Perimenopause & progesterone

Hi

Sorry to hear your problems. I'm 51, last year I had referral to gynaecologist, which resulted in having hysteroscopy biopsies & polyp removed., diagnosis - endometrial hyperplasia - simple- without atypia. No sign of cancer currently!If not treated had 1-2% chance of going cancerous. I had choice of progesterone tablets, mirena or hysterectomy. I took her advice & chose mirena. I've lots of emotional highs & horrendous amounts of anxiety but this maybe clashing with peri- or menopause state too!! Oh the joys 😫

Anyway I'm not allowed hrt as this can stimulate growth. I saw my gynaecologist who has discharged me until I need it removing & only return if I have a significant bleed, but each day I'm anxious.

What I have found is this is VERY COMMON and is potentially all part of this stage in our lives.

Mirena might work for you?!

Hope you find some reassurance

Hang in there

Em

Woo, 

   My thoughts are I wouldn't recommend a BCP.  I tried them in perimenopause and it was simply awful.  Plus it will disrupt what ever hormones you are naturally producing at this time in your life, albeit out of whack they may be.  The other side to the coin, is that there are woman who do well with them until menopause age. 

Progesterone can be taken in several forms.  Pills (prometrium, small pink round pills), compounded pill form (dose can be tailored to your needs), vaginal suppositories (compounded and tailored to your needs, usually in oil base), Standard RX (crinone, a pre measured cream in a vaginal applicator, often used in pregnancy for woman who are not producing enough progesterone.)  or a compounded cream that can be rubbed into the skin.  

I have tried several of these forms, and the vaginal types always worked the best for me.  Typically all of these are used right before bed, as it can make you sleepy.  

A thickened lining, blood clots with periods, short cycles, can all indicate a lack of progesterone.  This is very common as we get closer to menopause, as the follicles sometimes don't mature and produce the progesterone that they normally would.  I get not wanting to go down the replacement route, but doing one 12-14 cycle of progesterone might help.  Some woman say they feel much better, as it provides balance to help offset the etrogen they are still producing.  

Hope this helps.  Just know that any decision you make is not permanent.  

 

I'm surprised they did all that testing for irregular periods in perimenopause as that is a very common issue. You are very normal. You're producing estrogen that causes the uterine lining to thicken. That's what's been happening all your reproductive years. Then your body produces progesterone and that hormone causes that lining to shed and that's a period. It's common in peri to produce less progesterone, so the lining doesn't shed. Take progesterone and you'll have a period. It's about 10 days worth and that's it. When I was in peri, if I missed 3 periods in a row, I called the doctors office and they called in the progesterone. Took it for 10 days and had a period. When that finally stopped working, they did hormone testing and determined I was officially in menopause. I have no idea what the coil is. I'm in the US and I don't think we use those here. So I say take the progesterone. Easy fix.

Thanks everyone for your advice.

I am veering towards progesterone cream as it seems most non invasive.

In the UK or where I live any prolonged abnormal bleeding is investigated in the NHS within 2 weeks when referred by doctor (in my case I had 7 periods in 3 months) I also has anxiety and panic disorder brought on by imbalance hormones.

Hopefully i'll make right decision but end of a women's reproductive years can certainly be annoying!!!!!

Woo, I had great success with birth control pills. My irregular periods went regular, and my hormones balanced out with no anxiety or hot flushes. I tried HRT and that definitely did not sit well with me, my hormones were all over the place. But bcp worked great. Everyone is different what works for some may not work for others.

Hi, im 55 and menapausal. I have had a smear which was clear ( oh that rhymes lol) a virginal scan and an ordinary scan. The doc tor took a biopsy and im waiting to hear the results 😱. My question is i have a thick womb lining so what could they do for me? Not hrt i hope! As ive gone thru the horrible menapause will i be given cream etc, what do u ladies think? Im so scared

Hi

I was having heavy irregular bleeding with clots. I had all the test, smear, blood test, hysteroscopy , biopsies, they all came back clear apart from having a polyp which needs removing. that was cheduled for July but due to my blood pressure being too high they wouldnt do it . so im still waiting.

I have been on prostegen tablets since , no breaks on advice from consultant. Upto now I havent had any bad side effects, they have helped with my IBS, Ive had more energy, no sore boobs and hardly any mood swings. On telling the consutant he did say that they can also be used for bad PMT. I am still a little anxious, wondering if they will stop working and still worry that I will have a bleed but I am getting there. He suggested the coil for me but I was adamant I wasnt having it.