I'm taking my E and P every day. Took a break from the P at the beginning of this month to see how I would feel without it. I've been back on it since the 8th and yesterday had the rumblings of something coming on. This morning, had some light bleeding. It's too early to tell if it's going to be a full blown period or not, but now I'm confused.
Why would I bleed now? If I was going to get a period this month, wouldn't it have come during the week that I went off the P?
I haven't had a real period since May or June. I don't have a problem with it but am just wondering why and what do I do now? Should I stop the P or keep taking it?
Thanks for your help ladies.

Hi Manyboys,

I remember my doctor telling me when I first started using the BHRT, take them both daily. So I asked her, will I still get periods??? She said you might or you might not, just let your body adjust to it.

Maybe you are in that phase of adjusting. And remember that just because you are taking some supplemental hormones doesn't mean that your body isn't fluctuating and still going through some kind of a cycle.

Remember that these are not like bcp, they don't work the same way. It's all very confusing, I feel for you, but if your body has a good period, that's probably a good thing. If it's just spotting, then it will just clear up.

Take care, Juliann

Good advice Juliann. Thank you.
Should I stop taking the P while/if I have this period?
I may be getting ahead of myself because it's still nothing really. Just enough for a panty liner.
I'm thinking stay on the E, stop the P.
Blech.....way too much to think about!

You may experience spotting, but I can't see what the point would be to stop the P because you are not cycling them? right?? If you are on a continuous dosage then don't stop. Just keep taking the same thing every day and see what happens.

With progesterone, in my experience you have to take a higher dosage for at least 10-14 days to get a period, if you are cycling. Or if you are on a continuous method, then your daily dosage is smaller. This may bring on some break through bleeding which is not really a period, so I would keep taking it. JMHO.

Maybe try journaling what happens each day/month and see how it goes after 3 months of doing this. I wish there was a perfect solution, we are still just lab rats, lol.

Juliann

Sorry, I have opposite advice here.

I would immediately stop the P as soon as I saw any kind of bleed. P keeps you from bleeding and your body wants to bleed, so let it shed the lining. Better for you anyway.

The OTC Progesterone cream packet says to do this.

Since you are still bleeding, you might also consider taking E and P cyclically, the body needs a break from P.

wordsmith

Dear'manyboys'

When I first went onto a continuous Hormone supplement-synthetic HRT- I had breakthrough bleeding for almost six months.Sometimes worse than others.I got to my Gyno. to get checked out and all was well.
Although he is not very amused that I still take HRT,he respects my views.He also explained that breakthrough bleeding is very common in the first few months and should gradually taper off.Well it did.

It is definitely worth discussing with your Gyno.to check that you are on correct dosages,sometimes they need tweaking.Also for your peace of mind.

Hope things improve

Warm Wishes
Elizabeth

I just started progest on the 8th day of my cycle which the directions say. I am having what I call trailing off bleeding, as you do when you cycle is finishing. It is a bit better, but still there, brown in color etc. Today is my 8th day. I figured I would take it until the 21st day and see what happens. If things don't straighten out , I will quit and let my period happen and try again. If the bleeding continues, I will stop and restart on the 8th day.

I have had no testing, but identified with the symptoms of too much estrogen. Since starting the progest, I am sleeping better, and my palpitations have stopped.


If anyone has input I am open to it, if I am doing things right I will hear that too . Thanks.

PS. The reason I started Progest was irregular periods, hormonal migraines, etc.

******************************************************************************


Gee, here I am in the middle of the night! I should be posting on the NOT Sleeping Board! LOL! After 6 hours of sleep, I feel ready to go. LOL!

I am doing continuous BHRT, too. I just started a few months ago, and I am having spotting, too. Just when I thought I would never stop spotting...I stopped. My doc says that this is normal and my body is adjusting. Then of course, I started spotting again. I have never had spotting before, so I know that there is not any major problems going on with my body. The spotting is the only negative symptom I am having.

I might try cycling on down the line, but I was having major meno symptoms, along with 4 migraines per month, and two very heavy period days. It took me 2 days to recover from the migraines (2 mid cycle...2 before period.) I was out of commission for at least 10 days a month. 1/3 of my life!


Since starting bios, I have not had any symptoms at all....I feel great! I am almost afraid to try cycling because my body is kicking out hormones....some days too much, some days too little. I think the continuous bhrt keeps my levels stable.

Although I am sick of the mini-pads, the spotting is nothing compared to what I was going through. I feel so "normal" now. I am afraid that my family would force feed me the bios because of the positive changes.

My daughter (17) told me the other day to stop the bios because SHE was tired. She said keeping up with was exhausting. LOL!

I read somewhere that if spotting continued that the E was too high or the Progest was too low.

I am going give it a few more months before I start tweaking the doses. I feel too good right now to mess with a good thing.

We'll keep in touch and compare. I am sure that others have experienced this,too.

Shebee

Hi Sheebee,

I'm glad you have found some relief with HT. It's pretty amazing how it all works, isn't it?
I'm wondering what you're taking. Curious to know what kind of E and P and your doses??? Are you peri, meno? I don't want to cycle either. I absolutely loved not having a period, but of course didn't love the nasty meno symptoms.
I got a period this month after 11 months of no period so I stopped taking the P altogether and let the period happen. I was feeling very E dominant before that so I thought it best to let my body do what it obviously needed to do. I do feel better after do that, but I still haven't gone back to taking the P and I really don't want to but I know I HAVE to.....:-/
So, I'm at a crossroads right now. I've lowered my dose of E for now and some of my symptoms have returned unfortunately.
I did spot here and there when I was taking E and P everyday and my doc said the same thing to me. Just keep taking them, it's your body adjusting.
I believe I must have had a surge of E at some point this month which is why I had the E dominant symptoms and got the period.

Hoppy Easter!!!!

Hi Manyboys - I started BHRT about 3 months ago and have had a little bleeding. Never enough to need a pad, a panty liner did the job. My NP said not to worry about it, just keep taking the P and let it happen. Had an ultrasound to measure the thickness of my endometrium, came out 4.9mm which she said was very thin so things are fine. She also said that if I wanted to control when the bleeding would happen to cycle the P, but if I didn't care, just let it go.

Hi sciencelady,

I was so happy to not have periods anymore. I was also lucky that I had some "products" in the house cause I the period came out of nowhere!!!
I don't like the Prometrium I was taking. I feel fine on it in the beginning, then it turns on me. So, I have to investigate other forms of P if I'm going to continue HT.
How are you feeling on it? What kind of E and P are you taking?


Cathy

Hi Cathy - I'm taking 100 mg Prometrium each night and using the Vivelle Dot patch. I started with .05, then .075, now .1 I don't think it's working that well for me - I still have many of my symptoms. I'd say that I'm about 50% better. I'm probably going to be switching to compounded bios in the next few weeks. I'm waiting to get the results from blood and saliva tests. The Prometrium doesn't seem to bother me but it certainly hasn't helped my sleep, like it does for some. What are you taking? Is it working for you?

I had a Dr. tell me that as long as you havea uterus & take Estrogen you may bleed. sorry this is happening to you!

cahold

A few years ago my Dr. put me on Prometrium, as he handed me the script he said warn your DH, this is going to make you realllllly crabby! Sure enough it did. I tried using otc progesterone & it has the same effect on me.
cahold

Dear'sciencelady'
I was thinking about you the other day and wondering where you had disappeared to!

Am very pleased to hear that you are having good results with the BHRT!It is true that the breakout bleeding and spotting will eventually stop on its own as your body becomes used to receiving its dose of Hormones after a dry spell!

Very Best Wishes
Elizabeth

I sure could use some help here. I am on bhrt via pellet insert...I get Testosterone and E via pellet. I had tried every other form before the pellet and this is the only thing that I has helped me so far. While doing creams, sublinguals, drops, gels, etc....I still had bleeding that I could not control. I take 200mg Progesterone nightly. At first I was doing it continuously and then doc said to stop for a week and try to train my cycle because the bleeding comes regardless of whether I am off or on the Progesterone. These are full blown periods with the backache I use to get as a young girl, some cramps, chocolate craving...all and it does not matter if I am on or off the Progesterone, period comes anyway. I am 57 years old, went through natural menopause and have had 5 pellet inserts of T & E.

Doctor now wants me to take 400mg of Progesterone starting this new cycle. I was wondering if anyone else has taken this amount to try and stop the bleeding every month. I really don't want to have my uterus removed but don't want to go back to feeling like a dead person either. The pellet has been wonderful and I bled on all so don't think that is the problem. Any help is greatly appreciated.

mimicin

Did you have trouble with bleeding before going on HRT? Would an ablation help? I have never had one myself but I know of several women who had continuous bleeding problems who had one and their problems were resolved. None of them were on HRT but I think one was on BC pills. I also know of several who had hysterectomies because of bleeding but again.. they weren't on HRT prior to the hyster.

I can't imagine taking 200 mg of prometrium continuously... let alone 400. You have my sympathies.

Hi,

I am on pellet bhrt also. I went thru natural menopause at 42, haven't had a period in 10 years. I had 2 testosterone and 1 estrogen pellets inserted on April 1 and I take 100 mg of progesterone from day 1 to 21 of each month.....and I had some break thru bleeding in May while on the P, in mid June while still taking the P I had a full blown period with cramps and everything. I called my doc and she said to get off the P and stay off till July 1. She said this could go on for a few months till my body adjusts. How long have you had your pellets? Maybe your body needs more time to adjust to them. Are you bleeding all the time or just having a period each month?

I also have tried other hrt and bhrt and this is the only one for me, I feel like I did 20 years ago.

I wish you the best!!

Wow, I couldn't imagine taking 400 mgs of Prometrium...I was taking 100 continuously and ended with huge weight gain, bloated with water retention, had liver function issues....all and all the Prometrium and I didn't get along. I stopped it and had a withdrawal bleed, and a pretty major one at that!! Guess I needed it. I also noticed I had E dominant symtoms without the P on board, so I cut the E (Estrogel) in half while I was off the P.

I started P cream/gel (Rx 5% .2 ml x 2 a day) and again doubled up the E while on the P. I got a series of occular migraines for a week, so decided to go off the P cream (and cut the E in half again) to see if the headaches would stop. (I had another headache today, so I don't know if the P was the cause) I have had a wee wee bit of spotting this time, but not a bleed like last time.

I may stick to cycling the P, if I don't have a major withdrawal bleed every month. A little spotting is worth not suffering the Progesterone symptoms. I am going to ask the gyn on July 6 about adding Testosterone and finding another method of using P, or cycling P. I am going to investigate cycling it over longer periods of time....like every couple of months, rather than monthly.

Isn't this FUN, trying to get it all tweaked just right....and I swear, even when you get it right - it may only be "right" for a few months and then your body does some kind of internal hormone shift...and we are back at square one again.

hi,

I know you posted this way back in June, but I wonder if you have stopped having the periods while on progesterone. I also have the BHRT pellets (and love them) I am post meno and take 100 progesterone at nights from day 1 to day 21 each month. I get a period around the 8th of the month. Is my progesterone not strong enough, I think I am supposed to stop the progesterone if I get a period, if I do that I'll only take the progesterone from the 1st to the 8th of each month. I'm all messed up and wonder if you worked out your problem and have any advice for me. I've been on pellets since April. Thanks.