Sorry for the long post.
The reason I want to come off HRT is the progesterone. (Utrogestan in my case, which I am currently doing fine with, I will advise why I want to get off it further down in the post)
Progesterone is cross tolerant with the diazepam (a drug in the benzodiazepine family), which I am dependent on.
That is to say, they both act on the GABA receptors, as do steroids, and we know that progesterone is a steroid hormone.
I am currently being helped, by my psychiatrist, to come off the diazepam, by slow reductions, as it is very difficult to come off without medical supervision.
An important goal, with benzodiazepine-reduction, is to keep the GABA receptors as stable as possible, by making small reductions, at intervals spaced far enough apart, for as smooth a reduction as possible.
I would not have gone on HRT, if, at the time, I knew that progesterone affected the GABA receptors in this way. I will come to the reason why I want to come off it, further along in the post.
Neither my psychiatrist, nor my GP, or gynaecologists know about this as my psychiatrist is not familiar with gynaecological matters, and my gynaecologists are not familiar with the action of benzodiazepines' relation to progesterone.
Women who have never had a dependency on benzodiazepines can come off progesterone with no problems, with the exception of the progesterone issues women on here have.
I am a member of a well known benzodiazepine support forum.
Progesterone comes up a lot in discussion such as:
- Pre-menopausal women, who struggle badly with natural progesterone fluctuations in their monthly cycle.
Women on birth control pills, for similar reasons.
Women on HRT, especially cyclical, but also, continuous HRT.
Most of all, women who want to decrease their progesterone.
Why do they want to decrease their progesterone prescription? Answer - tolerance.
When the body gets used to a certain dose of benzodiazepines, it starts to display withdrawal symptoms, because, tolerance means that dose is no longer doing it’s job, and the body “thinks” it needs more.
Women who are dependent on benzodiazepines also get tolerant to progesterone.
The Americans are prescribed the progesterone cream and need a much smaller dose, compared to
the seemingly massive doses of utrogestan, by comparison.
Many women who taper the cream, even by smaller amounts, have become incapacitated, suggesting that the progesterone has a much stronger effect on the GABA receptors than the benzodiazepine pills.
Women who have stopped the progesterone, not knowing it acts on GABA, suffer disastrous effects.
I could do without the worry of needing to take the progesterone, yet, as I still have a womb, I would need to stop the small amount of oestrogen I am on, which I would be ok with, as the peace of mind from being off the progesterone would make the residual effects of low oestrogen tolerable.
As the diazepam dose gets smaller, so, the reductions need to be smaller also, this can be solved by halving/quartering the pills, liquefying the diazepam by dissolving it, or using liquid diazepam, when I get to the really small doses.
With the utrogestan, it is more of a challenge, because the capsules cannot be halved, or dissolved in liquid.
I know that progesterone pills are used by some women, but I would need to know their exact equivalent dose in relation to utrogestan, ie, what dose pill equals a 100mg capsule?
This has been playing on my mind for ages.
The stress from this has slowed my diazepam reduction, because I have not been able to make reductions as much as I would like.
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Topic: Coming off HRT, possible considerations. (Read 1657 times)