progesterone shortage

[lostinfusion]

Morning,

Has anyone been affected with the shortage of progesterone & being told to stop taking oestrogel (or patches) until it is resolved?

I have been prescribed progesterone tablets to tide me over until I can get my mirena coil replaced (5 years old) but they are impossible to get. I telephoned my Dr surgery to ask about a replacement & the receptionist has told me I must stop taking the oestrogel as I don't have the progesterone tablets - i'm in complete panic over this as I just can't face my menopause symptoms starting again. I have asked when my mirena appointment will be but apparantly there is a waiting list (even though I have the replacement mirena from the pharmacy) & I can only get a Dr's telephone appointment in 3 weeks time.

Anyone else been told this or is the receptionist possibly wrong given she doesn't have all the information ?

Yes there's a shortage of Utrogestan. The only option for now if you can afford it is to have some progesterone tablets made up privately. 3 weeks for a phone appointment that's beyond a disgrace. I don't know the reason for the shortage but hope this doesn't go on too long.

Is there a sexual health clinic near you? They might be able to do your mirena for you.

@lostinfusion I just spent the last 2 days trying to get some progesterone. Please don’t accept a 3 week wait to see a dr about this!
if you can, physically turn up at your GP practice and explain to the receptionist and ask for their advice. Mine gave me the practice Medicine Management team email so I wrote to them explaining what my local pharmacy had said about shortages and asked them to help with an alternative. I also included info like which other HRT I have been on previously and that no HRT for me would have an impact on my young family and my ability to do my job. Yesterday the practice pharmacist called me and he spent all day tracking down a supply….he found me 2 boxes of utrogestan in Boots and they reserved it for me. I flew down there and picked it up just before they closed! I had stopped the oestrogen gel and was really starting to feel its absence.

It’s an absolute disgrace that we are in this position. I’ll be writing to my MP about this and I urge every menopausal woman experiencing treatment shortages to do the same. The govt need to hear our stories and the more elective representatives we tell, the louder and more significant our collective voices will become

it's awful & my situation would be instantly fixed with having a new mirena coil fitted - I even have it from the pharmacy!

I will look into a sexual health clinic nearby to see if they could fit it for me.

I ordered my Utrogestan prescription from Lloyds Direct on 21st April (10 weeks ago). It is still "awaiting stock". I managed to get an additional emergency prescription for 2 packs from a local pharmacy last month, but that too is now running low.

I was given an alternative to utrogestan. It didn't suit me quite as well, but held the fort and allowed me to continue with oestragel until I was able to get utrogestan again.

There is a shortage due to the increased demand, prescriptions should only be for a maximum of 2 months at a time.
I'm in Wales and only get 1 month's worth at a time, so I'm having a stressful search each month for somewhere I can get them

what have you been given?

Provera is an alternative and they should prescribe this for you without an actual appointment.

You can actually buy it from on line pharmacies ( it is sold to delay periods) without a prescription. The dose for continuous HRT is 5mg.

thank you. the thought of having to stop my HRT has really upset me for some reason. I will look into all these options

currently waiting on the sexual health clinic to call back

@ShinyBandana - how long did it take for you to notice symptoms after stopping the oestragel please?

I was off the gel for 48 hours. I started feeling brain fog after 24 (that was always my worst symptom) but I hadn’t started getting hot flushes or The Rage at that point. We’re all different though so your experience may be different to mine.

oh gosh, that isn't long at all

brain fog was bad for me, I can't afford to get that & make mistakes at work but by far the worst was the horrible anxiety which i'd never suffered from before.

sexual health clinic don't have any appointments so i'm back to square one. Dr's have given me a telephone appointment on the 14th which is a little better but still a week away.

Going to chat to the pharmacist when I collect a prescription this afternoon

Could you get a Mirena inserted privately?

I got mine inserted at a Nuffield hospital last year because NHS waiting times were too long. It cost around £300 (I think it was even less but can’t quite remember. Definitely wasn’t more than £300 though) that included a consultation with a private GP, the price of the Mirena and insertion.

that's a good idea - I may have to go down that route if I have to

Provera is oos here as well

Another one here- haven't taken it since April

It was Provera tablets. I spoke to the pharmacist at the GP practice and she organised the alternative prescription.
In the meantime, she gave me the code number (?) of my utrogestan prescription which I was able to give (verbally) with a number of chemists and kept checking until one of them was able to fill it, which was about a month later.
So I've now got a little stock of Provera if I need them again.

I spoke to Nuffield yesterday, and they told me they were no longer doing the mirena coil appointments.
Also called The Spire. They were around £700, which included the £350 consultants fee.
ICASH, the sexual health clinic now have me on their list and will call in 6-8weeks to make an appointment.
The whole thing is infuriating.
I said to a friend that there’s a market for qualified nurse prescribers to rent out space from aesthetic nurses, and run Mirena/menopause clinics.

it's so awful. I can't understand why the Dr would prescribe me something they knew I wouldn't be able to get, she even told me during the appointment they may be difficult to get

I spoke to the pharmacist last night & she said I need to speak to the Dr as there are alternatives but they all require a new prescription, I asked about stopping the oestrogel but she said carry on until I speak to the Dr next Friday.

It's so frustrating that we are in this position, it's honestly such a mess & difficult to get any help

I have been having same problems of not being able to get hold of for months , chasing round pharmacies. Last week I gave up and decided to try and come off HRT, I have been on it for 4 years since having my ovaries out, I am 58 , after a few days of not taking progesterone pill I started to bleed, I haven't bled for years . I saw a male doctor and he said well you've been on it 4 years time to come off your probably through the worse !!!!!

@Twins3007 how are you feeling now Twins?

I actually do not feel too bad, bleeding has subsided , doctor said its a side effect of coming of HRT ( still getting a vaginal scan to make sure). I had 3 very bad nights of night sweats to the point where I had to put towel on bed in middle of night but last couple of nights have been fine, I am also not drinking alcohol as I find that makes the night sweats worse , moods seems fine atm as well, although early days

Pharmacy got my prescription of Utrogestan yesterday so started them last night.
Now in 2 minds whether to cancel my GP appointment for Friday (free an appointment for someone else) or attend & find out what is happening with the Mirena & whether I need other options prescribed for when these run out (1 month supply)