What will happen if I come off HRT - it’s given me high blood pressure

[Mustardfan]

I’ve been on it for about a year, but have just realised that taking progesterone is giving me high blood pressure. Does anyone know how I’ll feel if I stop taking HRT? Will I feel really rubbish? I think it’s possible that I feel worse now since I starting taking it, though I don’t have any hot flushes now. I wonder if there’s a different solution to stopping it? Im taking 200mg of progesterone for 12 days, I wonder if I could try 100mg. Or what if I had it vaginally, I wonder if that would stop it affecting my blood pressure? It seems to give me fluid retention. It also makes me feel a bit tired. I feel so much better on the days that I don’t take it.

Local delivery seems to have fewer side effects - mirena coil is the option I am using. I think there might be vaginal pessaries though I don't know much about those.

@Mustardfan How do you know it's giving you high BP?

Are you taking your BP each day when you use Utrogestan?
I expect you are, otherwise you won't know it's high.
What made you take the readings?

It's a bit odd because Utrogestan is not known to raise BP and in fact the reason for taking it at night is because it can cause BP to fall.
This is just a tiny part of a science paper on it

Blood pressure, glucose, insulin, HDL-c, triglycerides, and usCRP remained constant with or without micronized progesterone.

Your symptoms of feeling tired etc are common but may well be far less using it vaginally.

Thanks for your replies. Jingling, the research that I’ve done online suggests that high blood pressure is a known side effect. I read a paper that said that it can cause problems with fluid regulation. ‘this article suggest that reproductive hormones alter homeostatic set points for body fluid and tonicity’. Another website said that it’s a diuretic, and that if the patient develops high blood pressure it should be stopped immediately. I know it’s affecting my blood pressure as when I don’t take it my blood pressure is fine.

I'm not sure where you have seen that micronised progesterone raises BP.

One reason MP is given is it has a neutral or beneficial effect on BP.

This is another summary from a paper pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25268408/

Does micronized progesterone lower blood pressure?
Transdermal estrogen and micronized progesterone had a beneficial effect on blood pressure in normotensive women and, at most, a neutral effect on hypertensive women.

Are you taking readings of your BP on the days you use Utrogestan?
If you are, what's made you do this? Do you normally test your BP?
What are the readings compared with how your BP is normally?

What @JinglingHellsBells said, plus speak to your GP or whoever prescribed your HRT.

I have been told (by Dr Boden at Newson Health clinic, menopause specialist) that high blood pressure is more likely to be related to the menopause itself rather than HRT or completely unrelated and coincidental. She told me that it’s perfectly safe to take medication for high blood pressure alongside Hrt. You don’t need to stop the HRT.

HRT helps to protect your heart which is really important if you have high blood pressure.

The other thing is, most people don't take the BP readings any more often than every 6 months (if at all.)

So I'm just wondering how you know yours is high?

Are you connecting fluid retention (ie weight gain on the MP) with high BP, or are you religiously taking your BP every day of the month and comparing the days you are on Utrogestan with the days you aren't?

High BP is a reading that is (constantly) above 120/80, although sometimes it's regarded as high if it's above 140/90

@Mustardfan IF you are taking your BP regularly, are you doing it the right way?

Member of my family saw a cardiologist about their BP (which wasn't high actually, it was anxiety- induced.)

They were told to take 3 readings once a day (at the same time, not 3 separate occasions) and choose the lowest reading.

They were also told not to take their BP any more than once a month because otherwise the anxiety over 'is it high' can make it high :)

Thanks for all your messages. Jingling I’m taking my blood pressure readings at home with my personal machine because my GP told me to, having taken it herself and identified that it’s high. Yes, I’m taking three readings, and noting the lowest, and yes I’ve taken some readings while taking progesterone and some while not. I’m not taking it every day. Thanks for sharing that article. I think that there is a variance in different peoples physiology, so whereas some people may have lower blood pressure while taking HRT, there may be others whose bodies are differently affected. I think that research that looks at general trends, using statistical analysis doesn’t necessarily pick this up. This is a very long article about fluid regulation: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2849969/

Thanks Bagels, that’s an interesting perspective, and I realise I could be wrong about the link I’ve made between taking progesterone and the rise in my blood pressure. I would Iike to be wrong. Unfortunately I feel lousy while I’m taking progesterone, and I don’t know what to do. I’ve asked for a GP consultation. I’m so relieved that I had my last one last night and now don’t have to take it for a while.

I’ve recently developed HBP and am on hrt but not suggested there is a link?

Mine has been attributed, so far, to the massive decline in my activity level since you know what.

@Mustardfan The link you left is not saying anything new really. It's been well known for ages that in the 2nd half of a cycle women can gain weight through fluid retention, because of the rise in progesterone and it's part of PMS.

I'm still wondering why you decided to take your own BP.
Do you have a history of high BP?
What readings are you getting?

It's quite possible that this is 'white coat syndrome'. You have maybe once associated high BP with progesterone and now, each time you take your BP, it's showing as high owing to anxiety. The only way to prove or disprove would be to have a placebo capsule for Utrogestan!

I'm only saying this as an elderly family member was convinced they had high BP and I had to arrange the appt with the cardiologist for them. After tests etc it was decided that the high BP was down to expecting it to be high and caused by anxiety.

In the past, any high BP with HRT was considered to be caused by the horse urine type of estrogen (conjugated equine estrogen - CEE) and not progesterone. Transdermal estrogen doesn't cause high BP.

If your BP is very high your dr ought to treat it with drugs or suggest lifestyle changes (more exercise, more fruit and veg, less salt and alcohol.)

What would you like to do?