When to take progesterone with wildly changing cycle lengths?

[GaladrielHiggins]

In the last 12 months I’ve had a variety of cycle lengths from 12 days up to 41 days, although more have been about 21 days long so I have no idea when to take progesterone as it says days 15- 26 in the leaflet and most of the time that doesn’t match my cycle.

If my period starts on day 12 do I just not take any that cycle and start afresh on the next day 15?

If my period starts on day 21 do I stop taking it on that day and start afresh on the next day 15?

The HRT nurse (who it’s harder to get an appointment with than the GP) told me I could take either two a day for day 15-26 or one a day without a break if I wanted, but the leaflet says day 1 to 25, not continuously and I thought that was if your periods had stopped completely. I’m confused!

Get a mirena coil , so much easier.

@DustyLee123 i really dont like the idea of them

It's a shame MN can't do 'sticky threads' on some meno topics and HRT because this question comes up at least twice a week!

You start the 12 days on the same day each month.
As you say, it's impossible to time it with peri cycles varying so much and eventually becoming further apart.

Your HRT nurse is (sadly) incorrect.The two options depend where you are in peri .

1 For women in peri, you take sequential HRT. That means you create an HRT 'cycle' which mimics a normal cycle. So that's 12 days per calendar month of Utrogestan.

2 The second option of daily is for women post menopause and is a no-bleed option. It is sometimes used by women in late peri with very few cycles per year, but if it's used too early in peri you can get spotting and erratic bleeds as it won't control your own cycle.

The 25 days is not done now (despite what the leaflet says.) Most drs advise very day (post meno) to bring it into line with all other continuous types of HRT ( patches and tablets.)

If you want to start Utrogestan mid cycle, to start with, do that. But whichever day it is, stick to that day from now on . So if you chose 14 October, take it for 12 days then start the next 12 days on 14 November.

Brilliant @JinglingSpringbells that’s very straightforward, even I’ll be able to remember that!