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Menopause

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Original poster

Ultragestan

21 replies

Sweetie1980 · 14/04/2023 06:47

Hello ,
I am currently on my 12 days of Ultragestan, which is two tablets a night . I also have two pumps of estrogel per night . I am still having periods . My problem is during these 12 nights I am having awful joint and muscle pains and insomnia. I am also very anxious during the day . I am going through a very stressful life change but things do seem to get worse during the 12 days of progesterone . Could anyone help

OP posts:

CorsicaDreaming · 14/04/2023 07:16

@Sweetie1980 - you are not alone on this issue - I've just bumped to the top the thread on Ultrogestan hopelessness- definitely worth a read x

Original poster

Sweetie1980 · 14/04/2023 07:17

@CorsicaDreaming thank you . Will have a read x

OP posts:

DustyLee123 · 14/04/2023 07:22

The answer frequently seems to be to add more oestrogen, but I wondered if you’d considered a mirena coil for progesterone instead of the tablets ?

wormshuffled · 14/04/2023 07:25

I sleep better on my Utragesten days, my gp has just altered me to taking one tablet every night instead and it has helped my sleep no end. I do have break through bleeding now though.

Any reason why to take the gel in the evenings rather than the mornings?

Original poster

Sweetie1980 · 14/04/2023 07:29

Not really . I usually have a bath / shower at night so i apply it after when my skin is clean , is morning better ?

OP posts:

JinglingSpringbells · 14/04/2023 08:03

Utrogestan doesn't suit everyone.

It's become the most-often prescribed lately but to be honest, it never was!

I've used it for around 9 years and my consultant told me at the time it's a very 'love or hate' drug. I suffer from insomnia when I use it but I've switched to using it vaginally and that helps.

You don't have to stick with it, you know, if it doesn't suit you.

The time of day when you apply gel is irrelevant. You might find using a little more gel over those 12 days helps diminish the side effects of Utrogestan, but it may not.

If you don't get on with it, you can swap to Femoston (tablets) that are supposed to be good, or one of the combined patches that contain Norethisterone as the progestin.

Original poster

Sweetie1980 · 14/04/2023 08:24

@JinglingSpringbells thank you , that is really helpful . I will try a bit more gel during the 12 days . I am off it now for 14 days so looking forward to that 😃

OP posts:

JinglingSpringbells · 14/04/2023 08:26

Sweetie1980 · 14/04/2023 08:24

@JinglingSpringbells thank you , that is really helpful . I will try a bit more gel during the 12 days . I am off it now for 14 days so looking forward to that 😃

OK! Please don't feel you have to stick with it if it doesn't work.

Femoston has an almost identical form of progesterone but a lot of women prefer it. There's been this massive 'drive' to use Utrogestan but it really doesn't suit all women and I think a lof ot GPs who aren't that clued up on menopause have started to prescribe it as it's in their 'training manual' but aren't aware of all the other options.

Original poster

Sweetie1980 · 14/04/2023 08:32

Thank you . I will look into it . I find the joint aches awful and I have to get up and move around during the night .

OP posts:

EarringsandLipstick · 14/04/2023 09:28

I couldn't tolerate Utrogestan at all. I had nearly as bad peri symptoms for the 12 days I was taking it - the other days were great with most symptoms alleviated!

I now take Duphaston but know from Jingling that it's not available in the UK (I'm in Ireland). I've had no issues at all with taking it.

SmartHome · 14/04/2023 09:34

I've also switched to one tablet instead of 2 on the GPs advise as I was finding it made me really groggy in the mornings. Hopefully that will be ok as I'm only on a low dose of estrogen, the lowest dose patch 25 mcg.

Before I switched to one tablet this month just to see I had noticed that each month was getting slightly easier anyway, I think you need to stick with it for awhile to get used to it. This month with 1 tablet has been fine.

JinglingSpringbells · 14/04/2023 10:41

EarringsandLipstick · 14/04/2023 09:28

I couldn't tolerate Utrogestan at all. I had nearly as bad peri symptoms for the 12 days I was taking it - the other days were great with most symptoms alleviated!

I now take Duphaston but know from Jingling that it's not available in the UK (I'm in Ireland). I've had no issues at all with taking it.

Yes- Duphaston is dydrogesterone, which is in Femoston.
It's not available as a separate tablet in the UK but it IS in Femoston.

In terms of safety, it's almost identical to Utrogestan.

CorsicaDreaming · 14/04/2023 11:45

I couldn't tolerate it at all taken by mouth, it seemed to cancel out all the befits of the Estrogel for me - but now taking it vaginally and all my issues with it were resolved. It's odd that the UK do not seem to prescribe it that way, as both mainland Europe and the US seem to?

Jinglebell2020 · 14/04/2023 22:34

Sorry, Hopping in here, can I ask, those taking 200 orally for 12 nights, how soon after night 12 do you “bleed”. I average 14 nights before I bleed and even then it’s mild brown spotting. Is this normal. Been on 50 Estradot too since last April. Feeling crampy and PMT but no bleed yet and I’ll be due to start taking utrogestan again on 22nd April. Anyone experienced similar bleed issue?

HouseByTheSeaside · 15/04/2023 07:07

I've just switched back to vaginal Utrogestan after finding the progesterone in the everol patches made me feel horrendous!

Glad there are other types to try.

HouseByTheSeaside · 15/04/2023 07:08

What is femoston?

Original poster

Sweetie1980 · 15/04/2023 07:25

@Jinglebell2020 i had a period around 14 days after last time , it was quite painful so it felt like a real one . Problem is I also had a bleed for two days two weeks later when I started tasking the Ultragestan so I don’t know what’s going on .

OP posts:

tkkid93 · 15/04/2023 07:49

CorsicaDreaming · 14/04/2023 11:45

Could I ask how you take it vaginally and did your gp advise you to take it this way? I'm feeling the same on the 12 days I have it, like all my symptoms of peri have returned

Moredarkchocolateplease · 15/04/2023 08:12

@tkkid93 there is a lot of discussion about the best way to take it vaginally on the thread 'utrogestan hopelessness' I will bump it for you.

tkkid93 · 15/04/2023 08:34

Moredarkchocolateplease · 15/04/2023 08:12

@tkkid93 there is a lot of discussion about the best way to take it vaginally on the thread 'utrogestan hopelessness' I will bump it for you.

Thank you

CorsicaDreaming · 15/04/2023 09:33

Hi @tkkid93 - no my GP hasn't approved it, which I am currently a bit worried about – but I have an appointment with her next week, (as my first check up following only starting HRT in mid-February. I read a lot on here and elsewhere, which convinced me it was safe and reasonable... but it was borne out of desperation really, and not huge amounts of experience at this stage!)

The side-effects of taking it orally for me was so bad that I really needed to think of something to try and resolve that. Within 24 hours, I was an emotional mess taking it orally. I am not normally a weepy kind of person and ended up in floods of tears and not able to cope. I don't know quite how it had such an impact so quickly, but it was very profound and impossible for me to continue dealing with it. It was as if it cancelled out the estrogel benefits entirely.

@JinglingSpringbells seems to be very knowledgeable and has said on other threads she has long term consultant care and has said this is the way she's been advised to take it by her consultant (who actually says it is better in general because it isn't processed through your main system and liver and so has fewer side effects).

I wonder whether it is just not generally prescribed like this in the UK due to cultural norms and a feeling by doctors that patients would not comply with it as readily because people in the UK do not like administering medicines vaginally – whereas in other countries, it is much more acceptable and common practice? This is just my hunch on it.

It seems to me the change from taking it for 12 days to 14 days for Utrogestan, and the idea of using a 14 day on / 14 day off 28 day cycle, rather than taking it from the first day of every month (which to me makes much more sense) has all been led by GPs believing patients will comply with this regime and remember better.

So I think sometimes there is medically good reasons for doing something and other times it is about patient compliance. Which is obviously still needed for the drug to be used effectively, but isn't about medical need for it to actually work as a drug IYSWIM.

So for me I am currently taking it for 12 days and starting on the first day of the month and vaginally… so not what I was told to do by my GP when I started at all... although to some extent hopefully will be seen as modest tweaks and all okay...
So I am hoping that my GP is not going to hit the roof when I tell her that I have gone off on a plan of my own devising...

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