Managing increased hunger during progesterone HRT while trying to lose weight

[LovelyDonkey]

I have just realised that the progesterone part of my HRT (300mg nightly for 12 days) is making me ravenous, undoing all the good work from the first 14 days.

I have been refused WLI multiple times for health reasons so I have to manage this with food. What's best to eat that should keep me satiated to stop my eating everything?

Your oestrogen might be a bit low for you.

I'm on 100, can't go any higher (hence taking a higher utrogestan dose).

Anyone?

I found more fibre and protein helped. And carbs from whole grains and beans or lentils. It kept me fuller and stopped (mostly) the cravings for white carbs and crisps that were my downfall. I stopped eating snacks after dinner and cut down drastically on alcohol. But I felt fuller with the fibre and protein.

so poached eggs with avocado and nuts on seeded brown sourdough or porridge with seeds, fruit nuts and full fat yoghurt.

lunch is home made soup with lentils or a big beany salad.no bread.

tea will be salmon stifry, lots of veg, wholegrain rice, or chicken with veg, beans, salad.

I found concentrating on adding fibre really helped.

I’vd had to come off hrt, not as bad as I was worried about, but kept up with the same eatin* patterns.

also exercise takes your mind off it….

Thanks, annoyingly I don't like egg white and can't eat wheat and I've found gluten free bread really bad for causing sugar spikes.

That all makes sense though, I really need to start exercising and building strength but I have EDS and various other issues that mean I can do myself more harm. Which isn't an excuse but means I have to start slowly. I once tried Jillian Michael's shred and cane it the GP with a script for 8 different drugs to help manage the damage!

Thank you

I take continuous utrogesten and this seems to keep it all under control as I don’t get that hormonal swing. Lost over 50lbs since starting hrt

Wow that's amazing. Sadly as I still have periods I can't have continuous yet, though hopefully buy next year they'll after add I'll have been on it for 5 years by then.

How have you lost weight?

I am on higher but I'm seeing a meno specialist, and I switched from utrogestan to duphaston which is dydrogesterone and I tolerate it a lot better. I'm not sure if it's available in the UK.

Are you on patches or pills?

Calorie counting, I’ve just used an app and weighed and counted everything I eat and drink. But levelling off my hormones has really helped and made such a difference. Do you have to wait for periods to stop to make it continuous progesterone? I am 8 years since a sub total hysterectomy so I don’t have periods anyway

300mg daily of progesterone does seem high but there maybe a clinical reason for that. The oestrogen dose might be too light so they're not balancing out? I would be inclined to discuss this with a GP.

I have been putting a rounded tablespoon of chia seeds, soaked for ten minutes in my collagen and 100% chocolate powder smoothie for breakfast and it keeps me going for four hours. Also 1 tsp of peanut butter and a very small banana for flavour and sweetness. It’s still less than 300 calories. I’m doing low carb on a 10-6 window and am 1 kg down in 2 weeks. So not spectacular but some progress.

Perhaps try dydrogesterone instead if the utrogestan causes weight gain. I went on Femoston Conti after losing two and a half stone and really did not want to put the weight back on. I found it has made no difference to my appetite and I haven't put any weight on.

I don't cc religiously but do log quite a bit on Nutracheck - perhaps this might be an idea to check your macros anyway and see that you are having enough protein & fibre.

It's a shame you can't eat egg white and wheat. Eggs, beans, prawns, cooked chicken breast, berries, sachets of puy lentils, Skyr yoghurt, Bio & Me cocoa hazlenut granola and rye sourdough are the cornerstones of my diet. I have ice cream, alcohol and chocolate and crisps in moderation. Plus we get a local veg box every week and I eat a lot of hispi cabbage and asparagus at the moment.

Actually although I have a fair bit of variety having the same basic things/meals as building blocks helps me maintain my weight. And something has permanently changed recently, I used to have a load of condiments and dressings on everything, but now I tend to have lemon and oil or vinegar or nothing. Perhaps partly as the veg is so tasty from the veg box, but my palate seems to have changed. I really enjoy gherkins and use a bit of the slightly sweet jar vinegar on my salads.

It is, in Femoston Conti but perhaps the OP can't have that yet as your periods need to have stopped. It doesn't work as a contraceptive.

Also I have to have transdermal oestrogen due to blood clot risk (GP died of embolism aged 40, mum survived a massive one aged 40). I am on the 300mg Utrogestan as they insist it needs to be that high to cover the oestrogen, especially as I’ve had 5 referrals for suspected womb cancer in past 2 years (all benign polyps thus far but have had 2 types of skin cancer inc melanoma so they’re a bit more twitchy. And just going through 6th

i did get Gynae to agree that if this continues they will consider letting me have oestrogen unopposed and just give me v regular scans, but I had to try this. This is after trying oral norgestron, 2 x mirena (made bleeding worse !) and combined patches. Vaginal prog just gave me thrush and bv each month (and a third type of infection which was ‘unusual’)

But I had only just raised my appetite was being so badly affected

You should be able to get a combined patch and use oestrogen only patch for 2 weeks and the combi patch for two weeks.

Highest combined patch I can get is 50 and they won’t let me use two !