Is this too much progesterone

[tillydog10]

Any advice please, I have been on everol sequi for 6 months now first 4 months were great but then started spot bleeding for 2 weeks before breakthrough bleed. Gp has given me progesterone capsules to take alongside the sequi patches. So I will take 100mg on day 1 of cycle for 25 days and then have a 3 day break presumably to have a bleed. Has anybody else done this seem like a lot of progesterone

Anyone

If you are not yet post menopause (assume not as you are on a sequential type of HRT) then it could be your own estrogen is still quite high and the progestogen in the patch isn't enough to control the bleeding.

It makes sense what your GP is doing by increasing the progesterone, but it would make more sense to follow the sequential pattern of a patch which is to take Utrogestan not daily, but for the 12 days that your patch also contains Norethisterone.

(Ive never used patches but assume half the pack is estrogen-only and half the pack is estrogen+norethisterone?)

You are also mixing the types of progestogen- the synthetic one, Norethisterone, and the body-identical one, Utrogestan.

You could try using estrogen gel and Utrogestan on a cycle as an alternative to patches.

Thank you jinglighellsbells I have read some of you're other posts and you seem very knowledgeable, my gp is very good but admits she is no expert and is going by her guidelines. Yes I am at the peri stage still and yes the second cycle of the patches contain the progesterone. I did think that it maybe better to try the gel and tablet instead and after reading some information on line that most woman don't need 1 a day for 25 days like it says in the leaflet. So you would recommend taking the tablets for just the 14 days whist I take the mixed patches if I do stick with the patches.

The thing that is rather odd is that your GP is mixing not only 2 sorts of progesterone, but also mixing the different ways of taking it.

Using Utrogestan (or any other progesterone ) every day (women now actually use it every day not 25 as on the leaflet) is the continuous regime for women who have no natural periods and are post-menopause.

As you are using HRT on a sequential regime, the extra progesterone should fit with that ( half the month), not every day.

So yes, add it while you use the mixed patches.

That's my concern plus it means 270mg in total of progesterone a day when I'm using the mixed patch which seems a lot. I will give it a go and see how I get on and then maybe ask for the gel and tablet instead.

Sorry to jump on this but continuous ultragestan is every day now?? I feel grotty and grumpy when I take my break from it at the end of the month but I didn't know I could take it every day?

I can't take it everyday as I still have periods, I get period pain when I'm not on the mixed phase even though my period has usually come to end by then

And sorry yes as long as you are post meno I believe you can take it every da I have a friend who does along with the gel

Spoke to my gp and she said that because it's only 100mg tablet 25 days is fine it's 200mg that is taken in shorter duration and that to try this and if it doesn't help then we could try something else. Am I over thinking this I'm so confused now

I take both every day still and I'm not post-meno, is that bad?

My GP put me on continuous for both hormones a while ago to try and even out the hormonal drops leading up awful PMS.

I find it all so confusing, I was told I can't go on continuous as still having periods until I'm 54( I'm 51) or periods have stopped for at least a year.

@tillydog10 The downside of using combined continuous is that your own period may break through (not fully controlled by HRT).

Not sure how much you know about the effect of each hormone but daily progesterone works by keeping the build up of the lining thin. If you are still having periods ( so you have your own estrogen circulating) AND adding in estrogen, the progesterone may be insufficient to do this.

women now who use continuous progesterone (Utrogestan) are using it daily. The 25 days 'rule' is there to give a bleed if any lining has built up.

In post meno women, this is unlikely to happen.

In women like you, who are not post meno, it might.

It's a bit 'overkill' to use a combined patch and daily progesterone. You should only need one or the other.

The progestogen in your patch is actually Norethisterone. If you GP wanted to top it up, you could take the same thing (Norethisterone) as a tablet as well. She may be working on the idea that Utrogestan is more body-identical, but you need to ask why she's chosen it!

I think I need to speak to her again, she made it sound like it was the only option if I was to stay on the patches as you couldn't increase the combined patch without increasing the e patch which I get. She was referring to the internet the whole time so I know she is inexperienced.

This is what drives me mad. The doctors don't know what they're doing. On my last visit I had researched what I wanted myself (had been on the Nori-wotsit which @JinglingHellsBells mentioned and it was making me depressed). The GP was happy to just go along with what I asked for! I've been taking a break with my Utragestan but that break period makes me really grumpy and irritable. As I haven't had a period for over a year I see no harm in switching to taking it every day.