Can ovestin cause endo flare?

[Earthmother1]

Hello😊 I'm new here and thought this might be a good place to ask this question. Ive suffered endo since my periods began. It caused fertility issues. Ive had 2 laparoscopic surgeries to remove endo, the last surgery was 4 years ago and they also removed a fallopian tube and ovary cyst. Im 48 and in perimenopause, I've been on desogestrel for 4 years to suppress the endo and its worked brilliant, no periods for 4 years! However, my perimenopause symptoms are a nightmare, brain fog, forgetfulness, joint aches and pain (diagnosed fibromyalgia), very dry, sore, itchy vagina, insomnia worse than it already was. So ive tried ovestin for the past week and I started having urine problems, constantly going to the toilet, then the ache started along lower abdomen and up the right side, I went to drs and they said it was a uti even though no signs of infection, my ph levels very alkaline. Started antibiotics and the ache got worse, my whole abdominal area felt internally hot and sore on palpitation, it felt like a very bad endo flare, I was bloated and aching. But my joints throughout my body were also aching. Do you think ovestin could trigger an endo flare? Could it be my own estrogen just happened to sky rocket at the same time I was using the cream causing too much estrogen? The flare seems to be calming down now, but for 6 days I've had this flare and started ovestin 7 days ago, coincidence? Any advice would be appreciated. As a side note everytime I've tried the gel or patches I get sinus congestion, leading to uncomfortable sinusitis, I'm thinking that this is a histamine reaction, maybe I'm just very sensitive to estrogen? That kind of sucks being a woman! Any advice would be appreciated. Thank you in advance.

[MyStar86]

it’s a tricky one but all of your symptoms are menopause symptoms which you get through a lack of oestrogen and during perimenopause your natural oestrogen levels are falling so having those symptoms is not because you have too much oestrogen it’s because you have too little. The topical creams for the the vagina are totally different to the patches spray and pills for hrt the cream has the least Impact and only works on the area it is treating its localised. Sorry I cannot help you more xx

[Earthmother1 in reply to MyStar86]

Thank you for your reply. It seems that every time I try to make things better regarding my health and hrt, I just seem to make things worse. Such a sad place to be, I'm with the menopause clinic but honestly they're rubbish! They just tell me I'm a complicated case😔. Being in perimenopause and having fluctuating hormones means I can't gauge them. I have low hormone symptoms for months and then a surge every now and then, nightmare! Xx

[MyStar86 in reply to Earthmother1]

You poor thing it sounds horrible I had to have a hysterectomy where they removed everything when I was 35 in 2021 and I was thrown into full menopause and it took me about 6 months to balance out my hormones with hrt. I have had many surgeries for endometriosis and for a long time I kept thinking it was the hrt causing the endo to come back so I had another lap and there was no endo caused by the hrt so I think a lot of it is a battle with emotions during these difficult times with hormones it’s hard to think clearly and it’s very stressful, mine was different because I didn’t get fluctuations but I still got the symptoms badly when my hrt wasn’t right. Just make sure when you do have endometriosis that you ensure you wlwshs take a combined hrt don’t let anyone put you on oestrogen only as you need the progesterone for not only the menopause but for the endometriosis xx

[Earthmother1 in reply to MyStar86]

I think endometriosis complicates things, being estrogen fed. The menopause clinic have advised I do estrogel 1 pump every other day and 100mg of utrogestan daily, with ovestin twice a week, i should've done a 2 week loading with ovestin, but ive only done 1 week due to a flare up. Let's see what happens. I hope you've got your balance right, it's good to know that some women have found the right combination. Thank you again for your reply. I've a feeling I'll be asking this forum for more advice.