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[Molly]

Hi folks,

I have always been progesterone intolerant. As a woman in my twenties, i tried pill after pill and they made me absolutely crazy so in the end I gave them up. I regularly got a rash allover my torso , breasts and back just before my period and was told this was down to the progesterone intolerance in my body.

So here I am on HRT , peri menopausal, FSH 95..no period for few months bar bleed for 2 days. I am on 2 and half pumps of oestrogel, 200 mg for utrogeston from day 15 to 26 with no bleed at the end.

Just wondering if anyone has lowered their dose of progesterone to 100 mg , 7 days a month instead of 11, and then gone for regular pelvic scans every 6months ?

My first menopause consultant said that this was an option for me as I am progesterone intolerant, but before we tried that we went on 100 mg for 11 days which was ok I guess but I lost my libido, no orgasm. I am now with a different consultant and she insisted that I try the 200mg for 11 days pm. I am doing this for the last 3months , although my libido has returned with orgasm , I cannot carry on with this.

I feel like a completely different person while on the 200 MG. Im depressed, so so low crying irrational..nothing is right, I am soo tired I can barely get out of the bed, literally dragging myself around the place.

So I am going to suggest this option of taking progesterone vaginally 100mg for 7 days with pelvic scans every 6 months. I have to say I am very nervous regarding  the  hyperplasia element and possibly cancer.

Id love to know anyone elses solution the progesterone intolerance.

thanks in advance x

Sorry just to say I take progesterone vaginally as orally, I acutally collapse to the ground and sleep no joke, I forgot to take it one night and took it the next day and an hour later I could not stand, was blessed my husband was there and he helped me up the stairs to bed. If I was driving I would have crashed the car.

Sorry If Ive posted on this before x

[Hurdity]

Hi Molly

Sorry to hear about your progesterone woes - unfortunately this is quite common to some extent though fortunately not quite so extreme - you are unlucky.

Although as you say there are risks of hyperplasia and cancer with reduced doses of progesterone, if you have a specialist menopause consultant willing to prescribe this regime and monitor you with scans every 6 months then surely no harm in trying it? Endometrial cancer should not develop that quickly.

You may find that your bleeds are very heavy in which case you may decide it's not worth it and possibly go for a sloghtly longer duration of progesterone. However if you are not getting a withdrawal bleed - this is strange and if this is a regular occurrence maybe your womb lining is not building up on that oestrogen dose each month?

Not sure why your orgasm returned with higher dose of progesterone - it is not a hormone normally associated with libido and usully has a sedative and dampening effect - after all when we are at our most fertile around the time of ovulation our oestrogen is at its highest, and testosterone also rises, with progesterone being minimal until after ovulation. Maybe that was a one-off and something else was at play?

Anyway it sounds like a good plan to try and see how you get on with the regular scans.....

All the best

Hurdity x

[Molly]

Thank you so much for your reply hurdity. You are right its worth a shot sure.  The consultant did say that its more risky which no one wants to hear . I just know the progesterone knocks me so much I cannot go on living like this. Im a completely different person the 2 weeks im off the progesterone, its scary to see. Hope all good with yoy and thanks again for your reply xxx

[Perinowpost]

Hi Molly

I feel your pain as I am exactly the same. I use utrogestan vaginally x 7 days a week as this is the only way I can tolerate it. Hurdity is exactly right in what she says and you must have regular scans to make sure it’s working. I have been doing this for approx 6/7 years now and it continues to work for me; I am vigilant though.

We are unlucky re the prog intolerance. My specialist told me it is because my receptors are particularly sensitive. Just to give an example of how bad I am I once managed to take it for 12 days (I was off work), and I had a near death experience by falling off my bike on a fast road - I was just so confused and sedated. I just daren’t try any more than 7 days again it’s not safe for me. Luckily the specialist I see supports me in this.

Also, progesterone completely quashes my libido when I take it (despite taking testosterone). I literally have a bounce back as the prog leaves my system.

Sorry I have no better solutions, just wanted you to know you are not alone x

[Molly]

wow perinowpost, you sound just like me and yes I am extremely sensitive to drugs. I cannot take certain vitamins from health shops that have fillers in then or binders they will keep me awake at night

Hearing your bike incident is shocking and I completely understand you'd actually feel that drugged  wouldnt you .

I'm so happy to hear that you are having a positive outcome on the 7 days along with the scans and that you have been successfully doing this for so long.

I have an appointment at the end of this month and I am going to tell my consultant that I want to try this method. Hopefully now it will work for me.

Do you mind me asking what oestrogen you are taking? and how much?  lastly, is it 100mg or 200mg of utrogeston you take on those 7 days?

Sorry to be a pain, thanks x

[laszla]

Molly, I do this, ie. take Utrogestan 100mg, initially just 7 days now 10 days as I take industrial amounts of Oestrogel (5 pumps daily). I have been doing this for a few years (4 I think). I take it vaginally which increases local absorption.

The clinic give me twice yearly scans and although my lining isn't exactly paper thin and sometimes frankly borderline thick, so far there have been no real problems - well, apart from even 10 days of prog being horrendous for me - I too almost faint if I take it standing up rather than last thing at night in a safely supine position.
It's a real dilemma for the progesterone intolerant

[Perinowpost]

Hi Molly

You’re not a pain, any questions just ask. I’m on evorel 50 patches (I didn’t absorb gel), and I change them every 3 days. It is 100mg of utrogestan, I wouldn’t dare take 200mg x

[Mary G]

Molly, I'm not progesterone intolerant - I made the mistake of thinking I had suddenly became so in menopause because it was triggering my migraines - but I took Utrogestan for 7 days every 5 weeks for years and it worked well.  Sometimes I could only manage to take 3 x 100mg and it still worked.

I always have regular transvaginal scans and my womb lining measured around 3mm post bleed on that regime.  I have a since changed to continuous combined HRT because I don't want to bleed and I need a stable dose of hormones due to migraines.

I would say that there is probably less risk involved with the low dose progesterone regime and regular scans than the normal progesterone dose and never having a scan. 

[Molly]

Molly, I do this, ie. take Utrogestan 100mg, initially just 7 days now 10 days as I take industrial amounts of Oestrogel (5 pumps daily). I have been doing this for a few years (4 I think). I take it vaginally which increases local absorption.

The clinic give me twice yearly scans and although my lining isn't exactly paper thin and sometimes frankly borderline thick, so far there have been no real problems - well, apart from even 10 days of prog being horrendous for me - I too almost faint if I take it standing up rather than last thing at night in a safely supine position.
It's a real dilemma for the progesterone intolerant

Thank you laszla for your reply. Such a pity you couldnt keep it to the 7 days if that worked for you but i guess as you say 5 pumps of oestrogel is a fair bit so better to be safe. This progesterone intolerance malarkey aint no fun 
Great to here your scans are staying clear and you have been doing it this way for so long xx

[Molly]

Hi Molly

You’re not a pain, any questions just ask. I’m on evorel 50 patches (I didn’t absorb gel), and I change them every 3 days. It is 100mg of utrogestan, I wouldn’t dare take 200mg x

thanks perinowpost. I think thats the same as 2 pumps of gel for me. 
definitely huge jump in the 100mg to the 200mg...floored I tell you , floored   

[Molly]

Molly, I'm not progesterone intolerant - I made the mistake of thinking I had suddenly became so in menopause because it was triggering my migraines - but I took Utrogestan for 7 days every 5 weeks for years and it worked well.  Sometimes I could only manage to take 3 x 100mg and it still worked.

I always have regular transvaginal scans and my womb lining measured around 3mm post bleed on that regime.  I have a since changed to continuous combined HRT because I don't want to bleed and I need a stable dose of hormones due to migraines.

I would say that there is probably less risk involved with the low dose progesterone regime and regular scans than the normal progesterone dose and never having a scan.

Thanks mary G, god Id love to only take it for the 3 days ...didnt think that was a possibilty.

how are you faring on the cont HRT? has it kept your migraines at bay?

well thank you all so much for your replies, you are faboulous.

its really helped me in my decision to go on the 7 days 100mg with scans every 6months , tbh Id say my husband will pack his bags if something doesn't change . i wouldn't blame him,  When I am on progesterone, I cant bare myself never mind anyone else.

thank you girls xx

[Mary G]

Molly, I may be an unusual case in that I need very little progesterone to get very good womb lining clearance - this has been confirmed by post bleed scans.  No doctor will ever sanction that dose but the point is, everybody is different.   There are many women who take the recommended dose of progesterone and still have a thick womb lining and they seem unable to get it down to 3mm despite heavy doses of synthetic progesterone.

The takeaway from this is don't guess how much progesterone you need, find out.   You could be lucky and get away with a low dose or equally you could be unlucky and need a high dose but there is no point in overdosing on the stuff for years on end if it makes you ill.

The progesterone  component is the main reason women are forced to stop using HRT altogether which is completely unnecessary if there is a way around it.

 

[sheila99]

Perhaps see how you are on 100mg vaginally and see if you can tolerate it for more than 7 days? If it does thicken you still have the problem of what to do then so better to prevent the thickening if you can. I assume Besins have tested it thoroughly to come up with the 200mg x 12 days dose (whether oral or vaginal) so presumably at least some women needed this dose for it to work.

[Lily102]

Thanks Molly for posting this and all the replies.

It answers my question:
https://www.menopausematters.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=63250.0

[Lily102]

Thanks Mary and everybody who replied.
This post answered a lot of my questions

https://www.menopausematters.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=63250.0