this post was submitted on 13 Sep 2025
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I had never tried taking it orally, but had to switch due to life circumstances and I swear it's made a big difference

Has anyone had the opposite experience?

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[–] Kayday@lemmy.world 2 points 5 days ago (1 children)

Okay hi time for a dumb question. How else do you take it? I wasn't aware there were options ;-;

[–] theresa@lemmy.blahaj.zone 4 points 4 days ago (1 children)

People tend to take it rectally because of higher bioavailability. See: https://transfemscience.org/articles/oral-p4-low-levels/

[–] Kayday@lemmy.world 1 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago) (1 children)

Okay, my prescription is a 5mg oral tablet every day. This article is talking about 200+ mg orally to be effective, or 100mg rectally. Why in the world would my prescription be so low??
Also:

Administration of oral micronized progesterone capsules rectally instead of orally likewise may be effective and may achieve much higher progesterone levels than oral administration. However, rectal administration of oral progesterone capsules has not been formally studied.

Am I wasting money having 5mg per day orally? Would have been nice to know 6 months ago when I started.

[–] dandelion@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago) (1 children)

are you taking bioidentical, micronized progesterone? It sounds like you might be taking a synthetic progestin, which is different...

I have a link to a resource on the differences if I remember to come back, I'm AFK right now so I don't have it, sorry

[–] Kayday@lemmy.world 2 points 4 days ago (1 children)

Oh wow I'm not sure. This is what I'm taking.

[–] dandelion@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago) (1 children)

yep, that's Medroxyprogesterone (MP), a synthetic progestin, which is not progesterone.

I recommend switching to micronized, bioidentical progesterone, which is safer (has fewer side effects and long term risks).

Taking MP is not the end of the world like some in the community think (there is a lot of fear about it because it increases risks of cancers, etc.), but it's definitely not ideal and does carry risks. Plenty of people do experience side effects like mood problems and depression from taking it.

Also, while it's not the same as having progesterone (the hormone you would have if you were a cis woman), it does have some anti-androgen effects which might be helpful for feminizing.

[–] Kayday@lemmy.world 2 points 4 days ago (1 children)

Wow, thank you so much for taking the time to explain this. I have my checkup later this month and will make sure to let them know I want to switch my meds.
I thought I was reasonably well read on HRT, but this is a whole new area I know very little about. Thankful for people like you <3

[–] dandelion@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 points 4 days ago (1 children)

have you read transfem science's An Introduction to Hormone Therapy for Transfeminine People? Particularly the section on progestogens might be helpful here, but the whole article is pretty amazing, tbh.

[–] Kayday@lemmy.world 3 points 4 days ago

I've read quite a bit of the estrogen/ anti-androgen sections, but apparently nowhere near enough of the progestogen topics.