2 weeks of hell every month?

[Fleabaneofmylife]

I started hrt at the beginning of this month. I'm having 1 pump of gel on each thigh every day and then progesterone every night for 2 weeks followed by a 2 week break.

I have to say I felt the best I have for months straight away while I was taking the progesterone, sleeping better, anxiety less, generally a new person but now I feel terrible again. I had a period last week on week one of the break and today I feel so fatigued, arse daggers, poor sleep, generally awful.

Is this how it goes? I'll have 2 weeks of feeling good and 2 weeks of feeling crap every month?! I can't function like this 😩

You might want to think about upping the gel to 2 pumps.
Any reason why youre only on 1?

1 pump is very low. It's not the standard dose- which is 2 pumps.
It's equivalent to the lowest patch 25mcgs.

As progesterone 'negates' it, some women find they need to up the dose during the progesterone phase at least.

I have 1 pump on each thigh, is that not 2 pumps?

Yes.

Sorry!

If it helps I felt exactly the same and still do, but to a lesser degree. Have the same dosing schedule as you too. Feel so much better and like me on the progesterone and as far as I am aware the only option for continuous progesterone on the NHS under 55 is with a marina coil which I don't want either. I do think that over time things have settled somewhat but definitely in the early days was aware of a massive change in those two weeks off progesterone. No help really, just solidarity. It's shit being female sometimes.

Thank you @TallulahMazda, that's depressing but reassuring in equal measures. How long have you been on it? I was hoping things may settle as I'm still so new to it but honestly I feel horrendous this week. Although to have 2 weeks of brightness each month is so much better than feeling awful constantly like I was. I'll just have to plan my life around the 2 weeks

I started hrt at the beginning of this month. I'm having 1 pump of gel on each thigh every day and then progesterone every night for 2 weeks followed by a 2 week break.

I had a period last week on week one of the break and today I feel so fatigued, arse daggers, poor sleep, generally awful.

Have you got the timescale right here?

If you started in February, it's now the 18th so you shouldn't have had a bleed yet. It should be 2 weeks with estrogen only and then 12 days of progesterone, which would mean you should still be on day 4 of it taking utrogestan- and the bleed happens around 3-4 days later (after the last tablet.)

Unless your GP told you to start Utrogestan on Day 1, the same day you started estrogen?

Is that right?

It's more usual to have 2 weeks on estrogen and then start Utrogestan.
Stick to the same date each month - so you can do 12 days per calendar month (like 1st Feb, 1st March etc or whatever date you started.

Whichever it is, it's too early to start considering changing as you've only had 1 cycle- and not yet completed it. Give it 3 months and see how it goes.

I've been on about 18 months now and it is a bit of a rollercoaster at times but overall I'm better on HRT than off. Hope you settle into it.

I started the gel as soon as I got it which was 25th Jan. On drs orders I then started the progesterone on the Monday which was 27th. Sorry was a week or so out with my OP!

That's a bit weird. Why did your GP say start 3 days into using the gel?

It doesn't make any sense. Sorry!

It's more usual to start it on the same day or 15 days later.

If women still have a regular cycle, they can wait till mid-cycle to start progesterone so it's working alongside their own hormones.

But this isn't possible if periods are irregular. And it's only done for the very first cycle, to create a pattern. (You'd stick to the same date the next month etc etc.)

Also, for reference, some consultants (mine-privately) advised me to use gel only for 12 weeks to get the dose right, then add in progesterone. (There is a tablet form of HRT which is a 3-monthly cycle co this isn't as weird as it may sound.)

Agree your dosing schedule is off. Oestrogel every day and progesterone tablets for the last 12-14 days of the month is how I was told to take mine.

She told me to start the gel straight away and then start the progesterone on the following Monday! I didn't question it as had no idea 🤷‍♀️