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[Jaq69]

Hi
New on here and enjoying reading all the different threads and taking comfort from the fact I'm not going mad and not alone!! I'm 47 and have suffered from bad pmt for years which has got severely worse over last year... fortunately saw a locum doctor couple of weeks ago who recognised peri menopausal symptoms and suggested hrt... started my period 2 days ago so took the tablets and the gel for oestrogen and have had severe headaches for 2 days now 😞... will this die down? Thinking of not taking them tonight as they're so bad? Anyone else suffered this? Thanks

[Dancinggirl]

 

Do tell us exactly what you have been given and what instructions you were given.  It sounds like Oestrogel with a separate progesterone? Which progesterone?
You are clearly still peri meno so you hormones will be fluctuating and this will cause very challenging meno symptoms to control.
Hopefully you have been adviced to start really low dose e.g. one pump of gel every day either morning or evening and then to take the progesterone for around 12 days in the second half of your monthly cycle. When your have finished the 12 days on progesterone, then you usually begin the period about 2 days after.  If your period had started when you began the Oestrogel, then you shouldn't have started the progesterone yet!
I suggest you simply use the gel (just one pump per day) for the next 16 days and then add in the progesterone for 12 days alongside the gel.  Some progesterones do give headaches and other side effects, so it can be a matter of trial and error till you find the one that suits you.  The peri stage is difficult but a low dose of HRt can help stabilise things. DG x

[Jaq69]

Thanks for responding... yep it's oestrogel  and was told one to two pumps to be taken with utrogestan 100 (2 tablets in the evening)... I was told to start it all on 1st day of bleed? Have I taken them incorrectly?... it was my gp who prescribed.. not the locum who seemed to know immediately what was wrong with me... tried anti depressants couple of months ago even though I knew it wasn't depression... took for 2 days and hated the effect it had on me... hoping hrt will help sort my sanity out! 🙏🏻

[Dancinggirl]

You are peri menopausal so need a sequential HRT regime. You've been given ad very good HRT combo to try but you have been given the wrong instructions.  If you look under TREATMENTS on this site, under Progesterones, you will find teh instruction fro using this regime sequentially.  I would start with one pump of gel each day as you are peri adn only build up to 2 pumps per day if flushes etc break through.  The Utrogestan is 200mg ( 2x100mg pulls) for 10 -12 days in the second half of your cycle. AS I said before, use the gel for the next 16 days and then start the Utro.  The headaches may well be an overloud of progesterone at the wrong time in your cycle.
You may also do better using the Utrogestan as a pessary vaginally - you can then use less (only one capsule each day for 12 days). Though this method is not licensed here in the UK, it is in other counties and many women find they get fewer side effects using it vaginally than taking it orally.
Bravo to your GP for giving you this type of HRT but what a shame they didn't know how to instruct you on how to use it    On this forum, we despair of ever getting GPs fully aware of meno problems and how to treat them. 
Good luck. DG x

[Jaq69]

Thank you so much!! Will take your advice and just do gel then start utrogestan in 16 days... I will try the route you've suggested instead of taking orally and let you know how I get on... thanks to the lady locum gp who recognised symptoms and left notes to my gp(and also put me into this forum 🙌🏻)... it is a pity I was wrongly informed on how to take them but will let him know when I go in after 3 months on correct method.. thanks again x

[Mary G]

If you take Utrogestan vaginally you can get away with halving the dose i.e. use 100mg.  Many of us on here only take 100mg for 7 days i.e. the Professor Studd regime and it works very well and this dose is enough for the vast majority of women.  You may want to take a look at his website.

For some weird reason that nobody has ever been able to explain, the UK is about the only place where Utrogestan is not licensed to be used vaginally but don't worry about that, just do it anyway.  It works far better when used in this way and it also has fewer side effects.

[Kathleen]

Hello Jaq69.

I am not one of the expert ladies but I thought I'd add that I had daily headaches as part of my menopause. This was pre HRT and clearly hormonal as  they would always disappear late evening only to return on waking. This went on for six months but then they stopped and haven't returned so you may find yours also stop suddenly though hopefully it won't take six months.

Take care and keep posting.

K.

[Jaq69]

 Thank you all for your help and suggestions.... wished I'd known about this forum before now... have realised I've been suffering silently for probably a couple of years... thinking I was going mad, losing my mind and awful to live with at times... looking forward to see how I get on with the hrt treatment! 😊