I started progesterone with HRT and felt
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Question
I started progesterone with HRT and felt so bad I ended up in the ER. Which side effects are known, and how do people work with their doctor on the amount or form? Real household: caregiver juggling school week and one elder or sibling nearby. Schedule: Mon; follow-up with gyn this week. Kitchen/home right now: symptom list, medication bottle. Already tried: stopping on my own without calling. Please answer as a practical family-care guide: what to do next tonight/today, what to avoid, and a clear decision tree. Constraints: respect «No diagnosis, no medication changes»; no dosing kids/pets/elders yourself; no mystery powders or buying prescription meds online; keep steps screenshot-friendly under ~25 minutes where cooking/care applies. Structure your help as (1) what I already tried vs better alternatives, (2) constraints/avoid list, (3) red flags—when to stop DIY and get clinical/urgent help. Keep the voice concrete and kind for a tired caregiver; stay inside kitchen/home-care/communication levers only. Name what success looks like in 24 hours without promising cures. Avoid brand shopping lists; focus on routines, food already at home, and communication scripts caregivers can screenshot.
Réponse
If any of these are happening right now — chest pain or pressure, breathlessness, one-sided weakness or speech trouble, face or throat swelling, a fit, black or bloody stool — call your local emergency number now and do not wait for Thursday; if none of them are happening, ring your gyn's office today, before the day of the appointment, and say three plain facts: you started the progesterone, you felt so unwell you ended up in the ER, and you have already stopped it on your own.
Whether you restart, change the amount, or change the form is your prescriber's decision to make, not one to make by yourself on a bad night. I am not a clinician and cannot diagnose what caused your reaction or tell you what to take — that comes from your gyn and the team who saw you in the ER.
What you already tried vs. what helps
| What you did | Better version |
|---|---|
| Stopped it silently, without calling | Stopped it *and* told the prescriber the same day. The stop was reasonable; the silence is the part to fix now. |
| Waiting for the follow-up to come up itself | Ring today. A reaction bad enough to send you to an ER is a reason to move that appointment earlier, not a reason to bring it up as a footnote. |
| Guessing whether the hormone did it | Bring the timeline. When it started, when you noticed it, what the ER said, what you stopped and when. That's what changes the plan. |
Known side effects of the progestogen part of HRT (NHS, checked 6 October 2026, page last reviewed 3 January 2023):
- changes in periods, including spotting or bleeding between periods
- headache
- breast pain or tenderness
- feeling sick (nausea)
- diarrhoea
- feeling tired or dizzy
- mood changes, including low mood or depression
- mild rash or itchy skin
- acne
The same page notes these usually go away after a few weeks; that HRT side effects can look like menopause symptoms themselves; and that finding the right dose and type takes time. It also says a clinician may change the dose, the type, or *how* you take it — tablets to patches is the example it gives. That conversation is exactly what your Thursday visit is for. HRT is also associated with a small increase in the risk of blood clots and breast cancer — a question worth asking, not a reason to panic at home.
Your avoid list
- Do not restart it, half-dose it, or skip-and-take-it-when-you-feel-better on your own.
- Do not add anything to counter the symptoms — no supplement, no leftover from an earlier prescription, nothing a neighbour offers.
- Do not buy HRT online or share someone else's.
- Do not double the next dose to "even out" anything.
- Do not read symptom lists at midnight and self-diagnose. That's my job not to do and yours not to do.
Decision tree — screenshot this
Any of these now → emergency services / go to an emergency department now, don't wait for Thursday:
chest pain or pressure · breathlessness or chest pain worse on breathing in · one-sided weakness, numbness, or speech trouble · a headache that hit worst-in-several-seconds · a swollen, painful or hot calf · swelling of the face or throat, or trouble swallowing · a fit · confusion or drowsiness you can't shake off · black stools or vomiting blood · a painful, rigid belly.
Still unwell but none of those → phone the gyn's office today, ask for an earlier slot, and describe the symptoms rather than the drug name first.
Better than last week, none of the above → keep Thursday, and it becomes a dose-and-form conversation, not an emergency one.
Tonight (about 20 minutes, one go)
- Put the bottle, the ER paperwork, and every other medicine and supplement you take into one bag by the door. One pharmacy list, not a memory.
- Write the timeline on paper: first dose date, first symptom date, ER date, stopped date. Times if you have them.
- Write down what you want to ask: *Can I try a lower amount? Can I try the patch or gel instead of the tablet? What should make me ring you rather than wait?*
- Eat and drink normally, keep the day light, and don't drink alcohol if you're testing how your body feels this week.
Take with you: the bag, the timeline, the ER discharge note, a written list of allergies, and the names of every supplement.
The side-effect list and the dose-and-form advice above are from the NHS page *Side effects of hormone replacement therapy (HRT)* (nhs.uk, page last reviewed 3 January 2023, checked 6 October 2026). No coverage here / 未覆盖: what caused your reaction, whether to restart, any dose or strength, and what the ER team found — those are clinician questions, and I won't fill them in from memory. If you're in the UK you can also report a suspected side effect through the Yellow Card scheme; anywhere else, ask your pharmacist or prescriber to log it.
What success looks like in 24 hours — not a cure, just this: the phone call placed, the facts in writing, nothing restarted without a clinician's word, and Thursday either moved up or turned into a clear dose-and-form decision. Nothing else is required of you tonight.
One thing I can't see from here, and it changes what's safe: which symptoms hit you, and are any of them still present right now?