Progesterone to stop bleeding until surgery??

The beginning of Feb. I was put on progesterone (10mg. 3 times a day) to stop a month long period as I was severely anaemic and was going to end up in the hospital for blood transfusion if bleeding didn’t stop. It was my understanding from the gyno that I was to stay on the progesterone until my surgery on April 4. Yesterday my family Dr. told me to stop taking it as women are usually only on it for 10 days after bleeding stops. I’m terrified to stop it, as I don’t want another never-ending period. My haemoglobin is up but I still can’t afford to have it drop much. Anyone with experience using progesterone and then stopping? Thanks in advance.

Karen, I didn't take daily progesterone to stop the bleeding, so I can't help you there. But I was also really worried about my period messing up my chances to have the surgery due to anemia. My doctor used depo-provera, which is a form of progestin, but it works for three months continuously. And, some birth control pills use progestin (synthetic progesterone) for 3 months at a time.

It sounds like the gyn is telling you to use the progesterone and the gp is telling you not too. Is that right? My gyn and gp disagree on a few things too. I'm following my gyn, and my gp knows it. He said he would support my decision because both of the doctor's opinions are well considered.

I hope you come to peace with deciding what to do. I've been through some pretty tough decision making in my life, but this one takes the cake!

Hi there,

I aslo was put on some medication to stop bleeding before surgery, i cant remember the name of it now, but my instructions were to stay on it until surgery by my gyn and the family dr told me to stop.
I ended up going to surgery bleeding and felt very embarressed to say the least and now wish i had followed the advice of my Gyno. He should be the one doing the surgery and knows what is best for your body to prepare for it.
My Gyno was not happy that i had stopped with out advise from him.

Hope this helps
hugs
lil

I used it pre-op....at 10 day intervals each month. It stopped the excessive bleeding..but I did bleed until surgery!!! I was anemic and in desperate need, but never put on it every day for a month or more. Only the 10 days each month. Ask your gynecologist! Best wishes to you!

You need to call your GYN if your GYN is the one who prescribed the progesterone for you and find out if you are suppose to continue using the progesterone or if you should stop. You can let your GYN know about your GPs concerns and any concerns you have and whether or not you are still bleeding. Your GYN can then let you know if and why you should or should not continue the progesterone.

I live in a small town and the GYN who prescribed the progesterone refered me to a GYN in larger city 3.5 hours away. I only met each GYN once. I have had my family Dr. for years so I am going to go with what he said and stop taking it. He did say to start again if I bleed. Of course I am afraid and keep running to the bathroom to check. Oh, well I guess I won't be doing that for much longer. Thanks for the help. I love this web site. It has saved my sanity since I found out about "Fred" (my teenagers name for the fibroid that is cause my issues) five weeks ago.

Karen, in the end, I think we all have to do what brings us peace. Except in cases of cancer or extreme conditions, there probably is no right answer for most of us. So the best answer is the one we can live with.

Best of luck to you. I hope you are able to reach the surgery date as comfortably as possible.

Karen, my last period was in Dec '06, and when it lasted 20 days, my GYN immediately put me on Aygestin (a progestin) to stop my period as I was already very anemic. I've been on it since Jan '07 and have to stay on it until my surgery which will be on March 19th. While I've noticed that the normal dosage for Aygestin is usually 12 days a month, my doctor has me taking it everyday - nonstop. I take 10mg twice a day. If I try to take less, I start to spot. My GYN said I will only be taking it a short amount of time - and it was more important that I take it everyday to stop my bleeding and build up my hemoglobin/hemocrit before my surgery. At first we tried Natural Progesterone, but that made my bleeding a clotting worse. The Aygestin was the only thing that stopped my non-ending period. I talked to my doctor today and discussed my pre-op blood test results. Due to the Aygestin, my blood tests came back great. I was able to build up my blood supply before my surgery. Wishing you all the best.

I have been on Aygestin, non-stop, since the end of June '06. At first it was used as a chemical D&C -- I took it and then went off, which brought on my period. She was hoping that would work, but it didn't. I had another D&C and that didn't work, either. So I have been on it since the fall, 10 mg, 3 times a day. I'm not going to take it the day before or day of surgery. I don't start bleeding until three or four days after I stop it.

It will be so nice not to have to take it anymore when this is all over.

Which doctor is doing the surgery? The one who prescribed or the one who wants you to stop? I took progestin for one year and had no period for one year. My doctor wouldn't renew the prescription after one year due to possible side effects.

Can you call the doctor who prescribed it and see if his office can call your other doctor to explain the need for it?

Good luck and take care- Lori