Experiences of taking Utrogestan for menopause symptoms in your early forties

[Sally21222]

I’m asking for advice from those who have taken Utrogestan.

I live in Austria and have been meeting my gynaecologist as my periods have been irregular / light I’ve been feeling tired and generally run down. I’ve had blood test and mammogram and they’ve prescribed my Utrogestan. I’ve just turned 40. I’m a bit hesitant to take it, but thought it would be good to hear other people’s experiences who have started it young. Were there any negative side effects?

I'm 41, I started taking it at 39 and have had a very positive experience. It has quite a strong sedative effect on me at night time and greatly improved my sleep. I also feel calmer - anxiety has been a big menopause issue for me.

Initially I took it for 14 days a month, but I found the starting and stopping increased my fluctuations which upset my migraines. I started using it continuously (200mg daily) around 10 months ago and felt much better in general almost immediately. Better sleep, less anxious, more stable and grounded, less migraines.

I still get regular-ish periods, and found that for 6-months after starting it continuously they were actually more regularly than they had been in years. The high dose has thinned the lining so my periods are very light now. I do get more cramps, that's the only negative I think.

I have heard lots of people say they have negative side effects from utrogestan, but my experience has been entirely good - I find it has a calming and grounding effect. This is what I needed as I was anxious high-energy - not sleeping, on-edge.

My relationship with estrogen has been much more complicated than with utrogestan.

Have they not also offered you estrogen?

Thanks for your reply. It is really helpful to hear your experience.

The doctor said to try the ustrogestran for three months only from the 11-25th day of my cycle and then to go again for a check up and see how I’m feeling. She said they would look to introduce oestrogen further down the line. I was getting migraines a few months ago which was one of the reasons I initially saw the doctor but that has got much better recently.

I still have periods and they are fairly regular but some very light and other times very heavy. Are you taking any other supplements?

The concern I have is that my Progesterone levels fluctuated from month to month in the blood test results so I’m not sure if taking hormones will make me feel worse sometimes.

It's not standard treatment in the UK.

There are some drs who do this supplementing with only progesterone but it's not mainstream practice.

Many women hate progesterone - my consultant told me it would be love or hate.

I hate it but I stick with it (along with estrogen) as it's safer re. breasts.

To be honest I get migraines some months after the progesterone withdrawal phase, when I stop the tablets, so it may not help yours at all.

It's a slightly 'wacky ' way to deal with peri.

Is she a menopause consultant?
What's the attitude in Austria to HRT? There have been posts here from women in Europe saying many drs are not in faviour of HRT at all.

It’s my gynaecologist. It was my fourth appointment and they’ve been quite dismissive, it seemed like she just wrote me this yesterday as I kept coming back. I think I’ll hold off and get a second opinion. Thanks so much for your advice. So helpful!

I take magnesium for migraine and sleep. It's helpful for sleep but I'm not sure about migraine.

I started estrogen at the same time as utrogestan, as is standard in the UK, but I have heard of starting progesterone first in the US in younger women because progesterone declines before estrogen in late 30s / early 40s. So I can see there is some sense.

I only started reading about that because I found utrogestan more helpful than estrogen for my particular symptoms and wondered why. I haven't found estrogen therapy very helpful for symptoms like hot flushes, I think because they are caused by large fluctuations for me rather than just a low level in general.

It is interesting to read about if you look into it.

Utrogestan gives me headaches if I take them orally so I have to insert them in my vagina instead. I still don’t feel very good on it though - tired irritable and generally PMS ish.

@BellsAllTheTime In the UK, the mini pill can be prescribed to stop odd bleeding caused by low progesterone. It's rarely prescribed as an alternative to estrogen.

In the US there are a lot of naturopathic doctors or doctors whose training is not the equivalent of UK gynaecologists. Some working as menopause consultants have qualifications bearing no resemblance to menopause (having looked into some of the sites.)
Some of what they do is not regarded as mainstream nor scientifically plausible.

Just saying to be aware of this!

Thanks for the advice. I will definitely do more research and find a menopause specialist.

I've read so many threads around about using progesterone only and links but some of the 'drs' in the US are not doctors. They have a 'doctorate' in something (one was an osteopath!) Nothing wrong with being that, but it's not what we'd consider a gynaecologist!

Also in the US, medicine is often private, drugs can be bought etc- not the same as the UK.

I really hated taking it. Made me groggy during the day, continuous PMS symptoms, really horrible vivid dreams. I changed to the mirena coil which is 100 times better for me with no side effects.

Edited to add that perimenopause gave me really heavy painful periods and these stopped completely with the coil.