Sandrena Gel and Utrogestan Tablets – Match Made in Heaven?

Finding an HRT combination that worked in sorting my menopause symptoms, does feel like finding the holy grail, I know that might sound dramatic but it really is wonderful when you find it!

I have been on this combination of oral progesterone and estrogen gel for 6 months and am thrilled with what this has done for me. 

Very recently I increased from 1mg to 1.5mg of Sandrena and I will tell you a bit about why.

First, let’s take a look at what these hormones are all about. 

Sandrena gel and Utrogestan tablets – what are they? 

Keeping this super simple because I am not a medical professional, these are hormone replacement therapy (HRT) made up of two different types of hormones.

Sandrena 

Sandrena HRT gel is the female hormone estrogen, the one that we lose at a crazy rate when we hit perimenopause and menopause. 

It comes in small sachets of 1mg estrogen which is handy for travelling or being out and about with work, I often pop them in my bag to apply at lunch if I am out the door too early. 

I started on a 1mg sachet but after 3 months I noticed that my mood dropped, I was a bit tired, my belly started to bloat and my  severe headaches were back. 

This is something other people have talked about when looking at HRT, there is often a gentle comeback of symptoms a few months in. 

Keep an eye out for that!

I am now on 1.5mg per day (1 and a half sachets) and it has taken care of those returning menopause symptoms. 

I am quietly confident that a high dose of Sandrea HRT gel is considered to be around 2-3mg now, but always check this with a GP!

Utrogestan

Utrogestan 100mg oral HRT tablets are the hormone progesterone. We don’t often talk much about this when estrogen is the big player but if you are still having your menstrual cycle and menstrual periods then you will need to take this too. 

My dose is 2 of the ball-shaped tablets every night on an empty stomach for the first two weeks of the month. 

I have not changed the dose on this but I do keep a close eye on how I feel taking this, I know a lot of women have had mixed results. 

For me, this has worked wonders, the only thing is sometimes I do forget. So far I have not noticed anything major for forgetting now and again but I will let you know if anything comes up!

There are been some Utrogestan reviews where women find that they have intermittent bleeding if they miss their tablets, again, this has not happened to me but I thought I would mention it.

My understanding is that when I believe I have had my last menstrual period I will speak to the GP, get more blood tests and see what the next steps are.

What other HRT options are there? 

There are lots of options out there and I have put a link to the menopause HRT section on the NHS website but in brief, you have:

• Oral HRT Tablet Form – sometimes combined

• HRT patches

• Gels

• Implants

• Vaginal Estrogen

• Testosterone

There are lots of decisions to be made with your GP before you confirm what HRT journey will be best for you and hey, it can take time to get it right.

Not all GPs are fully trained on menopause symptoms and how best to treat them, so please make sure you ask for a menopause specialist. 

If your GP does not have a menopause specialist, ask for a referral to a menopause clinic.

How does taking this combination make you feel? 

I have read mixed things on the hormone progesterone tablets and the same for Sandrena 1.0mg gel, but it has worked wonders for me. 

A couple of weeks after taking the combo 99% of my symptoms had gone, and I had quite a few! 

The only thing I notice is that when I end my two-week cycle of Utrogestan, I find my mood dips a little for around two days, nothing crazy, but enough to make me notice and if I am honest, make those around me notice a bit too.

Overall this combo has helped me to feel like myself again, and I will always be over the moon about that.

How do I apply Sandrena 1.0mg gel?

Everyone says something different and I have tried them all, there is no one fixed HRT regime.

The official document says to apply the gel to your lower body or thighs, but there is some skill to this. 

I started gently rubbing the gel into my thighs until it was tacky and then I would wait 5 minutes for it to try, this worked pretty well

Then I got impatient. 

I am a busy working Mum so I thought that 5 mins could be shortened so I started to rub the gel into my thighs until it was almost completely rubbed in. Bad idea. 

Within a week I felt menopause symptoms creeping back in, so I did my research and found that if you spread it over your thighs with the inside of your upper arm you don’t lose any of the good stuff. 

A gentle spreading/smearing of the gel works the best for me and within a few days, I was back to feeling great. 

This is an alcohol-based gel and shouldn’t be used like any other skin product. 

Go gently with it. 

I would say that because I am on slightly more now I put 1mg on my thigh on a morning and then I have started to put 0.5mg on the inside of the opposite thigh on a night. 

The reason I have split it is that it takes a good 15 mins for a gel smear to dry properly so adding another half sachet would extend that even longer, so this works best for me. 

You will find something that works for you, if you do, let me know, I am always happy to try new techniques! 

How do I take Utrogestan 100mg tablets? 

This is the easy bit. 

Take two Utrogestan hormone progesterone 100mg tablets every day at night with some water. It is best to take on an empty stomach, so I have mine just before I go to bed. 

I will say that these little balls take a while to go down for me. No idea why, I am a serial tablet taker but they do need a good glug of water to help them on their way!

Repeat the same dose for the first 14 days of the month.

That’s it. 

What are the benefits of taking HRT Estrogen gel and hormone progesterone tablets?

I can’t speak for all patches and combo tablets or any of the other HRT options out there. 

What I can tell you is that you can increase the estrogen gel and decrease it again with great ease and not have to worry about cutting up patches or splitting tablets in half.

Estrogen gel availability has been a little tricky if I am honest, there has been a lot of press about HRT and that it is a lot safer than we thought. 

There will always be some risk in taking HRT but some are a higher risk than others. Blood clots and the risk of breast cancer are the number one worry for women thinking of going on an HRT journey. So much has changed now and we are lucky to have advocates for HRT, like Dr Louise Newson, who is changing the narrative to the correct one.

This has led to lots of pharmacies being inundated with requests for the gel and sometimes I need to ring around local pharmacies to check if they have it. 

The good news with the gel is that there are a couple of options out there so if one runs out most GPs are happy to offer the other as a backup. 

Closing Thoughts

I think it is important that whatever you decide is the right HRT journey for you, you do it with a GP or a menopause clinic to support you.

There will be some women who are at a much higher risk when it comes to taking Utrogestan, I have read some women have struggled with it.

The same can be said for any HRT regimes, some will work and some will most definitely not, but that is what the professionals are there for, please use them.

Blood tests are out there for those women who believe that they have menopause symptoms and you are well within your right to push for these blood tests.

I was perimenopausal for many years before I realised that the weight gain, mood swings, anxiety, joint pain and brain fog were because my estrogen was leaving my body faster than a Formula 1 car!

If you are thinking of starting HRT and are prescribed Utrogestan 100mg capsules with Sandrena Gel, please let me know how you get on.

I wish you the very best, there is hope out there!

Kathryn x