Period arriving 8-10 days after last utrogestan

[Moominfanjo]

Good morning everyone, I'm 45 and have been on 2 x oestrogel or 2 x 0.5 sandrena plus the sequential 12 days of 2x utogestan for 6 months and my period has never arrived when it 'should'

I also have pms and terrible cramping/dizziness for 2 weeks whilst I'm waiting for each (heavy) period to arrive.

It feels like I take the Utrogestan and it gives me the feeling it's going to get me to start a period and then when that ends my own body says 'nah not yet' and drags it on another 8 or 10 days.

Is this usual or should I change the day I start my utro? Currently the 1st of each month.

The bleed is related to how much estrogen you use , how much progesterone, and how much of each you absorb.

Higher estrogen/ less progesterone = early or heavy bleeding
Low estrogen / more progesterone = no bleeds or late bleeds (takes progesterone levels longer to fall , which is how the bleed starts.)

If you are 45, your dose of estrogen is quite low if you are using Sandrena 0.5mgs. Have you had to mix and match Oestrogel and Sandrena because of the shortages?

2 pumps of Oestrogen is 0.75mgs a x 2 = 1.5mgs
2 sachets of sandrena is 1mgs estrogen.

Ideally, the progesterone should be tailored to every woman individually and you can't expect that from a GP. There are women using this combo privately, who have longer cycles ( 6-8 weeks estrogen only), and/or 10 days of Utrogestan.

I'm not suggesting you try this yourself, although if you still have natural periods you will be producing your own progesterone anyway as well as the HRT part of it.

One suggestion- increase your gel to 3 pumps on the days you use Utrogestan.

And if you use Sandrena, ask for the 1mg sachets, not the 0.5mgs, or use 3 sascets a day.

Thankyou that is very helpful and makes sense as I still get hotflushes before a period on this current oestrigen dose. Yes I have had to mix and match because of the shortages. Next time I'll ask my GP for the 1mg sandrena or extra oestrogel packs. Its been such a pain trying to get hold of it. I'm otherwise well its just this odd late period thing. Thankyou again!

I found as I moved up to higher doses of oestrogen it brought periods on more quickly after utro had finished, but could take a good couple of months to kick in. (I take it vaginally.)

Have you had a thyroid check?

I have come across women who take the mini pill as well as utrogestan continuously as contraception and also to stop those ups and downs. I was considering this but am giving it a good 3 months on current regime.

The other idea is mirena but I don't know if it eliminates pms. Higher oestrogen did for me, but I'd watch the bleeding if it's heavy.

Thankyou for these suggestions, my thyroid has been hovering at borderine for about 8 years and I have it checked every 6 months but it never seems to go over the threshold for nhs treatment unfortunately. I'm actually overdue a blood test so thankyou for the reminder!

Ok, make sure test is early in the morning and don't take anything with biotin in for a week before hand.

Do you know what the has been? It might be possible to ask for trial low dose thyroxine if subclinical and have symptoms

I've always had high antibodies and the GP won't do anything at all until my TSH reaches 10. It's always subclinical between 5 and 8.

Thankyou for all your suggestions everyone. I've decided next month to change my utrogestan to starting on the 10th of every month and see if my actual period stay married up to the 18th/20th as it is now. If it moves again and is 10 days after that new routine, I'll trial a slightly higher oestrogen dose daily.