Hi Becr
Your posts seem to have got missed. Please don't apologise - the new members section is just right for introducing yourself although very specific queries tend to be posted in All Things Menopause as you have done. It's still holiday time-ish so I expect members haven't been around to answer. I know I haven't!
It's a tricky one - getting the two hormones right. Oestrogen is the uplifting hormone - our natural female hormone. Progesterone is sedative and therefore can make you tired and at worst depressed - like you seem to be finding? Low oestrogen can also cause anxiety, palpitations, low mood, tiredness, lack of oomph etc.
My suggestion actually would have been to try Femoston 2/10 before changing product. It is difficult to pinpoint exactly what you need when you are peri-menopausal because sometimes your own cycle takes over so what you asre feeling may not be due to the HRT itself.
As you are only 48, personally I wouldn't want to go onto a continuois regime - ie with the utrogestan for 25 days as this may make you feel more sedated for more of the time and especially judging by your reaction!
If you want to try the gel - you take it every day - 2 pumps would be the standard dose although this might need to go higher or lower depending on how you feel. To take the progesterone cyclically you then take the utrogestan 200 mg per day for 12 days per cycle which could be 28 days or sometimes a calendar month, especially if your natural cycle is now weak and ovulation is sporadic?
How does that sound? Good luck and do ask if you have any more questions!
Hurdity x