Bloating from progesterone

Posted , 7 users are following.

Hi Ladies, 

can anyone share their experiences regarding taking progesterone tablets, this is my 3rd month of taking them for a 7 days, last 2 months I got a period but this month nothing, wondering if that means periods are over ? 

Thanks in advance 

1 like, 48 replies

48 Replies

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  • Posted

    fingers crossed for you smile  i take them all the tme without any breaks, i dont seem to get any bloating, in fact they have helped with my ibs symptons

    • Posted

      Hi, I didn't know you could take them all the time, can I ask why ? Do you always get a period each month ?

      Thank you x

    • Posted

      i was having heavy prolonged  periods with big clots, originally i was taking them for 3 weeks then a weeks break but the withdrawal bleed was really bad . after my fiorst consulation woth the gynacologist they said i could take them fro 12 weeks and have a break. i then had all my test and in May when i saw the main gynae at the hosp he said i didnt need to have a break.  i dont get any bleeds now, i have been told i could get breakthrough bleeding. they recommended the coil or ablation but i really didnt want either of them. upto now i have felt so much better on them but consultant has said he will just monitor my hormone levels as the 'average age' of menapause is 51.4  and im not too far off it.

      obviously you would need to check with your doctor if you wanted to take them all the time

       

    • Posted

      I understand what your saying about your situation. I don't want to take them all the time, I don't want to take them at all !! Anyway I'll go and have chat with doctor again, thanks

    • Posted

      i dpnt want to take them but i couldnt cope with the bleeding, must admit i am worried about what will happen when i stop them
    • Posted

      I thought they were keen to always do them and women were making excuses to not have it done,
    • Posted

      do you get bad withdrawal bleeds after you stop taking them? and how long do they last ?

       

  • Posted

    Deborah,  I wish there was a way to tell you for for sure that periods are over.  But this is the strange thing about menopause.  Some months your ovaries respond the FSH, albeit not with the same consistent normal levels, but still the respond to some degree.  So even when going through a natural menopause and not using any hormones, you can have a period some months and others NOT.  My body did this slow progression thing.  First I'd skip an period one month and then would have one the next.  Then it was every threee months.  Eventually it went to every six months.  It was hard to know when it might end.  But eventually it did.

    So all this says is that your lining wasn't up built up enough to sluff off after the progesterone.  But who knows if you're done quite yet. 

    I noticed that the topic for your post was "bloating from progesterone".  Did this 7 days make you bloat?  How much are you taking?  Obviously prescribed by your doctor.  You might just consider stopping the progesterone and see what happen from here, unless you are doing this due to a thicken lining.   

    • Posted

      Hi Gailannie, I take them for 7 days each month, I'm on Estrogel all the time and as I still have a uterus ! My doc said I need to take progesterone. I will go back next week and ask more questions as I'm not sure if I want to take them for a long time.

    • Posted

      It's bio identical gel, I rub in my legs or arms. Couldn't get on with HRT tablets

    • Posted

      Deborah, the majority of physicians treating a woman with a uterus, would ask that she take progesterone for 14 days per month.  At the very low end 12 days.  This is for protection of the uterus.  I'm curious, why 7?

      Question? Do you feel bad when you are on the progesterone?  And was this statrted because of irregular cycles?

       

    • Posted

      Deborah, somehow I think I saw a reply then I totally lost it.  

      So I can't respond unless I see something more.  

    • Posted

      I don't feel great when I take them, and I saw a top gynaecologist who prescribed 7 tabs a month for a small bleed. It wasn't really to do with irregular cycles. I'm 56 and before I started on gel my periods were about every 50 days. I'll stay on the meds for a while, I'm much better with meno symptoms now so it's swings and roundabouts 🙄

    • Posted

      I went from a 1 out of 10 at the start to a 10/10 by 3 months, but do get the odd down day. Nothing like I did before though
    • Posted

      Wow that's great.   I'm sure you don't want to stop the estrogen and testo.  But unfortunately with a uterus you will continue to need the progesterone.  

    • Posted

      yes ditto what gailannie says.my specialist meno/gynae gp said if you still have a uterus you have to take progesterone for at least  12days month to oppose the oestrogen you are taking (i'm on the estrogel nightly & utrogestan capsules days 15-26 of every 28day cycle)  its apparently to counteract risks of oestrogen (protective ) I will ask her next time i see her why you don't have to take progesterone every day though as i use estrogel every night. hmmmm.   x

    • Posted

      Looloo, 

      Back in the early 60s when estrogen was first used for menopause symptoms, progesterone wasn't given as part of the package.  Studies showed that estrogen alone, for a woman with a uterus, significantly raised the incidence of uterine cancer.  Progesterone has a protective effect for the uterus by  limiting the thickening of the uterine lining.  in the normal cycle we have estrogen/testo everyday, but progesterone becomes dominant in the second half of the cycle (last 14 days).  Studies quickly showed that woman taking progesterone (for a minimum of 12 days each month) along with the estrogen didn't have any increase in uterine cancer.  This is why woman with a uterus, who take estrogen are also given progesterone.    Woman who have had a hysterectomy are given estrogen only, because there is no uterus to protect.  There are some woman who take prescriptions that are a daily combination of both estrogen and progesterone, i.e. prempro is one of these products.

      It's the study proven, protective effects for your uterus with 12 days of progesterone, that is why your doctor is recommending you take it 12 days per month. 

      Some woman love taking the progesterone, while others simply hate it.  It opposes the estrogen in our bodies.  And it can sometimes be tricky to find the right dose of each, that does the trick.      

    • Posted

      Thankyou Gailannie, great explanation. so if the progesterone is more dominant in the last 14 days of the month, why do you have to take additional progesterone (while on estrogen hrt) at the same time it would be more dominant anyway, wouldn't it make more sense to take it the first 12 days of the cycle if progesterone is higher in the latter 14 days? 

    • Posted

      Looloo, what I have described to you is the "normal" cycle of estrogen and progesterone produced when we were younger and our ovaries worked like they are suppose to.  In the first  half of our "normal" cycle, our progesterone levels are very low.  Estrogen/testo are the dominant hormones.  Then, when we produce an egg and it ruptures from our ovary, it produces a lot of progesterone.  So in the last 14 days of the cycle, we have higher amount of progesterone.  As we age, and our ovaries get old, they no longer produce normal amounts of these hormones.  If you are in perimenopause, the fluctuations of your ovarian hormones are HUGE.  You can swing from too much to reduced levels of estrogen, and your progesterone can often be minimal or absent.  It is very common that women in perimeno are not ovualting.  That is exactly why "older" woman don't get pregnant at the drop of the hat like we did when we were younger.  We aren't ovulating as normal, and progesterone is necessary for supporting pregnancy.  Therefore in perimeno, without sufficient progesterone, woman can have strange, irregular periods.  This is where the supplemental progesterone comes in.  Women lacking a sufficient amount of progesterone can have flooding, clotting, short cycles, etc.  So this is why for woman in perimeno, doctors will often prescribe some progesterone.  It helps with large clots, short cycles, flooding periods and irregualr cycles.  

      When you are in menopause, and therefore no longer producing enough estrogen to even create a period, then your periods will stop.  Estrogen might help you feel better, but if you have a uterus, you would also need progesterone in the last 12-14 days to also protect your uterus from over growing the lining.   As I mentioned, there are some products that combine both estrogen and progesterone to provide both on a daily basis.  However, there are many experts that say that it is the estrogen that we are craving, and that while progesterone is necessary for woman who have a uterus, we should only take the progesterone for 12-14 days to more closely mimic our normal cycles.  

      Some woman don't feel good on the progesterone, while others simply love it.  We're all just a little different.  There are even some woman who have had hysterectomies who take progesterone because it makes them feel more normal.  And other woman who get depressed and low when they take progesterone, and simply hate taking it.  

      So depending where you are in this wonderful world of menopause,  what you are taking to supplement, whether or not you have a uterus, and how you tolerate progesterone, will determine what will make you feel better.  

      Hope this explanation helps. 

           

    • Posted

      I'm told to start 12 days on the 16th day after the first day of my period. Is this right

    • Posted

      In terms of counting cycles, you number them from the first day you start bleeding, i.e. that is considered day #1.  So normally we finish our period on, or around, day 7.  So typically, we should ovulate on day 14 of the cycle.  Then our bodies produce increasing level of progesterone until day 26 -28.  When the progesterone falls, we start our next period.  When we start a new cycle, both the estrogen and progesterone are low.   This is often why woman feel so tired and ichy the day they get their period.  

      So yes, your doctor is prescribing the progesterone in line with what a normal cycle would do.  Days 16 - 28 on progesterone.  Days 1 -15 without it.    

    • Posted

      Today is day 11 and past few days been so fatigued, and my scalp started itching a week ago which is new to me.

      I'm going to use my back leg and scratch like a dog it's so bad.

    • Posted

      colleen, I realize that my information pertains to me, and honestly I don't want to scare you.  However, from one woman to another, I simply must tell you about my experience.  The minute you mentioned severe scalp itching the hairs on the back of my head stood up.   I also have severe scalp itcing while doing estrogen only.  Here's the part I don't want to mention (but must),  My scalp started itching like crazy and then my hair started falling out by the handfuls.  It scared the living daylights out of me.  I finally went to a dermatologist who told me it was the revsult of vaginal estrogen.  He suggested I stop using it.  But unfortunately it didn't help.  The only thing that calmed my scalp and hair loss was progesterone.  

      So please take note if your hair starts falling out.  The progesterone should help with that.  (at least it did for me)  

      Good luck, and I hope your scalp stops itching soon. 

        

    • Posted

      Oh my ...... I have had itchy scalp. At base of skull, neck, last few days. Thought it was the supplements I'm taking. Sage,etc. I use vagifem (estradiol) suppositories maybe once a week if I remember. Only an hour ago while eating dinner with hubby, he mentioned the amount of hair in the plug hole!! Thank you so much for sharing that. I have Evorel Conti patches, but been worried to start them. I think I should now.

    • Posted

      Yep, that's exactly where it started for me too.  At the base of my scalp on the back of my head. That's also exactly where all the hair loss came from.  The dematologist gave me a liquid steriod to make my scalp stop itching.  But it was the progesterone that made my hair stop falling out.

      Ladies, my husband and I are leaving home in 2 hours, for the first vacation we have had in years.  I was the primary caregiver for my father with Alzheimer's disease for 4 years.  He died Dec. 2015.  So needless to say, I am looking forward to being away.  I tell you this, because I feel guilty dumping my hair loss experience on you and then leaving.  But I have given you all the information I can.  Severe scalp itching, hair loss, treatment, and what worked for me.  I hope my experience doesn't happen to you.  But I don't think there is anything worse for a woman than hair loss. So I wanted to help provide some info if I could.  

       

    • Posted

      Aww thank you, you have a wonderful vacation. Sorry for your loss. We'll be here when you get back! Hugs xxx

    • Posted

      I understand everyone is different, but a big THANKS for the heads up_! So my estrogen levels maybe too high
    • Posted

      Colleen,  

       This is a very tricky question and answer.  Is your estrogen too high?   What I would first mention is that everything works together.  It may not be TOO HIGH of estrogen, (i.e. if you had your levels tested it could still be in the lower end of lab values)  but instead, about it's ratio with progesterone.    

      For me, I had been in menopause for about 5 years when vaginal atrophy and dryness set in, therefore, the vaginal Estrace.  While "they" say that vaginal Estrace is not systemic, IT CERTAINLY IS FOR ME.  Boy could I feel it throughout my whole body.  I actually felt really good, and had the energy and mental/emotional attitude from long ago.  It felt wonderful....well until my acalp started itching horribly and my hair started falling out.  That a total bummer.  So for me, my estrogen levels (if they had been tested) would probably read pretty low, but obviously I had also been very progesterone deficient for a long, long time. That amount of estrogen was just too much without counter balance for me.  

      I have no idea of your meno status, how and what you have been taking.  All I know is to be careful with the scalp and hair.  It sure did a number on me.   

    • Posted

      Gail, you've been very educating and helpful. I'm going to call the nurses at my gyno. They said to call anytime if I have a question. My doc explained a lot but he has a strong accent and I had to pretend I understood because he is a very nice, and knowledgeable. He is an endocrinologist as well. My scalp just started to really itch last week, and I'm tempted to use my dogs furminator! Its a metal comb which removes the undercoat. I bet it would feel good on this itchy scalp

    • Posted

      They did a full blood work, and will find out the ratio of my prosgesterone and estrogen levels. Sept 13 I'm supposed to start the progesterone

    • Posted

      many thanks for your great reply Gailannie. i get it now, they are trying to mimic exactly your body's natural production/cycle of hormones. thankyou for explaining.  Have a great holiday. xx

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