Geordieminx, have you tried posting on this chatroom? Warning: someone once pointed out to me that only the people with the most severe problems post in chatrooms, and I tend to avoid this site for that reason. It's easy to forget it's not all doom and gloom - but it's a really good forum if you want opinions from lots of different fellow sufferers. Some are bound to be in your area.
Rookiemater, you can get natural progesterone in several other forms (tablets, pessaries, suppositaries) and it doesn't matter whichever you take. One of the advantages of a cream is you can use less of the drug because it doesn't have to go through your stomach and be filtered by your liver, it just gets absorbed through your skin, stored in your body fat and then used up. I find it pleasanter to use than pessaries and suppositaries, though some people swear by these. You can be prescribed most of these on the NHS, though most doctors don't realise that they're different to synthetic progesterones (progestins) like norethisterone, which are harder to tolerate and have side effects. I started using the cream when I was 17 or so. My endo kicked in a month after my 13th birthday, and I spent my teenage years struggling with the symptoms. I wasn't diagnosed at that time, but was put on several conventional treatments and painkillers (the pill, mefenamic acid, tranexamic acid, co-proxamol etc.), none of which worked. My mother heard of natural progesterone cream through a lecture by a London gynaecologist that she attended through work, and, in desperation, I tried it. It worked far better than anything I had tried so far, so I stayed on it for some time. I eventually stopped taking it as I was concerned about the implications of taking a fairly potent drug while not under medical supervision (my GP's reaction was 'oh well, if you really think it works, it can't do any harm'). Soon my problems started up again, so I re-started the cream and it sorted everthing out like magic. About a year later I stopped taking it again for the same reasons as previously. Within 3 years I became very ill, and was finally diagnosed aged 26. Five months later I underwent seven hours of surgery to remove a section of bowel, a piece of ovary, part of my peritoneum, a whole lot of adhesions and endo on my uterus. After that I was given 9 months of decapeptyl (GNRH agonist, similar to lupron or zoladex) without HRT. When I came off the decapeptyl, my gynaecologist wanted to take further measures to prevent a recurrence and recommended the mirena coil. I didn't want the mirena but did want to take some preventative action as my options for medical treatment will be limited if I get a recurrence soon: I've already been on decapeptyl for too long without HRT, and I maybe can't take progestins again because of a very bad reaction to orgametril before my surgery - don't know if it's just orgametril that's the problem, or whether I'll react that way to other progestins as well. The pill has never helped, and I did suffer from side effects (tried 2 newer brands round the time I was diagnosed, before the orgametril). So the progesterone cream starts to look like a very attractive option for me, especially as there seem to be no real side effects or potential for allergic reactions and I have found a private doctor who specialises in bio-identical hormones and will supervise me see here. So yes, to answer your question, it has helped me more than anything except seven hours of surgery and nine months of decapeptyl, both of which, though very necessary, were pretty extreme. It gave me the only 2 periods of remission I experienced between the ages of 13 and 26. I think if I hadn't used the cream when I was younger, I would have got much iller much quicker. I also think it's unlikely that it's a placebo effect, as I would have got relief from something else earlier, iyswim. I don't know, obviously, if it would help you, but might be worth a try.
Sorry for horrendously long reply to a short question.
Geordieminx, my story shouldn't worry you - even though I had the endo very severely, I'm absolutely fine at the moment. I'm really enjoying my periods - sounds weird, but I didn't know they were meant to be like this.
I think rookiemater's suggestion about going privately for the first consultation and then NHS sounds really sensible. why don't I think of things like that?