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[pineappletop]

I'm having a second try at taking hrt - the cons outweighed the benefits first time I tried but now my peri symptoms have become unbearable so trying again.

I'm on 2 pumps of oestrogel daily and utrogestan 2 x 100mg 12 days of my cycle.

All felt fine for the first couple of weeks but I'm currently 6 days into the progesterone phase and the bloating and abdominal pain is just awful.

I don't think I can continue at this dose -. I've barely slept the last 2 nights because of the pain.

Does anyone else in peri take just 100mg of utrogestan? Is that ok to do?

Obviously I know getting advice from a doctor first would be ideal, but getting a doctor's appointment is virtually impossible here at the moment.
The pharmacist said it's ok to tweak doses to suit me as I get used to what's best for me.

Any advice would be great. Thanks all.

[Joaniepat]

Are you taking the Utrogestan orally or vaginally? By using it vaginally you might be able to avoid the side effects. Many women on here seem to do that, although it is not licensed to be used that way in the UK. It is in the rest of Europe, though.
JP x

[pineappletop]

Thanks Joaniepat.

    I'm taking them orally, not tried vaginally.

    I can't see anything on the info sheet with the pills I have saying you can take them that way.

     Are they the same type? Do you basically just push them up there instead of swallowing them?

    Do you know how/why that reduces side effects?

    Really appreciate the reply ❤️

[Joaniepat]

They are exactly the same pills. You just push them up with a finger as far as they will go. This method avoids some of the side effects because they don't go through the digestive tract and avoid the liver. There won't be any information on the leaflet as they are not licensed to be used this way for HRT purposes in the UK, although they are in the rest of Europe  . There might be information on vaginal use on Dr Louise Newson's Balance website.
JP x

[pineappletop]

They are exactly the same pills. You just push them up with a finger as far as they will go. This method avoids some of the side effects because they don't go through the digestive tract and avoid the liver. There won't be any information on the leaflet as they are not licensed to be used this way for HRT purposes in the UK, although they are in the rest of Europe  . There might be information on vaginal use on Dr Louise Newson's Balance website.
JP x

Thanks Joaniepat will give it a try! I mean, it doesn't sound much fun, but better than my belly feeling ready to explode.

[Madge79]

Hey
I had horrific side effects with utrogestan orally so I swapped to vaginally and whilst it isn’t much fun it really really helped and now I wouldn’t do it any other way!

I got myself an applicator (think it came with vagifem) and it’s the perfect size for the pills I pop one in and use that to get it into place!

[pineappletop]

Thanks Madge79 that's so great to hear!

I tried taking one pill vaginally last night. Bloating was not as bad this morning and I slept better.

I'll try two pills tonight (hopefully only having one pill last night will be ok, I assume missing half a dose here and there wouldn't hugely affect anything.)

I can stick with the recommended 2 x 100mg dose if this turns out to stop the bloat.

Will share how I go for others.

Any additional advice in the meantime still much appreciated.

[pineappletop]

Update: I've been popping the pills "up there" for 5 days now. I think it's helping a bit with the abdominal issues although they haven't gone entirely. I hope they will eventually.

I'm on the last 2 days of my utrogestan phase now and have decided to reduce to just one pill for these last 2 days.

My thinking is that when the body naturally produces progesterone it produces less towards the end of that phase, it doesn't produce the same amount every day and then suddenly stop, so hopefully reducing to one pill for these last 2 days will mimick the natural cycle as well as reducing the tummy probs I'm having.

Plus I've read that utrogestan better absorbed when taken vaginally, so I could be effectively getting a higher dose compared to if I was swallowing the pills.

I'll probably stick with taking the pills vaginally going forward. It's really fine - I mean, we're putting them in our bodies anyway, so it's not that different to swallowing them really.

Still not sure what dose will be right for me yet. So I'd still appreciate heairng your experiences or advice. 

[pineappletop]

I'm not sure if this still fits under the topic of Utrogestan dose but I'll post in this thread in case the info in my earlier posts above is relevant.

I'm on day 3 of my first bleed since I (re)started HRT.

It's a lot heavier than my periods normally are and the pains are worse.

I'm also a bit headachey, feeling weak, and getting knee soreness which seems to be related as this isn't normal for me.

Is this something that will settle down when my body gets more used to HRT?

Could it be because I took a little less than the prescribed dose of Utrogestan? (Or would more progesterone only make the bleeding worse since it's function is to shed the lining?)

Incidentally, on day 1 one of my period I switched from Oestrogel to Lenzetto, but it's supposed to be the same dose of oestrogen so I'm thinking this shouldn't be a factor in the "bad period"?

I'm really hoping this isn't what I have to look forward to every month now, it's quite debilitating and definitely not what I'm hoping for from HRT.

Hope someone in the know can advise. Thanks so much.

[sheila99]

I think you've had too many changes in the last cycle to know what might have caused what. I think you need a couple of consistent cycles now. On top of the utro changes you may absorb gel differently so even if it should be the same it may not be for you.

[pineappletop]

Thanks Sheila. I only switched to the Lenzetto two days ago, after my bleed had already started. All the symptoms I mentioned were already happening, so I don't think that can have caused the bad period.

I do hope it won't be as bad next cycle, I just keep reading all these posts here about bad symptoms around the bleeds, seems like almost everyone on her has them! Hopefully that's just a perception because people don't post much to say everything is fine. 🤞

[Katherine]

Pineapple I’m a bit late on this thread but I’m peri and I take one utrogestan so 100mg for 25 days of the month orally then a 3 day break and I don’t get stomach issues. X

[Katherine]

Mollydolly I wish I could take much less utrogestan than I do now. Can I ask if it was your gp who said that 7 days is the minimum, and did you get annual scans on the nhs? Whilst I find it helps me sleep better I feel I need much less than 25 days a month and I feel the side effects would be much reduced if I could take less.

[Katherine]

Mollydolly, so was it a private clinic, and was it ultrasounds? X

[pineappletop]

Pineapple I’m a bit late on this thread but I’m peri and I take one utrogestan so 100mg for 25 days of the month orally then a 3 day break and I don’t get stomach issues. X

That's good to hear Katherine. I've seen posts here from women doing that but didn't think it was an option in peri. So do you get a bleed after the three day break?