Utrogestan not available

[PhoenixIsFlying]

Hi, so I only started HRT a month ago, I take a gel and utrogestan 100mg daily with no break. It hasn't been easy. I live with my mum who has Alzheimers and my teenage daughter who has autism. I need to be ok.

I have really struggled with the hrt but this week I finally felt like I was beginning to feel better.

On Friday I went to pick up my prescription of utrogestan, only to be told there isn't any available.

I know it might sound dramatic but I feel in despair. Just as I thought things were getting better this happens.

I believe it's coming back into stock this week - check out Diane Danzebrink on Instagram

margegunderson thank you, I will x

It'll be back in very soon so keep the faith! I've been told by my chemist that they're due to have it on the 26 February

I’m very much hoping it does. There’s no alternative tablet so if we can’t get utrogestan we need to change the whole method of HRT (e.g. moving to combined patches). Given how long it takes some women to find a method that works for them, that’s quite upsetting 😡

I had to call around the local pharmacies to find one with it in stock last month. Worth a try?

Not sure this is accurate. I believe there is Provera and other tablet progesterone options - there's a progesterone intolerance thread I've read on here today listing them. Again, Diane Danzebrink has lots of info as does her FB site.

www.mumsnet.com/talk/menopause/4683113-utrogestan-capsules-supply-issues?page=1

If you can’t get it you can also ask for an alternative progesterone to be prescribed. There are others.

Provera is the one I was thinking of. I’ve been given this instead. No issues.

I had my first HRT prescribed last week, and I haven’t started yet due to lack of utrogestan. Pharmacist told me on Friday that he’s expecting it towards the end of this coming week. Fingers crossed - I’m not functioning at the moment and need to get started asap.

Thank you for your replies. My friend is sending me some in the post tomorrow as she now has the coil. I am just worried I will then be 4 days without.

I'm going to be much more prepared next time and request a prescription in advance now I'm aware of the issues.

After having spent such a long time struggling, just so desperate to feel better, not just for my sake but for my daughter and mum too. They can't understand when I'm not feeling good.

Yeah, same here. It’s very frustrating isn’t it. 🥵🫠😴 (or then wide awake)
🤞🏻 It’s back soon

Interesting that PPs say there are alternative tablet forms of progesterone. It was my GP who told me there are not. FFS 🤦‍♀️ Dire state of affairs that the internet is still a more reliable source of info on HRT than medical professionals.

What is available will vary from trust to trust, though - GPs are only able to prescribe from a list which has been approved, and this varies from area to area. So it might not be your GP at fault. I don’t understand why it’s this way, I confess, but the NHS isn’t a single national entity when it comes to prescribing, hence the so-called postcode lottery for some treatments.

I managed to get Utrogestan from my local pharmacy a couple of weeks ago though they had to order the rest of my prescription for me.

Can you try a different town or area of town? I managed to get the oestrogen part of my HRT that I couldn't find anywhere from the student area in my nearby city.

There is also a Boots prescription checker online which is how I found my estrogen but for some reason it doesn't work with Utrogestan.

My pharmacist has told me to put in my scripts a month in advance. Hope you get it sorted soon

Another one, just back from the Chemist part-empty handed. No problems at all with my Everol 75 patches. Utrogestan 100, nothing, they took my number, but I know they'll forget to call me. I'm hoping there will be supplies soon as mentioned.

I am finding it exasperating that I only get prescribed 4 weeks worth at a time. So I order my prescription, I go to my Chemist, invariably I can only get part of my prescription if at all, I then faff about with repeated trips to get the rest, by which time I have to start the whole process again 2-3 weeks later. I used to go via BUPA and pay for an Appt with a Menopause specialist and then pay again for a 3 month prescription, I don't want to have to pay more, but I think I'm going to have to skip my doctor and the NHS and go back down this route. There never seems to be a shortage where money is concerned 😣

@SilentHedges It's shame you can only get a month at a time- query that? But just to add, having a private prescription makes no difference when there are shortages. My HRT has been on a PP for years and whether I go to a 'High St' pharmacy, or the pharmacy in a private hospital, they are all finding the same thing. The problem is that over the last year, demand for HRT has gone up 35% and many/most women are now being given Utrogestan. That's what's changed and the manufacturers can't upscale overnight as it's a complicated process to increase production by that amount.

There is also a Boots prescription checker online which is how I found my estrogen but for some reason it doesn't work with Utrogestan

I think this is a glitch on Boots website. It won't show drugs out of stock! It just keeps coming up with an 'error' message which is not helpful.

@JinglingSpringbells Thanks for the info, maybe my lack of issues on BUPA late last year, co-incided with availability being much better. I've only just gone back to the NHS in the last 3 months which is when my problems have started plus my prescriptions are monthly. Yes I will query that, it's so exasperating, going back and forth, it's amplifying my symptoms of menopause rage!

I'm noticed the same issue on the Boots website, it's not working.

I must be really lucky, my GP gives me 3 months at a time. I use pharmacy2u and have just received my utrogestan, I had to wait an extra 5 days and it was not in the original box.

I was getting my HRT prescriptions monthly at one point but I told them I couldn't cope with it as my main symptom I was taking the HRT for was brain fog. They changed it so to 6 monthly now

I’ve also not been able to get any Utrogestan from chemist today. I get prescribed 3 months at a time. They didn’t have any at all. They said there is a supply issue and they have no idea when they will have any stock.

Thank you for everyone's comments. I will ask for 3 months in future. Its just a whole extra stress you don't need when already feeling low. Oh well, fingers crossed it will start filtering through to the chemists soon xxx

No utrogestan OR estradot at my pharmacy and they have no idea when they’ll be restocked. In the past they have at least had visibility into future supplies. Sigh.

When people say there are other forms of progesterone available, are they all body identical progesterone like utrogeston? Or is the alternative progestins, if so do they just provide all the systemic benefits of utrogeston or just the basic protecting the womb? Because losing those benefits would be a huge issue for many women

I've been waiting 7 weeks for utrogestan. Ended up buying some from a private prescription site, they sent me some from another part of the country. I didn't want to stop my oestrogen patches, and couldn't risk the womb thickening that can happen with no progesterone.

I'm now owed January's and February's utrogestan. Allegedly there will be some this week. I'm ordering March's prescription in 10 days...