Yes, apparently if you live in the U.S. I live in Canada and after 6 years on HRT (one 100 mg Prometrium pill and one shot of Estrogel (normal is 2 pumps) a day I am currently being weaned off of it. At the moment I am taking this combo every second day and am to switch to every 3 days shortly. I did ask the gyno why women in the U.S. people seem to be able to just take progesterone and she said that the Cdn. government does not support the theory behind it. I had posted on The Kitchen Table for advice re being weaned off of HRT since the Menopause forum is not very active. A few people mentioned progesterone only every 3 days - this was a few days before my follow-up appointment with the gyno so my info was current. So I will be going off it totally. I am 63 and a 1/2 (but who is counting?). I started taking it because I have always had naturally extremely dry skin with rosacea (no acids etc. for my skin) and I did not have any health reasons that would have prevented me from doing so. Every day now I am looking in the hated "big" side of the mirror for signs of further aging! I have thin facial features so that does not help. Re hot flashes, I have never had one. Who knows what will happen next? But I do not sweat as I have very high body acid - which is not healthy. BP and cholesterol and perfect though. Some foods are high in estrogen but I cannot eat them due to said high body acid and/or allergies. Products sold at the health food store do not work for me. Hope you can work this out.

Hi Qinz, I'm very happy for you! I was forced on HRT about 5 years ago, when I had a horrible vaginal bleed, and needed a D&C. The doc had me on lots of estrogen to keep from repeat bleeding. When I tried to come off it, my Fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue got soooooo much worse, so back on I went. 2 years later I tried to come off my combi-patch, and the same thing happened. I gave it 2 months, and I kept getting sicker and sicker. I don't get hot flashes. I have, in the past few years, lost alot of faith in the medical community. Money is at the root of all the decisions made, and not the best thing for us......... So, now I'm rethinking this combipatch. But.....I'm not as lucky as you.........I appear to get sooooooo much sicker with the Fibromyalgia when I try to come off it. I truly believe that our bodies get "addicted" to extra hormones, and it becomes almost like going through detox to get off them. I will start to think about trying it again. Good luck to you!

Hi toobusy, I am just as confused as you are, and I'm feeling awful most of the time too......But I wanted to mention that, in my experience, it takes at least 2 months for a hormone adjustment to stabilize. I usually see some change (good or bad) at 2 weeks, then it takes me 2 months to really stabilize. I got into alot of trouble a few years ago because right after a hormone adjustment I would immediately get horrible headaches and other awful symptoms and then I would turn right around and make another change. At that time, I thought I was doing the right thing, but now I know I was just chasing my tail, and making life so much more difficult. So.....hang in there, and give each med at least 2 months, before making more changes. Good luck!

Some time back a woman on the forum was talking about using the OTC progesterone cream vaginally. I believe she had consulted a "natural" health care practitioner who recommended this use. No one else had heard of it. I was using Progest at the time and so one evening being in an adventurous mood, I tried it. Didn't seem to make any difference one way or the other. My biggest concern would be the possiblility of irritation caused by other ingredients in the OTC creams. I also wonder why you are considering using it this way. I cant speak to reducing estrogen after starting progesterone. I started the progesterone first and later added a small amount of Estriol cream. I no longer use OTC progesterone, instead I have a prescription from my doctor and get it filled at a compounding pharmacy. I believe this is a more accurate way of obtaining the desired dose.