Hello,
I have been a stalker of this website for the past 5 years so thought it was about time I joined and introduced myself.
I'd been suffering with peri menopausal symptoms for a couple of years prior to starting HRT - hot flushed, night sweats, really bad mood swings - sobbing followed by the urge to want to kill my husband because he was breathing 😱, brain fog, vaginal dryness, the whole shooting match of symptoms really. I was also having heavy irregular period 3-5 weeks apart lasting no less than 10 days.
So in Sept 2011, a month after my 50th birthday, my GP commenced me on Estradot 50mg patch and Utrogestran 200mg (12 days) - which almost immediately (after initially period of adjustment - huge boobs and nipples like bullets) turned my life around, I felt great, all symptoms disappeared. Overtime, my periods remained heavy(ish) but regulated to every 28 days, for 5 days.
In Sept 2015 during a routine HRT check up with my Gp I asked if I could go on a no bleed HRT regime, to which my Gp agreed. I was to continue with the Estradot 50mg but change the Utrogestran to 100mg daily (25 days).
For the first 5-6 months of changing my regime I felt great, no period and breakthrough bleeding. However, in Feb 2016 I started to get bad PMT symptoms this was followed by a really heavy bleed that lasted approx 10 days. From then on I suffered heavy periods every fortnight lasting 7-10 days with intermittent breakthrough bleeding in-between, I felt awful, sluggish, weepy, had frequently migraines, hot flushes, night sweats, the lot.
Anyway, I decided that I would put up with symptoms for a few months as I thought my body may have been adjusting to the change in the way I was taking g the HRT.
I re-visited my GP at the beginning of July 2016 as I just couldn't cope with the symptoms anymore, I was feeling just as bad/worse than when I wasn't on HRT at all.
At first he suggested I come of HRT, but the look of horror on my face made him rethink, we agreed that I am going to go back to my original regime of Utrogestran 200mg (12days).
Within days of stopping the daily progesterone I started to feel back to normal, thank goodness.
I have no idea when the first day of my cycle is so I'm picking the 1st August to restart the Utrogestran 200mg.
So, that's me. I'll let you know how I get on with the recommencement of my original regime over time.
I would have liked a no bleed regime but my body obviously has other ideas.
Debs x