Hi all,
I feel so awful right now, I want to cry and could do with a punch bag as I think I'm having another bad reaction to progesterone...
I'm fine on oestrogen and feel it helps me with concentration, tiredness, mood etc... but as soon as I add in the progesterone in for the last two weeks of my cycle, my body goes crazy and this time I'm so tired I can hardly carry on, I'm really emotional and just can't think straight either, I'm really not with it!
Currently I'm using utrogestran tabs, 2 at night... and it's just awful. I've tried other progesterones in Evorel and Femseven patches but they had adverse affects too...
I'm currently using Evorel oestrogen patches and they've helping but just want to find a progesterone that suits me.
I feel as if I'm losing the plot and really want to cry but have got two children to look after so desperately need to hold it together...
Does anyone know of a progesterone that I could possibly try that maybe you've had success with??? Please help if you can - I know you're all going through this too but I really hope you're having a better day than me today.
Thank you.
AJ.
I'm assuming you're in Europe by the prescriptions you mentioned. What I can offer is that progesterone is often OVERLY prescribed. What I found is that a vaginal progesterone often works better than orals. it can be compounded in smaller amounts and still give you the desired effect. There is a big pharma progesterone products available for vaginal use. It was called Crinone, and I believe it's new name is Prochieve.
I'm also assuming you are in perimenopause (still having periods) I loved a compounded vaginal suppository of 25 mg progesterone back when I was at that phase.
Hope this helps.
Hi J
like you I have been on all the progesterone after lots test all ok my consultant and myself are try a new combination so far so good I do crinone progesterone gel for 15 days every 12_14 weeks and supposed to be little side affects, I start Thursday and been on oestrogen 75 only patch’s and daily testogel feel great , I am intolerant to all progesterone I have tried but this one I have to try as I have a uterus I need to have some but my uterus’s messaged 4.7 within the range and biopsy scans ok , we will try this and scan to see if any build up some ppl can do this combination . I will let you know how I get on I have chosen Thursday as have holidays in sept and also been away so will be 10 weeks . Hope this helps
Hi Joanne,
Are you in the US as my doctors won't test me at all and say they go off symptoms as hormones can go up and down during any one day do no point in tests... So frustrating as I have no idea what my levels are at all and I just feel sooooo awful that I know something is not right and, like you, I know that the progesterone is the major issue.
Thank you for replying and yes please let me know how you get on as if you find relief then I will look into this and maybe go private if I can't get help through my GP...
Thanks again.
AJ. x
I can't tolerate progesterone orally or topically. I get more depressed and angry. I first realized what was going on by watching my daughter on her new birth control. Over the months she seemed to be getting angrier. When I checked the dosage she was getting a lot of progestin with a low dose of synthetic estrogen. I convinced her to change to pills with less progestin and more synthetic estrogen. Right away she was much calmer.
I started wondering about me because I had a bad reaction to one birth control I used after I had my child. I looked it up and it was a high progestin only pill. Long story short I can't tolerate the progesterone now. I keep trying a small dose here and there and I mean really low dose and I start getting mad again. I think it is converting to testosterone because I start getting these man hairs on my body when I use to for too long.
My mom only used estrogen but she lost her uterus to a big fibroid tumor. I still have my uterus but I have a fibroid tumor that decided to start growing again. Some people go on very low estrogen without the progesterone but of course that may increase the chance of cancer but studies are conflicted on that now. The doctor checked my uterus lining and it is still thin. I think now I'm not even doing that great on the tiny amount of estrogen and I mean really tiny amount.
I do have small benign nodules on my thyroid and I am not sure if that is affecting me. My mom had thyroid issues but mine never gets bad enough to get treated My uncle her brother had a parathyroid benign tumor. If you haven't had a scan you might do that.
So for me no success with progesterone. Sorry.
Hi SN,
Thanks for the info... I wonder if I will be the same... I haven't tried topical yet and I wish I didn't have to at all to be honest as I feel exactly like you say - angry, down, exhausted... but I have a uterus so I need to take it as long as I use oestrogen. I'm using Evorel 50 oestrogen patches and feel pretty good on them until I add in the progesterone - trouble is I know that each month the side effects will increase until I feel crap most of the time as that's exactly what's happened with previous progesterones I've tried...
Think I'll have to go back to my surgery on Monday and chat with someone 😞.
Thanks again. Hope you can feel better soon too. Hang in there.
AJ. xx
I would say the cream was slightly better than the progesterone cream and I always worry about the possibility of transferring the cream to others. There is a estrogen/progestin patch combo. I found topical hormones speed me up a bit too much sometimes.
I was on prometrium then I had blood from nipple biopsy showed cells called lcis not precancer or cancer but now I am higher risk for breast cancer ! My breast surgeon is top on Country he said taking progesterone can have been the cause for the cells
Yes more and more is coming out about progesterone. I fear that women who buy the creams in the health food stores and smear them on could have real problems. I ran out of progesterone cream one time and I used some of the over the counter cream being careful to take the right dose and yes it does affect the body. Progesterone is thought to be linked to cancer, blood clots and fibroid tumor growth. It makes me feel so sluggish. So we are pretty much damned if we do and damned if we don't. Each person is different and each person reacts differently to different hormones. It is not an one size fits all.
I just got tired of trying to find the balance between the progesterone and the estrogen. When my mom alive couldn't understand what I was going through because she only took estrogen. My obgyn has asked me do I want to remove my uterus so I can take only estrogen and I told him no. There is a raw root I was eating for a while called a Chinese yam . There is a japanese name for it too. People in Asia use to stir fry and cook in soups. You can get it in the Asian grocery stores. It is pretty benign and some scientist from the Chinese Medicine University in Shanghai I think that is right, extracted the ingredient from the root that is the phytoestrogen and it did boost estrogen in rats. They were hoping to export the ingredient to the U.S. to use as a more safe HRT replacement but with the situation with tariffs from China that probably won't happen any time soon.
the root is a bit slimy when eaten raw. the scientists actually heated it a bit. It also helps other things like cholesterol and it has a truck load of nutrients including biotin. I think it helps with collagen too. I think I am going to go back to the root and see if I feel better. Right now I am trying to get through the withdraws again. To make it even more difficult I also have osteopenia which comes before the osteoarthritis and usually the treatment is estrogen.
Hi Sn21848 I also had a problem with progesterone but later found out it was an underlying problem that was causing the adverse reaction from progesterone. I've used otc progesterone years before peri hit with no issues whatsoever but helped me alot. Now, since peri It just would not agree with me because the problem was elsewhere. Also, have you tried biodentical progesterone vs. syntheic? There is a difference, biodentical are safer than syntheic. I think you may be confusing the difference when it comes to being linked to cancer. You may want to consider doing other testing such as cortisol and adrenals. Hope it gets better for you..
Hi AJ
I am 53 and in peri-menopause and on HRT. I am also intolerant to Progesterone. I have tried several brands of Progesterone which I couldn't cope with. I did a lot of research and read that the best way to take Progesterone if you are intolerant to it, is vaginally. This is because it bi-passes the liver cutting down on a lot of the side effects, but sadly not all. I have been taking Utrogestan 200mg pessaries for coming up to a year. After reading Professor John Studd's study and a few blogs, I take it for just 7 days each month at night time. Some women take it for 7 days bi-monthly. I am virtually symptom free for the first 2 days, then I start suffering with fatigue and needing a nap in the middle of the day and needing to go to bed early. I get irritated more by people and things and can over react sometimes, I can be snappy and sometimes irrational. I can be over excited too when talking to people. My libido goes up, I spend more. I start craving sugar and bad food. I don't particularly like my reflection at this time and I don't think any thing looks good on me. My headaches tend to be much more painful. So basically it is like suffering for PMS each month. I get a 5 day period usually 5 days after stopping the Progesterone. I won't take it whilst on holiday or if going away for a weekend I have been know to only take it for 5 days so I am not affected by it whilst away. I ran out of the pessaries once and used a friend's Cyclogest pessaries. They gave me such awful anxiety. Apparently its because Utrogestan pessaries are micronised and Cyclogest are not. I hope this helps you in some way x
The only thing about suppositories is the hormones can be passed to a partner vaginally. I would assume this to be true whether the partner be male or female. More so for males I would think. there have been cases where the man's hormone balance got thrown off by their female partner's vaginal hormone use.
With hormone creams even pets have had gotten transference. One pet started losing hair or something. It is very tricky and if we take it orally it ends up in our water system through the toilet. HRT and birth control pills both.
Hi AJ
i am in uk I lean tests scan on uterus to see all is ok so you can take the progesterone every 3 months xx
Oh my gosh! I never thought or read about that. I insert my pessary after making love and will be mindful not to have sex for 24 hours after insertion.
I have to laugh at these forum we start off with intolerant and now about sex and progesterone affecting men’s parts 🤣😂🤣😂 I use mine late at night for 15 days but not giving up sex I am sure he will be ok with a bit progesterone 🤪
Crazy you mention this as last year when I was at my gynecologist and trying to choose which BHRT to get on she asked me if I had small pets or small children that I held.... I do have 2 small dogs that I hold a lot. She told me that I wasn't a good candidate for creams you rub on the wrists as they can be passed by skin contact and could harm small animals and children/babies!
Hi all,
Thank you so much for all your advice... I've taken heed of it all.
I'm only 46 and didn't have a period for a year before starting HRT... I live in the UK.
I really don't think I can take another day like today, I've felt so nauseous, really bad headache, tiredness is absolutely debilitating and so bad I feel dizzy. I keep going to the bathroom to cry as i feel so bad.
I'm not going to take utrogestran tonight and will ring the surgery tomorrow - I'm so upset and just feel like giving up. 😪
I'll ask about progesterone vaginally or maybe a cream (but I also have children and pets!!) and see what they say but I guess from what some of you have said I may get the same issues... isn't it awful!?
Sorry to sound like a nag. I didn't used to be this way, believe it or not I was once a fun person!!
Thank you again.
AJ. xx