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[Mav196]

Hi ladies
I started Estrogen gel 1mg on Tuesday of last week and started oral 200mg Utrogestan on Friday of last week. Last night about 30-45 mins after taking the Utrogestan, I was lying in bed reading my iPad when I started to feel very weird - it was a cross between dizziness and feeling faint - like my brain was on half power. This sensation passed after about a half an hour but I felt very exhausted afterwards. I slept through the night but woke early at 6am. Today I feel wrecked and nauseous. I am suffering migraine which is why I am on this regime.....this is my first time on HRT.....I am frightened of a possible stroke risk and so I don't know if I am just being hyper anxious.
Have any of you experienced these spells on Utrogestan?
Thanks
Mav

[peri]

Hi Mav196

I feel like that towards the end of using it.  How are you taking it?  Maybe you could try vaginally (if you're not already) and last thing at night to minimize side effects x

[Mav196]

Thanks Peri....glad to know it's not just me....I will take it via oral again tonight and see if same thing happens....do you feel tired the next day also?
I also have a dilemma about my hair loss (eyelash,eyebrow, frontal hairline, pubic hair) - two years ago I was on Cerazette mini pill and it seems to have triggered a massive shed - I stopped the pill back then and while hair regrew over a 6 month period it didn't fully come back. Just last month I was put on Cerazette by a gynae and the same thing happened so I stopped taking it after 14 days. I told this to my new doc and explained my nervousness about starting another progesterone - she too was baffled about how Cerazette could have cause this so now I don't know what to do - the hair is still shedding so I don't know whether that's because it's still falling out from the Cerazette or whether the Utrogestan is going to cause it to continue.

What will I do?

[peri]

Yes, it usually takes me an hour to come round properly on a morning when I'm on the utrogestan phase. I'm usually ok days 1-4, but then side effects seem to build days 5-7 and by the 7th day I've had enough.  I do usually sleep well while I'm on it though as it does have a sedative effect.  Taking it vaginally rather than orally does help me with side effects, I can't get past 2 days when I try it orally.

I haven't had shredding hair thing so sorry I don't really have any suggestions, maybe monitor it and hope it settles down x

[Mary G]

Mav196, sorry to hear about your frightening experience last night.  Unfortunately, from everything I have read on here and from my own experiences, you either get on with Utrogestan or you don't.  If you suffer with migraines, Utrogestan in high doses can be a problem and I find that I can take 3 x 100mg capsules vaginally I get off relatively unscathed but any more than that is a tipping point and seems to act like a poison - sorry if that sounds dramatic.  Utrogestan (and synthetic progesterone) changes the way your brain receptors work hence the low mood and migraines and even after it (technically) leaves your system, the changes it makes to your body take a while to adjust back to normal - in my case, it can be up to a few weeks. 

Is there any way you can take a lower dose?  You might want to read Professor Studd's website and you will see that he usually prescribes 100mg Utrogestan (preferably vaginally) for 7 days each month and you might find you can tolerate that dose.  I know your menopause specialist prescribed your current regime but you could ask if you reduce the Utrogestan dose and have regular scans to make sure you are getting adequate clearance from the lower dose?  The vast majority of women on the low dose never have a problem but it is worth being on the safe side. 

[Mav196]

Thanks Peri and MaryG.....I will try the Utrogestan again tonight and see if the same thing happens....if it does I will go back to the meno specialist and see what she says.
Thanks
Mav

[dangermouse]

I sometimes get this from progesterone cream, which is caused by the nature of progesterone pushing oestrogen out of the receptors into the bloodstream causing hyper stimulation (as they compete / antagonise each other).

I used to think it was too high progesterone in the blood but this, of course, causes drowsiness and destimulation. I also only have this happen around mid cycle / ovulation.

I'm not sure if Utrogestan acts the same as natural progesterone in this sense, as it's taken to shed an oestrogen built up endometrium which might make sense.