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[Jnine]

Hello Ladies, I am 51 and have recently started taking HRT. I am grateful that I don't have any night sweats or hot flushes but my moods, pmt, forgetfulness etc are off the Richter scale so I thought I would try HRT. so doc has prescribed me Utrogestan 200mg day 15-26 and Estrogen gel daily 2 pumps. The is the utrogestan is giving me headaches, I already suffer migraine and take Amitriptyline daily so the migraine is reduced but I still get it several days per month. I want to know if I take the utrogestan vaginally will it eliminate the headache? and do I still take 200mg (2 pills) as I have heard it is more effective and concentrated vaginally? Any tips greatly appreciated

[Losingtheplot]

Hi hunni

I am also on Utrogestan for 12 days 100 x 2 orally.
I have switched to vaginally just 1 capsule this month which is my 2nd month on sandrena gel and Utrogestan. I think I am tolerating it better as I am inserting it on a morning as I use ovestin on a night for VA.
This is now day 4 and I havent suffered headaches or intense anxiety like I did last month taking it orally but I am still feeling anxiety whether that is from the utrogestan I am unsure. I do know that orally it did affect my mood massively had me feeling so.low.
Its worth a try hunni but I have been.told by other ladies on this forum that you can halve the dose if vaginally as its used this.way for IVF and if inserted high enough bypasses the liver too

[discogirl]

Hi Jnine,

I have been using the utrogestan vaginally as I cannot tolerate orally and I think you will find that the side effects are much less xxx

[MiriamT]

Hi, I'm thinking the same as I am thinking utrogestan is aggravating my bladder, my va symptoms seem worse since I started it

[Jnine]

Thank for your messages, I am on the Peppy app and can private message menopause experts, I asked them about the orally v vaginal route and was told that I need to discuss with my doc first but as stated in other chats on here most docs are so inexperienced with menopause and just google while you are in their office to check etc they did tell me that the dose was the same as orally x 2 100mg tablets, so I am confused now. could you possibly send me the link to the chats you were talking about where they say take 1 x 100mg? thank you in advance x

[Penguin]

I thought you could only lower the dose to 100mg if you were having regular scans to check lining hasn't thickened too much. That's what I've read ladies on here say. It seems to be one or two private clinics that allow you to lower the dose if taking vaginally, but the NHS doesn't support it as don't provide the regular scans. I asked my GP and he said a flat no.

I have also only taken vaginally (to avoid gastro issues) and haven't had mood issues aside from the drop off the cliff when I stop the utrogestan on day 26, at which point I get grumpy and tearful. Vaginal seems to work for me but I've nothing to compare it to.

[Jnine]

Have you always taken it vaginally? and not orally and did you take the decision yourself to take it that way even though your doc said no? I am thinking to just switch over to vaginally and not seek medical advice? all advice seems contradictory anyways 

[Penguin]

I have been told it's fine to take vaginally by two NHS GPs, a private meno specialist GP and a doctor in Australia. It is licensed in other countries for vaginal use so it's not like it is unsafe that way.

What I wouldn't do personally is lower the dose just because you are taking vaginally. I would only do that with approval from a doctor and if I was having regular scans to check lining growth. My argument to the GP was that if I am only using one pump of estrogel (which is a low dose) then surely I don't need as much progrsterone- he disagreed. So although he was willing to approve vaginal use even though off license in UK, he wouldn't approve lowering the dose.

Yes I've always only taken vaginally, only started hrt at end of December and decided to avoid oral as I'd had gastritis really badly last summer and as a result try and avoid any oral meds. I certainly wouldn't like to take utrogrsran orally as you're supposed to take on an empty stomach and I couldn't do that.

[Jnine]

thank you so much you have been so helpful. just one more question and ill be done, the scans how and when do you have them? are they NHS or private? and how often? do you need scans as well if you take orally or just vaginally? TIA x

[Penguin]

You only need scans if you want to lower the dose from the amount prescribed. You don't need them if you stick to prescribed dose, oral or vaginal.

If you did lower the dose I don't know how often you'd have to have scans, although some ladies on her have them and could advise. Not available on NHS for that reason, so you'd have to pay privately.