trying it.

[Gilla999]

Mary this is really helpful - thanks so much!

[SueLW]

@SueLW, what does estrogen are you on?  I’d like to know how you get on as I am similar.

I use Lenzetto spray and have the Mirena coil fitted. I have been using 3 sprays of Lenzetto but have terrible problems with fluid retention.  So I have introduced the Utrogestan and dropped to 2 sprays a day.

All hormonal changes knock me for six (I'm hypothyroid too) so it will probably be a couple of weeks at least until I know how I'm going to feel.  But so far, not too bad.

[SueLW]

I thought I was progesterone intolerant until I started using 50mg progesterone every day.  I then realised I needed it for balance.   The seesawing hormones of a cycle and the bleed were making me ill and causing migraines.

I think most women need some progesterone, just not too much of it and for me 100mg in one hit is too much. 

Progesterone at the right dose aids sleep and helps to create hormone stability but if the dose is too high, I find it lethal.

Hi Mary

I really wish they made Utrogestan in 50mg capsules as well as 100.  I took 100 a night for the first few nights but then one day woke up feeling very foggy and low and also a bit sick.  So I've moved to every other night now.  However this morning I woke up and thought "I wish I had taken a capsule last night" because I woke up feeling anxious and hadn't been doing that.

I take one tonight.  If I feel better than this tomorrow I will start up on 1 per night again and see how it goes.  I guess I need to build up slowly. 

[SueLW]

SueLW, you have a Mirena coil for womb protection so you could try using natural progesterone cream for balance.   This can be bought online and you have nothing to lose by trying it.

No, I don't want to do that.  For a long time I used expensive bioidentical hormones through an expensive clinic.  I'm with the Newson Clinic now and using NHS available hormones.  The bioidentical hormones didn't do me any good at all. They made me worse.  The fluid retention on that progesterone cream was terrible.  I literally couldn't pee.

[Wrensong]

SueLW, I absolutely agree it sounds like the thyroid complication.  On thyroid replacement like you, the more oestrogen I take, the more fluid I retain, but I find progesterone extremely diuretic.  In fact problematically so - it makes me pee for England so that it can be hard to keep well enough hydrated.  But I'm only on low dose oestrogen so not horribly waterlogged, but even so when we retain too much fluid it can be a very uncomfortable, sluggish feeling & one of the worst hypo symptoms imo.  If you don't notice some fluid loss taking some Utrogestan I'll be very surprised.  I can't tolerate it personally, but I really hope you feel better for it.
Wx

P.S. the other thing that really helps me with fluid balance & other aspects of thyroid management is T3.  It's absolutely essential for me - I'm just too unwell on thyroxine alone.  Is T3 an option for you if you're under an Endocrinologist as I think you mentioned on another thread recently?

[SueLW]

P.S. the other thing that really helps me with fluid balance & other aspects of thyroid management is T3.  It's absolutely essential for me - I'm just too unwell on thyroxine alone.  Is T3 an option for you if you're under an Endocrinologist as I think you mentioned on another thread recently?

I have been taking T3 + Levo since November. It's been a long, hard slog. No Damascene moment for me so far. The more T3 I take the lower my FT4 and FT3 have gone.  Currently on 25mcg T3 and 125 Levo a day and with the worst results of the journey so far!

[Mary G]

SueLW, you have a Mirena coil for womb protection so you could try using natural progesterone cream for balance.   This can be bought online and you have nothing to lose by trying it.

No, I don't want to do that.  For a long time I used expensive bioidentical hormones through an expensive clinic.  I'm with the Newson Clinic now and using NHS available hormones.  The bioidentical hormones didn't do me any good at all. They made me worse.  The fluid retention on that progesterone cream was terrible.  I literally couldn't pee.

Just to clarify, I meant natural progesterone cream that you buy online, not the expensive stuff from the Specialist Pharmacy which is much stronger because it is also for womb protection.   But I take your point, if you didn't get on with progesterone cream before then you might not want to risk it, particularly with thyroid medication.

I thought you had previously been on progesterone lozenges like me but that must be somebody else!

Hope you find a solution.