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[GypsyRoseLee]

My period has started, but it's barely there. Just brown spotting with a little bit of fresh flow. I'm only needing a panty liner.

Yet I have been on 3 lumps for 7 weeks, and 4 pumps for the last 2. Shouldn't my period be heavier than this? Boobs haven't swollen or got tender either.

I didn't have a bleed at all after finishing the 7 days of Utro a couple of weeks ago.

Could it be that I'm very near the menopause, and that's why my periods are barely there now (it has been.very light for last few months).

[dazned]

Maybe 7days isnt enough to cause a decent shedding of the linning,which as you say must have built up with all that estrogen. Or you just are not absorbing it properly 

[MIS71MUM]

Was just wondering how you were doing...how's your mood?

Could you be entering another phase of the peri maybe?

[Milamam]

Maybe you have finally suppressed your own cycle. I am comparing with the effects of a BCP that my daughter was taking last year - all of a sudden her periods became very light, no cramps, no bloating. Maybe the extra estrogen has had a very similar effect on your cycle.
Milamam

[Poppyflower]

I personally think that even though they have told you that 4 pumps is not enough to over ride your own cycle.......at times it is. I think that due to being being in peri and our hormones fluctuating you may be having a cycle with less progesterone as well the extra estrogen is helping. 4 pumps is enough at times to over ride everything and that is when we do feel better, and also therefore have lighter period due to not ovulating. The length of time that you have been on estrogen without progesterone is not long enough to worry about too much of a build up in lining. That being said every women is different and I am guessing that is not always the case........however that is why they recommend a bleed only every three months for progesterone intolerant woman. Long story short sometimes you will bleed.....sometimes you will not and only way to know if ok is to have twice yearly scan. Impossible to know what our own bodies are doing along side with our HRT.........total guessing game and frustration. I wish you well!!

[Chi chi]

I always remember prof Studd describing the bleed following utrogestan as "scanty"

From his website:
The best method of taking bioidentical hormones would in my view be Oestrogel 2-3 measures daily with the possible addition of transdermal testosterone gel and then Utrogestan 100 mgs daily for the first 7 days of each calendar month. This would bring about a regular scanty bleed on about the 10th day of each calendar month.

[Trufflecat]

Hi GRL. How are you mood wise this evening? I have been on utero 100 7 days plus two oestrogel for four months. The most bleeding I have had during that time is tiny spotting.....not even enough for a panty liner really, just on the loo paper. The spotting has never been when a bleed might be expected and last month it was during the utrogesten. This month, nothing. I am getting some pms around the end of week four, enough to go up to three pumps. And even have cramps at the moment, but no period.

[GypsyRoseLee]

Mood has been dreadful for much of today. Have cried a lot and felt near hysteria. Much worse than the worst PMS I have ever had. Bit calmer this evening.

Period still so light, only really when I wipe, like you Trufflecat. But my period always arrives pretty much dead on time. 26/27 day cycle.

How long do you go up to 3 pumps for Trufflecat?

[GypsyRoseLee]

Chi Chi, I didn't bleed at all after Utro this month. Two weeks after finishing Utro my own period arrived, dead on time (had last period 27 days ago without any Utro being involved that month at all).

[Chi chi]

GRL I so wish I could offer you more help but I'm just as confused as you are with everything  did you say you spoke to studd's right hand man?
I'm now bleeding quite heavy since Mirena removal, it never stopped since it was fitted 11 weeks ago! Before that I'd been bleeding for 2 months!! just feels like it's all never ending.... 

[Trufflecat]

About a week of three pumps. I was feeling really despondent and then thought that might help. I am in peri so must be making some hormones of my own.

[Dana]

I always remember prof Studd describing the bleed following utrogestan as "scanty"

From his website:
The best method of taking bioidentical hormones would in my view be Oestrogel 2-3 measures daily with the possible addition of transdermal testosterone gel and then Utrogestan 100 mgs daily for the first 7 days of each calendar month. This would bring about a regular scanty bleed on about the 10th day of each calendar month.

As much as I respect Prof Studd, this is very misleading for a lot of women. He is generalising far too much, because not all women should be just getting a "scanty" bleed. I personally don't like Utrogestan because it never gave me a proper bleed, even though I used it for about 10-12 days (or as long as I could stand it). I now use Provera, which has proven to be much better for me. I'm still using the same amount of estradiol, but I now get a much better bleed. The first couple of times I used Provera I got a lot of cramping and very heavy bleeds, which would indicate Utrogestan wasn't clearing the lining well enough for me.

Everyone is different, but if you as using a medium dose of estradiol, and you aren't getting a "proper" bleed you need to make sure than the type of progesterone/progestin you are using is actually doing the job.

[Mary G]

Dana, what was your womb lining measurement when taking Utrogestan and were you taking it vaginally?  I think Utrogestan is much more effective when taken vaginally because most of it hits the womb whereas 50% will get lost in your digestive system if you take it orally. 

From my experience, taking Utrogestan orally gave me more side effects like breast pain but I find it very effective at lining clearance when taken vaginally and my last scan gave a measurement of just 2mm - it doesn't get much better than that.  I always place the capsule right next to the cervix which probably helps.

If you can't take Utrogestan vaginally then it might be better to find an alternative.

If you are in it for the long haul and want to make sure you are getting your progesterone dose right, the only way to find out is to have a scan, you can't guess.  That said, I have yet to hear of any woman on Professor Studd's regime who has ended up with lining build up. 

Dana, perhaps you could tell us more about your experience with Provera on the Oestrogel and Utrogestan thread, I think some women might find it helpful to know about a possible alternative.  Thanks. 

[Dana]

I never had a scan done, but I do know the lining had built up purely by the type of periods I had as soon as I started using the Provera, and the types of periods I have had in the couple of years I've now been using it. I can't remember how long I was using the Utro for, but it would have been at least a year. I used it vaginally for between 10-14 days every month, and every month I had one of these "scanty" bleeds, which I thought must have been okay, but it obviously wasn't. I would also sometimes have spotting between periods, so this is another indicator. I have never had any spotting at all since using the Provera. So it bothers me when generalisations are made about Utro, when it clearly doesn't suit some women.

I'm always a bit reluctant to give my real opinions about Utro here because I know that a lot of people don't accept what I say about it, but there is a reason why it has never been approved for use here in Australia, and it's not because women here are being discriminated against. After all every other kind of HRT is probably more freely available here than what it appears to sometimes be in the UK (from what I've read here anyway). The reason is that Australia has a very rigid testing criteria when it comes to medications, and it's never been convinced (so far) of Utro's effectiveness. This is from the Australian Menopause Society website.... http://www.menopause.org.au/for-women/information-sheets/34-bioidentical-hormones-for-menopausal-symptoms

Progesterone is very rapidly degraded in the human gut, liver and circulation so it has been difficult using oral therapy to maintain a level of progesterone sufficient to inhibit hyperplasia or prevent cancer in the endometrium. Progesterone can be absorbed through the skin but the amount circulating after a measured amount of progesterone cream has been applied to the skin, is insufficient to have any effect on the endometrial cells. There is some evidence that progesterone can be absorbed through the vaginal epithelium and through the buccal mucous membrane, but at present there are no reliable studies available to confirm that the amount absorbed from this source has a protective effect on the endometrium.

I know this information will probably be disputed, but I prefer to stick with Australia's rigid testing criteria, than trust the studies done in other countries where the standards may not be as high. It may be approved at some point, but it doesn't bother me one way or the other now. It's pretty easy and cheap to buy online anyway, for anyone who really wants to use it.

[Trufflecat]

That's interesting Dana. May I ask how the Provera affects you mood wise compared to the Utrogestan?