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[sheila99]

Have you tried anything apart from utrogeston? It may that you can find one you tolerate better. Are you peri or meno? If peri and have reasonably regular periods of your own reducing or skipping utro is a lot less risky (and maybe less risky than taking it).

[Mary G]

Logie, I have just replied to you on my thread in the Alternative Therapies section.

[Hurdity]

Hi Logie

Have I missed something but I can't see where you are in menopause ie what your natural cycles were doing before starting on HRT, how old you are and whether you are also taking oestrogen, and if so what dose? This will help us understand your situation and see if we can help. You most definitely should not need to go to a private clinic and depending where you are there are specialist NHS menopause clinics that can help you eg the Chelsea and Westminster - and I think you can get referrals from outside the area thoigh I imagine there will be a long wait.

Also did you say whether you were taking the Utrogestan orally or vaginally?

I understand your predicament and the balance between protecting the womb and protecting you as a person but it sounds like your menopause clinic is failing in the latter?

Hurdity x

[Logie]

Flossieteacake, I'm so sorry you're also having such awful experiences as well. I hope you can be okay and you're in my thoughts. I hope Thursday's appointment is helpful and useful to you.

Thank you Sheila99, I've tried norethisterone in Evorel sequi which was profoundly bad. This was as an alternative to Utrogestan which I started off with. The private Gynae I saw had suggested Femoston, but the GPs have cautioned against this, and wanted me to try a conti patch, which was the plan, until the Oxford Meno Clinic (NHS) replied and suggested I stay on a sequi plan and that I'm looking at a hysterectomy.

Thank you Hurdity, I take utrogestan vaginally, and would bleed very lightly for 2 days every 21-24 days pre-HRT. I'm on Evorel 50 patch after starting off with the Oestrogel. The seeking of private help is to reduce the wait times. I cannot afford to keep experiencing this level of risk and trauma, and putting my partner through it as well. I've not worked for months and would dearly love to get back to work, which I miss. I'm currently on a 6-month NHS waiting list after being referred to the menopause services in my county.
Blood tests done today to check estrogen levels and with the view to introduce some testosterone into the mix. I was sensitive to the progesterone in my own cycles pre-perimenopause, struggling with mood difficulties. 

I don't know if the fact that both myself and my partner are mental health clinicians leads my GP to feel that the psychological impacts are taken care of and so doesn't address them with me (which they are as best we can, but that's not the point, I'm a patient in this experience and need help). I know it can be hard to hear emotional distress, and a lot of professionals and services are feeling burned out, but it seems a number of us are being failed by some of the services we access. I find this both heartbreaking and infuriating.

Thank you all so much for your time and sharing. You're helping me, and my partner so much. We're very grateful.

[Flossieteacake]

Thank you for your kind words.

[Hurdity]

Hi Logie

Thanks for filling us in on more details.

The first thing I would say - is to ask how long you have been taking HRT of one sort or another - because if your periods had become coser together before you started HRT - this is medically classified as the Late Reproductive Stage - which is when the ovaries are still functioning but hormones have begin to go a bit awry leading to some more extreme pms symptoms in some women. So this is the last stage before peri-menopause proper when cycles begin to vary by more than 7 days from one cycle to the next. Obviously this isn't a sudden occurrence....

That being the case and depending on your age I wonder if you or your clinicians have considered using one of the contraceptive pills designed for menopause - so they contain estradiol as in HRT but also a gentler progestogen - one of the more modern types - that cause fewer side effects? This might suit you better than utrogestan because with Utro you have to take a large dose in order to protect the womb - and this would be the case whether you saw a private doctor or NHS. I think you want to be wary of any of the private off-beat clinics that treat celebs at great expense and promise the earth... though I do understand your predicament and desire to be well as quickly as possible, of course!

Anyway the two pills I am talking about are QLAIRA and ZOELY.

In addition I don't understand what you meant re the docs "cautioned" against Femoston? The progestogen in this pill is very similar to natural progesterone (which Utrogestan contains) but has been modified so that it lasts in the biody for a longer time and therefore lower doses are needed? Women have reported feeling good with this product  compared with others that have the harsher, testosterone derived progestogens.

Just a few suggestions before you go down the private route - if you want to consider them?

Wishing you all the best with your treatment, whatever you choose

Hurdity x

[Logie]

Hi Hurdity

Thank you so much for your time, thinking, recommendations and care. I am deeply grateful and will share this with my GP when I speak to her, and ask. Are Qlaira and Zoely to be used in the same way as for contraception?

The impression I have is that as I've had reactions to HRT that aren't straightforward, she will run everything by a regional NHS menopause service, which offers specialist advice for primary care clinicians, to reduce waiting times and the need for some referrals. It was through this I was told they wouldn't prescribe any lower than 200mg Utrogestan for 7 days.

Sorry I missed my age, I'll be 45 in a few months. The gynae I saw had also said I was in a late-stage and my 'ovaries are winding up'. It's good to know what's on the horizon with the varied cycles.

I was surprised too by the GP (having consulted with other GPs) not offering me Femoston, as the private gynae (also NHS consultant) had suggested it as an option. I'll dig a bit deeper at the next appointment as the shock of breezily being told I'm looking at a hysterectomy stunned me (especially as I'm only at the beginning of all this and haven't tried all the options).

What I have learned is that there is definitely something in the ratio of estradiol to utrogestan that influences how potent the mood and allergy symptoms have been. I've been on HRT about 6 months now, having had different combinations each cycle. The worst for me was when I was on an Evorel 75 patch (last month).

This time around I am on a 50 patch (which I feel much better on generally) and have managed to get to x7 days on 100mg. The last two days the symptoms started with the last day being very challenging in terms of mood. Wonderfully, no allergy symptoms this time around. The first since starting HRT.

I really hear you on the potential perils of private care, there is a lot of it in my field too. (I worked for the NHS for years before becoming ill).

Thank you again x