Progesterone Cream recommendations (UK)

[doggylover]

Hi everyone, just wondering if anyone in the UK has any progesterone cream recommendations? There are so many on line and I want to make sure I get the “right” one, and not from some dodgy place. Or am I best getting a prescription?

 

[becsboo]

i would get it from the gp x

 

[doggylover]

Thanks!

 

[happycupcake]

I don't think you can get it on prescription here in the UK because it isn't licensed.
I ordered mine from Biovea, it's about £40 for two bottles (50 20mg applications per bottle) including delivery. Takes about a week to arrive as it comes from the US and was the best deal I could find online with the fastest delivery. Everywhere else seemed insanely expensive in comparison.
It was excellent initially but my two previous cycles it hasn't been. I found my temps were higher and my anxiety lifted at first, but this didn't happen with my previous cycle - my temps dropped hugely after 6dpo and kept lowering despite me using 200mg of the cream daily split into 12 hour applications. Cycle before my temps weren't particularly low but my anxiety was there constantly and my temps were rocky. I swapped to Cyclogest pessaries at 10dpo previous cycle when my temps kept lowering and my anxiety wasn't going anywhere and they were amazing. My temps increased nicely and my anxiety disappeared.
To be honest because it's hard to get and because you have to wait on delivery for ages and the expense of it, and the fact it seemed to stop working (I think it gets saturated in fat tissue and gets stuck there eventually, isn't meant to happen when you alternate areas but it's the only explanation I can find for it not working), I would ask your doctor for a licensed form of progesterone instead.
Pessaries you can use front or back door (front is generally advised I think but back door is advised for those who suffer frequent UTIs but this can give diarrhoea), they can irritate you a little but I found drinking plenty made this go away, they come in 200mg or 400mg and I think it's more logical to space them every twelve hours instead as progesterone starts to drop after about 12 ish hours.
You can also find it in gel pessary form, injections and oral tablets (which can be used vaginally). The oral pills aren't as good because they have to be processed by your liver which means you're more likely to experience side effects from them. I think this is why some women use these vaginally, that and the fact apparently it's been shown to work best this way anyway.
The creamis good for some people and I have read countless glowing reviews on it but it only worked temporarily for me. When you think when it's used to support a pregnancy early on, if you conceive you have to stick with supplementing until about twelve weeks gestation until the placenta takes over the production of progesterone, so if you use cream and it does the same to you as it did with me, and stops working after a while, this may cause a miscarriage. The other methods of delivering the hormone don't risk getting stuck stored up in fat tissue, so I think are more reliable

 

[doggylover]

Thank you! That’s a very comprehensive look at it all.

You mention that you have swapped to pessaries - are these on prescription or bought online?

 

[happycupcake]

Prescription. You can't get them (or any licensed progesterone) without a prescription. You can order them online and you can pay for them but they always check to see you have a valid prescription first.
Have you asked your doctor about supplementing? Do you know you're low on it? You can have a CD21 blood test (or whichever day is a week before your period is due) to check your levels. I haven't had this done (I actually went to have it done but they screwed up my bloods and tested for pregnancy instead), but so many of my symptoms point to low progesterone I'm pretty sure, and my GP agrees since she was the one to suggest it in the first place.
So yeah, you will have to speak to your GP first, but if you're showing symptoms I would imagine they will prescribe without bloods because it isn't harmful to you and if you find whatever issues you're having aren't resolved with supplementation then they can do bloods and try other things

 

[doggylover]

No I haven’t been diagnosed, just looking in to it as I have discovered my luteal phase is short at the minute, and have read it can help with that. I can’t do a reliable blood test if you have to do it a week before your period as my period is so irregular, and now my LP is too so there is no way to predict it atm.

I will definitely discuss it with my gp and get the conversation started. Thanks very much.

 

[happycupcake]

I see, that's hard isn't it! In that case I reckon your GP would prescribe it. Do you remember when your lp changed? Anything significant happen around the same time or before? Also, do you temp? I'm assuming you do, but if you don't it's worth temping to make sure it is your lp that's changed and not how long it has taken you to ovulate. If you're keeping track with temps take them in with you to show your doctor as this could be helpful. If your temps are on the low side then this can be another indicator of low progesterone, if they're very low, or if they are lowering too much too soon.
With testing the only thing you can do is wait to see if this helps regulate things, use other things to regulate your hormones if you can (evening primrose oil is said to help this), and then go in when you know you're about the right time. Evening primrose oil shouldn't be used during your lp, though. Red raspberry leaf tea is good, and I hear good things about agnus cactus (I think this is it!) which I think is used for regulating hormones

 

[doggylover]

I can’t temp as I am awake regularly during the night with my son, and kind of awake/dozing from about 5am with him, but so sleepy I can’t rememver to temp - if that makes sense? But I don’t get enough of a block of sleep because of his poor sleep to temp reliably. But anyway, so I use OPK which I know don’t show ovulation has happened, but in the past it’s always been 13/14dpo that af has appeared so I have trusted them. My follicular phase definitely changes too, it’s different every cycle but until now I have had a really regular and reliable LP which was the only thing I could count on!

He is also, I believe, the cause of the shortened LP as I am breastfeeding him so I think that’s the reason. I think I’ve been a bit hasty in my idea of using progesterone, as it would have some serious implications for breastfeeding too. I think I panicked when AF appeared so quickly this month after my ovulation. And this is also our first cycle ttc and me using OPK so I would need more info to be sure about my LP.

I panicked I’m going to try fertility acupuncture first as it’s obviously more suitable for me breastfeeding

Thanks for all your info, you’ve been very helpful