Questions in bold, rest of post relevant though.
I take 100mg oral utrogestan and 100mg of vaginal progesterone together with my 25mg of oestrogen patch and the doctors know about this.
In the past, I did need to go upto 100mcg evorel patches to control the horrendous symptoms from lack of oestrogen.
Bad IBS, intolerable flushes, night sweats and anxiety.
Abnormal bleeding, and small fibroids, were the reason doctors and myself decided to lower the oestrogen a few times, after hysteroscopy, rather than, decreasing meno symptoms.
Fortunately, however, now I am on 25mcg patches, I can live with some remaining physical symptoms like needing a fan in bed, sweating after a 5 minute walk in Winter.
I decreased the evorel to 25mcg, I think, around March, last year, and thankfully did not get IBS back.
Since December, however, I have had loose stools, not nearly as bad as the IBS I had earlier in perimeno, but embarrassing, as I get smelly gas, and use the loo several times a day, so I don't feel I can go out on the days I don't take something for the loose stools as I don't like stinking public loos out.
Why has it taken so long, since the reduction in evorel, to get loose stools back?
Given I am on 200mg utrogestan, am I correct in saying this remaining anxiety is also due to lack of oestrogen?
Regarding progesterone, I read on various scientific sites (sorry I didn't keep the links) that the bio-availability of vaginal progesterone is greater than that of oral utrogestan and that it circulates around the body, including the brain.
I know that oral progesterone has to go through first pass liver process.
Why, then, given that both oral and vaginal progesterone circulate around the body's whole system, including the brain, does only the oral make you sleepy, yet the vaginal doesn't?