I've been taking E and P continuously for 3 months now. Saw my doc yesterday for his requisite check up and am doing my blood work and bone density scan this week. We talked about adding T which we will do but I'd like to see my numbers first (not that that makes any difference). But, I would like to try cycling the P. I hadn't had a period for a number of months before I started HT so it will be interesting, I think, to see what happens.
Is it best to stop for just a week or can it be longer? I'm not keen on not having the P on board while taking the E. Doc says to fiddle around and do what makes me feel best.
For those of you who are on this kind of supplementation, what works best for you?
Thanks for your help.

Cathy

sorry....shouldn't call you *guys*. i guess there are too many boys in my house....i should have said *ladies*!

I use my progesterone for 14 days out of the month but I have had my uterus removed so not sure this is helpful.

My last period before starting estradiol supplementation was Oct 1. I started supplementing estradiol, less than half a dose, on Nov 15. I use progesterone for 14 days out of each month. I had a period Dec 29-31, only 3 days long and very very light. I'm waiting to see if I'll have another soon. I feel the "rumblings" if you know what I mean. :-)

I cannot substantiate my "theory" (for lack of a better term), but after all that I've read I personally believe that if you are supplementing estradiol at full dose, you should have regular periods, and I would even say once a month since that's what your body used to do. For the women using low dose estradiol, I personally believe that they should still have periods, but they don't need to be as frequent.

I also believe that you should cycle the progesterone. I've read in several sources that it's good to give the progesterone receptors a break. I also think that the withdrawal of progesterone either causes, or helps to cause, the period.

Interested to hear what everyone else has to say ...

Hey there,

So, you use P cream for 2 weeks on, then 2 weeks off?
I imagine then, that it would be OK to be off for less than 2 weeks? As I mentioned, I'm a period paranoid about NOT using it while still using the E.
I am curious to hear what others are doing also.
My doc also said that it would be OK to use both continuously for a couple or three months at a time, then come off for a "period". That's if I wanted to.

Cathy

I also think it's a good idea to cycle progesterone. I believe the receptors do need a break from it to work properly. I started to have problems when on it continuously. I also found that testosterone helped counteract some of the negative effects of progesterone but it's a tricky balancing act between too much and not enough.

What type of problems did you experience Rehma? How long were you on it when you began to have trouble?
I've heard that T works synergistically with E and P. I am looking forward to giving it a try.

Yes, I do take 2 weeks off, but now I'm having second thoughts ...

Based on symptoms, I think I entered peri when I was 41-42. I didn't start testing hormones until I was 46. My progesterone was below the low end of the normal range for a pre-menopausal woman, but it was probably normal for a perimenopausal woman, especially as far into peri as I was ! But that time I had already missed some periods and my cycles were becoming irregular.

I started supplementing progesterone, cyclically, roughly 2 weeks out of every cycle (it was kind of hard for some cycles because of the irregularity). But after the last dose wore off, I was probably sub-normal again. And this is how I remain, I'm still using the stuff cyclically, 2 weeks on, the rest of the month off.

But prior to peri I'll bet that my progesterone was low for the first half of the cycle but not sub-normal. It was probably in the low-to-mid portion of the normal range, and then after ovulation bumped up higher.

I think I'm interested in restoring a higher overall level of progesterone, which might mean using it every single day, but only using a very small amount the first half of the cycle and using more the second half.

I worked on my Excel spreadsheet tonight. I'm focusing on estradiol but the calculations will work for progesterone as well. I've set it up so that the least amount of estradiol I use on any day is .5mg (which is .25 under the normal EstroGel dose of .75mg), and on certain days I use more. I managed to make a major estradiol peak on day 15 and a minor peak on day 22. I think I'm going to do the same thing with progesterone, use some progesterone every single day, but on some days it's only a very small amount, like 3-5mg, and on the other days when I want to make my peak I'll use more. As soon as I get some solid numbers for you all, I'll post them in this section of the forum. I'll also give the spreadsheet to anyone who wants it. It utilizes half life values, very important to figure in because .5mg/day eventually builds up to a steady state of 2mg after a couple of weeks. Topical estradiol has a half life of 36 hours, the next day you still have some of the estradiol in you from the prior day.

I hope any of this made sense ! I'm getting tired. :-)

Well, I'm tired after reading that.....:-)
This sounds interesting but I have a couple of problems with cycling like that. One, I am pretty forgetfull and would have difficulty remembering what I was supposed to do and when. Second, I am lazy which is I think why I am happy with my pills. This plan works with progesterone cream, right? I can't monkey with my P because it's one dose.
I think what I will do is stop taking the P tomorrow, Feb. 1 to make it easy to remember. I'll stay off it for a week, then go back on. The thought still makes me nervous that I won't have the protection through the week, but 7 days is not that long. I'll see what happens. Then I'll decide whether to do this monthly, or every two or three months.
Sandra, I think you should start a new thread when you begin this new routine and let everyone know how it's working for you.
It sounds pretty cool.

Cathy

Creating the peaks definitely means you'd have to be on top of it every single day, measuring doses, keeping track of which day it is. When I'm done creating my plan, let's see how long I can stay on it. :-)

I'm thinking about base doses for E2 and P that you do every single day, and then on some days you just add a little more. So that way you could use, say, an E2 patch, and on the days you are adding more you use a cream or gel. For E2 and P you'd have to have the product dispensed in a way that you could pump/squeeze out a sub dose. My EstroGel pump is designed to splat out a full dose, but I can pump out smaller amounts too if I don't depress the plunger fully.

Regarding stopping for a week and not having protection ... you actually probably will. I don't know what the half life of P is, but let's say it's 24 hours. In the 3 weeks that you are using the stuff, you build up an amount inside of you that's called "steady state". Let's call it SS. Then when you stop apply the P, the next day you have 1/2 of that amount in you, so SS/2. And the day after that you have SS/4 in you, and the day after that SS/8, etc. So you're actually tapering down, and you may never really have none in you if you know what I mean. And then when you start applying it again, you ramp up to that steady state amount again. I think it sounds like a good plan, Cathy. I'm beginning to think that stopping for a week is better than stopping for two.

Hey Sandra

Yeah, I know that the P will stick around for that week even though it's strength diminishes each day. That's why I think I could handle a week off without serious health anxiety about it. Any more than that and I believe I would worry. I am a worry wort....:-)
I am beginning to feel slight pain/stiffness in my legs and hips (could be some tough yoga classes???) and I know that P can do that, so I am hoping that will ease when I'm off it as well.
Like everyone knows, it's all one big experiment!
Good luck with your plan. Please let us know how it all goes.

Cathy

Hi everyone,

Wondering how many days it should take to get a period (if I'm going to get one) after stopping my P??? A couple or three maybe?
What is usual, if there is a usual.
Thanks

Cathy

I just started bhrt over the weekend and my Dr. has me continuously taking both.....she didn't want to cycle me she just wanted it for symptom relief. HUGS Mikki

Hey there,

That's how I started 3 months ago. What are you taking? Had your periods stopped before you began the HT? My doc recommended that I take it continuously also, but I have been reading and thinking about that for the past 3 months and decided to take a break from the P.
I will probably do this every few months, not every month.
How are you feeling? Are you getting relief now?

Cathy

cathy I am on biest 80/20 estriol/estradiol and i still get spotty periods whenever they show up...I really don't have a schedule anymore, just whenever Dr says this is because not ovualting my body doesn't know what to do.

I will let you know how I feel after a bit....my husband and I are afraid to get to excited or I am anyway, but it may be promising only time will tell though as I have had good days before. HUGS MIkki