Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[Perinowpost]

Hi all

I have struggled with progesterone the whole time I’ve been on hrt, which is 10 years now. I’ve systematically worked my way through everything available on the nhs and gone privately in a bid to find something I can tolerate.

My latest trial has been Lutigest. I have to say I did find it better than utrogestan. I took it vaginally for 7 days (it has a special applicator) and I felt grotty on and off for that time but not all the time and it was bearable. Crucially it did not give me  the negative  side effects utrogestan causes. With utrogestan I suffer mood swings, nightmares, bloating and swelling, weight gain and complete loss of libido. With Lutigest I had none of these symptoms just felt a bit blurgh.

The other benefit with Lutigest was I got my withdrawal bleed 24 hours after I stopped taking it. It was the same duration as with utrogestan (2 days), so importantly the withdrawal side effects didn’t go on as long. I would say it feels about half as strong as utrogestan (if that makes sense).

I had to get it by private prescription. And I want to qualify all the above by saying it’s off license so I would have to have annual scans to make sure it’s working. That said I have only ever taken utrogestan 7 x days vaginally (and sometimes less) and that has worked (for me). Recent scan showed womb lining 3.3. I suspect we’re all encouraged to take too much progesterone anyway to be on the safe side, and that’s ok, unless you’re progesterone intolerant that is.

I feel that those who are not prog intolerant just don’t get it how debilitating it really is. I am going to continue with Lutigest as as a progesterone it is definitely a lesser evil, but I am going to look into hysterectomy. I’ve followed this site in the hopes of a breakthrough all that time and I’m now at the point were I feel enough is enough

Wishing you all well x

[Mary G]

Perinowpost, I hope it works out for you but if not, there is one more product for you to try and that is Darstin progesterone gel.   I'm doing well with it and have no side effects at all.

I completely understand why progesterone intolerant women opt for a hysterectomy.   If you are in for the long haul and have decided to take HRT for a very long time then it's definitely worth it and even more so if you have to use a cyclical regime and put up with the debilitating bleeds.  Professor Studd used to recommend a private hospital in Spain because it is cheaper than its UK equivalent.

My opinion is that progesterone is over prescribed at too high a dose.  This approach is far too dogmatic and inflexible and putting the fear of God into women doesn't solve the underlying issue which is to change the guidelines.  I think they based the guidelines on worst case scenario and then doubled it.  This is partly because uterine scans are not standard practice on the NHS, they tend to wait until women have a problem and then react.

If you set the progesterone bar too high, you are setting women up to fail with their HRT regimes.  Many women (myself included when using Utrogestan) cheat and don't manage to take the recommended dose anyway.   One year I think I took 20 Utrogestan 100mg capsules in total.

The guidelines need to be reviewed and it must be acknowledged that most women don't need such a high dose.  There should be products with 50mg doses - I think 100mg in one go is far too high.

Utrogestan comes up on here all the time and you don't have to be progesterone intolerant to have problems with it.

[laszla]

Perinow I'm envious of your 3.3 lining! Like you I take very little utrogestan, albeit a little more than you at 10 days 100mg and my last scan was 10.3 mm - though it was done later in the cycle than ideal when endometrium was already building up.
Mary, is darstin gel available in the UK, it sounds very interesting and do you take it on a continuous regime?

I'm worried the MC consultant will want me to go on conti as I need a lot of estrogen and the lining is thick, though my next scan will be done right at the end of my bleed which will give a more accurate reading.

[Perinowpost]

MaryG yes  I agree I think there should be a 50mg progesterone product available too.

Laszla sorry it hasn’t worked for you so far. I would resist a conti regime if I were you, but only because I know I just couldn’t tolerate it. Hopefully it you time your next scan you’ll have better news. Let us know.

I feel if I could take Lutigest every other day it may well be the perfect amount to be tolerable.  However, I don’t think it would be enough to protect the endometrium! I’m just relieved that either way I won’t have to take utrogestan again x

[Mary G]

Laszla, I'm not 100% sure but I don't think Darstin is available in the UK.  You might be able to order it online but again, I'm not entirely sure that's possible since the UK Brexited.

Biovea have a progesterone cream which is very similar or perhaps you could try 50mg Cyclogest?  I know they are both available in the UK.