Utrogestan - alternate days

[Geneen21]

Hi there I've been taking Utrogestan since December with not great results.
I tool it orally and had lots of bleeding and then was told to take it vaginally every night.
The utter exhaustion I've felt doing this is unbelievable- horrible sore legs, no energy , dragging myself through the day and in bed by 830. I went back to the doctor and she upped my patch to 75 which really hasn't made a difference - I'm pretty sure it's the Utrogestan that's making me feel this way.

I've tried using it every alternate day for a week now with a little bit of difference but really still not feeling good at all. My question is - is this too short a period to know if it'll work ?

Does anyone have experience of this working for them at all? Does it sound at all as if I'm just never going to get on with it and should try another one?

p.s I'm 57 and been menopausal for 14 years - maybe it's too long for anything to work ? Thanks for anything you can share

Please don't take it every other day. This is not a licensed dose and there is a risk of your womb lining growing too thick.

If you want to try another way, then I've left a post about long cycles on Utrogestan (today) but there are also many other types of hrt you can use.

You could try the Mirena coil, combined patches (which have a different type of progesterone to Utrogestan) or the tablet form Femoston.

It's getting a bit tiresome to read of so many women not getting on with Utrogestan when there are many other options (and why aren't GPs suggesting those?)

You are not too old. Many women don't start hrt till their mid 50s.

Did your periods stop at 43 or do you mean that's when peri started?

Thing is other stuff isn't licensed either, testosterone for women for example but still prescribed more and more on the nhs. Utrogestan vaginally in itself isn’t licensed as there haven't been any studies on it however it is widely used this way.

Many women <anecdotally> administer Utrogestan vaginally on alternate nights. If you want to continue you could continue and ask for an nhs annual surveillance scan or pay for one privately to check the endometrium isn't thickened. Or as jingling says try something else.

@Janiie These are all very different issues.

Vaginal Utrogestan has been used in Europe for decades as the 'normal' way of use. I was informed of this 15 years ago. It's mainly how it's used in France. The UK hasn't bothered to update it's prescribing rules.

Testosterone is licensed for women. What has changed is that the women's form of the product was discontinued and they now have to use men's , off-label.

The BMS has produced very recent guidance on not reducing the dose of Utrogestan to half (if used vaginally) and NICE has a revised prescribing section in their guidance referring to 3-monthly cycles for HRT.

Any woman who is using is 'anecdotally' on alternate days should stop as it's been made very clear not to. The BMS statement has been linked here several times by lots of posters.

'Testosterone is licensed for women. What has changed is that the women's form of the product was discontinued and they now have to use men's , off-label'

Sorry yes, I meant the men's testosterone isn't licensed for women but is widely used by women. As an aside I wonder when they'll do any studies into long term effects of it. Probably never as is par for the course with meno related treatment.

Full blown menopause at 43 - I had a horrible time for years but wasn't given HRT , my symptoms got better except no libido at all and very painful sex - and then with all the publicity recently, I thought it might be worth trying to do something about it . The libido and sex part are all good - just having a horrible time with the Utrogestan . I'll persevere a bit longer and then see if i can try something else - thanks !

...taking it alternate days makes sense to me if the dose is too strong ? There is no Utrogestan 50 - and if people can make it work and have their womb their womb checked regularly ?

The dose isn't too strong though- it's just giving you some side effects. You are likely to get spotting on alternate days but , seriously, it's not a good idea to do this yourself . If you are finding it hard, see a consultant who may give you a more tailored dose but under medical supervision where you have scans with a consultant every year.

If you had an early menopause at 43, you really do need a bone density scan- your are at a higher risk for osteoporosis. See your GP about this as it's very important. Nowadays, women of that age would be given HRT to at least 51, to help protect bones and heart.

@JinglingSpringbells thanks for your input ! It's a minefield !

Its the progesterone. However I take it, it makes me feel like shit!

If it doesn't affect you, then you have no idea what people are talking about.

I'm literally fat, swollen and anxious every 2 weeks.

I'm really getting tired of it.

I feel you op xx

Why not stop it and change to a different sort?

This forum is full of threads about the side effects yet there are many other types of hrt that don't involve using Utrogestan.

It's become 'flavour of the month' because of some GP training written a few years ago but before that, it was rarely prescribed.

I don't know if GPs aren't able to prescribe other types because of the 'fashion' for utrogestan or what.

If it's not working for you, change it to combined patches, Norethisterone tablets with estrogen, Mirena coil or Femoston tablets.

@JinglingSpringbells because I am given to understand it's the body identical one so carries less risk.
Do you know if that's true?

I can't stand the idea of a coil.

Are the tablets body identical?

I couldn't take Utrogestan orally, so take it vaginally now. Orally it made me feel as though I was having a breakdown.

@DelphiniumsBlueWildRose Femoston contains dydrogesterone which is almost identical to Utrogestan but many women tolerate it better.

The body-identical issue is only really relevant if you want to stay on HRT for years and years. Research at the moment says that Utrogestan does not increase the risk of breast cancer if taken for 5 years (and the risk with other types is a little higher but still very low for up to 5 years.) The risks with Femoston are almost the same as Utrogestan. It's not recommended for women with clotting risks, as it's a tablet form, but otherwise it's considered safe.

If you only want to use HRT short term, it's not worth getting hung up on 'body identical' if you feel miserable on it.

Thanks @JinglingSpringbells
I don't know why anyone would plan to stop taking hrt if it's making a positive difference to them? Surely once you stop after 5 years you will just feel horrendous?

I do feel somewhat like it's been hard sold to women over the last couple of years, but I'm still no closer to understanding what the long term solution is to our lack of Oestrogen

Sorry name changed! Was Delphiniums! 🤣

Well, I guess everyone is different. Some women stop and find they have no symptoms. Others stop and re-start. Some (like me) have used it long term for bone density (and hot flushes that persist 10 years post meno.)

I think the only reason some women do stop is they are worried about the cancer risks which do increase a little with time and possibly more so with the synthetic progestogens.

I'm concerned that so many women now are having micronised progesterone dished out by GPs as if it's the only option, and they feel awful on it, whereas when I started HRT years ago, it was hardly used at all.

When I swapped to it from something else, my consultant 'warned me' that it was a love/ hate drug and to try it for a few months.

😂😂 Delphinium you made me laugh out loud progesterone make me feel shit too i have tried the coil didn't help
now on Utrogestan 100mg once at night orally has been a nightmare emotional and crying an understatement bad dreams regular
Im going to try vaginally as told to see if alleviates these trial and error I suppose
will keep an update