Norethisterone as a form of HRT?

[ChicaPixie]

Hello to all of you lovely warriors,I'm currently in process of trying to manage bowel and rectovaginal endo whilst also managing menopause after hysterectomy.

I've been on tibolone for 6 months but seems my flare ups gotten worse and my gyne specialist asked to try and reduce the dose of tibolone. It seems it's not doing much so the next step is to try norethisterone. But I've never heard of it.

Thought would ask if any of you ladies have had experience with using this as a form of HRT at all? What was your experience?

I'm going to try it but thought would ask this community of anything to be mindful of or about things you wish you knew before taking it etc.

Any advice will be greatly appreciated as always! 😊X

[Sunset-lady]

Hi, I've taken it to stop bleeding before but not as HRT. It's progestin (synthetic progesterone) which i don't tolerate well. I'm about to have a hysterectomy and have stage 4 rectovaginal endometriosis too along with adenomyosis and fibroids. Can I ask why they want you on HRT if it's pushing the endo? Is it for bone mass? Also can you take utrogestan (natural progesterone) and a small amount of estrogen? This is my plan as I know synthetic progestin makes my mental health very poor? I was on provera (similar to norithesterone and I became ill - i put on a lot of weight very quickly too but that's because it makes your body think you're pregnant which i don't know if it will do that if you're post hysterectomy. Let me know how you get on x good luck!

[ChicaPixie in reply to Sunset-lady]

Thank you so much for your reply lovely, appreciate your input and info. All of it really baffles me at times and can be so overwhelming so your response is really helpful. With my hrt is really just for the bone mass and they menopause symptoms. I'm now on half the tibolone dose just to have something. I'm 38 and I've been told I really should have the hrt even in the lower doses. The gyne specialist I'm seeing also said if I still continue to have significant flare ups the next thing we can try is testosterone. Though since my rectovaginal endo has not been treated or removed if I this doesn't help settling it a bit then a bowel resection is on the horizon. Ideally I would like to avoid it.

It is really good to just understand your experience as it helps me look out for possible effects when I start taking it. Interesting point about the drug making your body think you're pregnant I do wonder if it will do this even after hysterectomy. I'm due to take it for 60 days so I'm hoping I'll be able to tolerate it 🫣.

Thank you so much again and I'll be sure to let you know how it goes x

P.s on a different topic I just received the book you mentioned on the back pain so will be diving into that this evening 😊

[Sunset-lady in reply to ChicaPixie]

Oh good luck with that - it's a fascinating read. I'd also suggest Lara Briden's books on hormones x

[ChicaPixie in reply to Sunset-lady]

Thank you so much! I will definitely look into that one too. Anything that can broaden my understanding and help x

Just one thing I forgot to ask on the synthetic progestin, when you stopped taking provera did you experience any withdrawal symptoms?

Thank you so much again ☺️ x