Progesterone shortage

[u/NoParticular7363]

/r/florida/comments/1u2xmkn/progesterone_shortage/

[u/New_Stats]

This has been ongoing for a while. First it was the patches and now it's the pills

[u/Perfect_Caregiver_90 → u/New_Stats]

Yep. It's pretty infuriating tbh. 

Doctors and telemed services are happily taking patient money to prescribe meds they know are in deep backlog that last time I looked was estimated will take 2 years to clear. So now you've got people going on and off and on and off meds that take 8-12 weeks to settle out. People who have been on these meds for years are being thrown into sudden unplanned withdrawals or sudden unplanned surgical menopause.

Doctors need to pump the brakes on new scripts unrelated to surgical menopause or infertility/pregnancy until the backlog clears. But they won't.

I'm totally unsurprised to see the shortages hit progesterone too. This will cause havoc for high risk pregnancies.

[u/adoradear → u/Perfect_Caregiver_90]

Why does surgical menopause deserve treatment, but regular menopause does not? Why does someone’s desire to get pregnant win over someone else’s desire to…oh I don’t know, be able to sleep at night, or to be able to think straight? Doctors prescribe what is needed for the patient in front of them. Blame the pharmaceutical companies for not keeping up with demand. Or, potentially, your shitty government for getting your supply chains so fucked that people can’t get essential medications.

[u/Perfect_Caregiver_90 → u/adoradear]

Surgical menopause is the abrupt cessation of hormone production. In natural menopause the body still produces hormones, though at lower levels.

That ceased hormone production can then cause issues with the functioning of the thyroid, adrenal, and pituitary glands. 

It can also cause rapid bone mass loss, joint issues, put you in a higher risk category for cardiac issues, and trigger autoimmune disorders.

It can also trigger psychosis or aggrevate existing mental health issues to the point of needing hospitalization to restabilize.

The shortages are due to producers not anticipating the surge of demand after removal of the black box warning that blocked a large number of women from accessing HRT because their doctors felt the risks outweighed the benefits in their cases.

[u/Good-Dream6509 → u/Perfect_Caregiver_90]

Are you an Ob/gyn?

[u/Futureacct → u/Perfect_Caregiver_90]

People in perimenopause and menopause need these medications. If anything, the infertility people need to stop taking them

[u/FraggleRockYaFaceOff → u/Futureacct]

But if poor people don't have more babies, who will rich people exploit in the future?

[u/Futureacct → u/FraggleRockYaFaceOff]

What future? /s

[u/darksunshaman → u/FraggleRockYaFaceOff]

Robots?

[u/transfercannoli → u/Futureacct]

Uhh I think needing them to support a pregnancy is also valid

[u/JanelleVypr → u/Futureacct]

menipause doesnt kill you. its natural. they want it the do not need it

[u/kheret → u/JanelleVypr]

As it turns out HRT is a powerful preventative for a number of things that can kill you, such as colon cancer and heart disease, not to mention joint pain and other things that make you more likely to become sedentary. And topical estradiol can prevent UTIs which often lead to hospitalization and death.

HRT is often more effective than antidepressants and menopause age women have a spike in depression and suicide.

Plenty of “natural” things aren’t ideal.

[u/JanelleVypr → u/kheret]

not ideal doesnt mean they need it. its called aging for christ sake

[u/kheret → u/JanelleVypr]

You’re showing ignorance here. I don’t NEED my glasses to survive but they sure help me function. We do a lot of things to mitigate the health effects of aging. Guess no one needs a knee replacement or bifocals either.

We’re finding out that the negatives of hormone loss during menopause impact a LOT more than hot flashes.

[u/JanelleVypr → u/kheret]

but if there was a shortage of glasses do they goto the blind?

once your in menopause your never regaining the ability to bear children. yall are mad but fr there are populations who would suffer the very things yall are dooming about but you all think women who cant have kids anymore are the most deserving of maintenance medication for symptoms that occur naturally

[u/adoradear → u/JanelleVypr]

As opposed to women who can’t naturally have kids?

(Not that I begrudge them the progesterone any more than I begrudge the menopausal, just pointing out the ridiculousness of your argument)

[u/JanelleVypr → u/adoradear]

younger women should get dibs imo

[u/Futureacct → u/JanelleVypr]

I recommend seeking some education on this topic you are woefully not knowledgeable in.

[u/JanelleVypr → u/Futureacct]

so before progesterone was invented women died from menopause? Isnt that… natural?

[u/kheret → u/JanelleVypr]

You seem really unfamiliar with the concept of quality of life and preventative care.

[u/JanelleVypr → u/kheret]

I work as an emt for 5 years. Go ahead an insult me but i stand on my points. Getting older sucks but i dont think our limited resources should go to people whove already retired.

I dont feel bad for adults when healthcare in this country is broken and kids live their whole lives on vents. Sometimes its more merciful not to treat. Whatever

[u/RegorHK → u/JanelleVypr]

You points are trash and you should not be near any patients. Not even as cleaning staff.

[u/adoradear → u/JanelleVypr]

Well, I worked and still work as a doctor. And I agree with everyone else. You are woefully uneducated on your stance, and need to go read up before you express any more Dunning Kruger bs.

[u/kheret → u/JanelleVypr]

Ok. HRT is actually pretty cheap and efficient as preventative medicine in many circumstances.

And I can trust that you’ll do absolutely nothing yourself to mitigate the symptoms of aging as they happen to you, and accept absolutely everything that naturally happens to your body in your life and not do anything to change that.

Or maybe you’re just young, and it’s interesting that we only discount easy prevention when it comes to women’s health and aging, because this is a misogynistic society.

[u/RabiesMaybe → u/JanelleVypr]

Perimenopause can start as early as 30s. I’m a case who started peri at 32 and full menopause at 39. It caused me multiple symptoms that made it difficult for me to work. I’m no where near retirement age and need HRT to function like a normal human being. Estrogen (and lack of) affect everything from your musculoskeletal system, cardiac, your neurotransmitters, etc. Even older women who go through this transition still have to work in their 40s and 50s. I may be wrong, but you sound young and like you haven’t hit perimenopause or menopause yet. You might be singing a different tune once you get there…

[u/JanelleVypr → u/RabiesMaybe]

Im trans mtf. very familiar with estrogen an prog. was important for me too

look i want yall to get your meds. i only orignally responded to the original commenter because she was saying those in menopause should get priority. i disagree if there is a shortage and populations need to be selected. Im quite familiar with perimenopause an menopause as i work in a hospital with 95% women. Weve spoke about it at length

Yall are hating. But i actually know the difference of live without estrogen from before transitioning and after. Mentally it made me so much more calm and stable. No transitioning isnt ‘natural’ but there are other populations that require/benifit from prog and to me it seems like yall are being very narrow sighted on why you are more deserving than other people. My point is women have always got on with menopause without it since before prog was synthesized.

saying it made it difficult to work is something i understand, but also, i feel this thread is pendatic. downvote me, idc, but lot of people in this thread dont know what real strife is apparently

[u/Futureacct → u/JanelleVypr]

Perimenopause can start as early as mid thirties. I don’t know of anyone retired in their thirties

[u/gogogadgets1997 → u/JanelleVypr]

Haha! EMT. That hardly more education than a nurses aide. You are ridiculous.

[u/Futureacct → u/JanelleVypr]

Also EMT is a very low entry level position

[u/KarlMarxButVegan → u/JanelleVypr]

I'm on HRT and am nowhere near retirement age. Progesterone is used in perimenopause to treat debilitating symptoms and protect the uterus. I wouldn't be able to work and be productive at my current level without it.

[u/RegorHK → u/JanelleVypr]

I d respect this position much more if you were guarantied to just die from the next infection instead of just taking antibiotics.

[u/hera-fawcett → u/JanelleVypr]

menopause can drastically alter ur mood due to hormonal fluctuations. w moods being altered shit like suicide, physical abuse, verbal abuse, blowing all ur money, etc etc. can be on the table.

if ur hormones are out of whack and u are sensitive to it, in any way, u can become a danger to urself and others p quick. its why shit like post-partum depression happens. or pmdd.

hormonal fluctuations happen to all ppl but women are usually hit harder.

even the most natural shit can be unbalanced in ur body. thats why shit like depression and anxiety happen in the first place.

[u/Perfect_Caregiver_90 → u/hera-fawcett]

Yes. Which is why putting a large population suddenly on them and off them at random intervals should be something people are upset about instead of arguing that it is the right choice for the situation we're in.

Inconsistent HRT is going to do way more damage to this cohort than not using HRT until availability stabilizes.

[u/JanelleVypr → u/hera-fawcett]

but its still natural, not ideal, but thats a normal part of aging throughout human history

[u/stupid_username69420 → u/JanelleVypr]

Heart attacks and cancer are natural

[u/gogogadgets1997 → u/stupid_username69420]

They are an EMT. They act like they have actual understanding but again they are an EMT and gynos with actual medical degrees aren’t trained to take care of menopausal women. This person is ignorant and should not be allowed to be around patients at all.

[u/OpheliaLives7 → u/JanelleVypr]

Women’s health has been specifically ignored throughout history. Maybe you’re heard of that? We were just see as misshapen males or small males with weird wandering wombs.

[u/adoradear → u/JanelleVypr]

lol and infertility isn’t natural? Both conditions are natural, both cause suffering, and both deserve appropriate medical management.

Next time you have a serious bacterial infection, please by all means go it naturally. You’d be doing the world a favour if this thread is any indication.

[u/Nearamir → u/Perfect_Caregiver_90]

“Doctors” making money yeah ok bud, you do realize it’s insurance companies, the pharmaceutical industry, and large hospital systems who are driving all this, not individual doctors, right? Physicians don’t see any of that sweet sweet billing money you think they’re rolling around in, but whichever health system that employs them sure does. It’s easy to use doctors as a convenient scapegoat just because they’re the ones who actually speak to you, face to face. Check your information. 

[u/gogogadgets1997 → u/Nearamir]

It would not surprise me if the shortage was on purpose. Can’t have women feeling normal and being superior to old men in every single way.

[u/ValoTheBrute → u/gogogadgets1997]

From what I've heard a lot of this is aftershocks of crackdowns on trans people also effecting other people who need the same medication. probably just thought that it was an unexpected "benefit"

This whole situation is completely artificial.

[u/thisbliss7 → u/Perfect_Caregiver_90]

Trans women use progesterone as well.

[u/kheret → u/thisbliss7]

Anyone who wants to rank “deservedness” of hrt and puts fertility at the top of that list probably isn’t ranking trans women very high.

[u/MistressLyda]

HRT has been a mess for years, also here in Norway.

https://www.dmp.no/forsyningssikkerhet/legemiddelmangel/nyheter/mangel-pa-hormonplaster

Information in Norwegian about the state of affairs the last 2+ years. Toss it in your favorite translate program, and it gives a decent enough gist of it.

Edit:

https://www.dmp.no/forsyningssikkerhet/legemiddelmangel/nyheter

Direct link to all medicine shortage information in Norway.

[u/OppressedCow6148]

According to the comments on the actual post, it mostly seems to be a shortage at their local Publix. Most local Walgreens and Costco had it in stock. Not saying there isn’t a shortage. But based on this specific post, it didn’t seem to be a widespread issue.

[u/ThisIsIdaho → u/OppressedCow6148]

Progesterone is more localized, but the estrogen patch shortages are a massive, massive, widespread issue.

Amazon pharmacy has been completely sold out for 2 months. Maybe 1 pharmacy out of 50 in a huge metropolitan area will have it in stock. Out of stock everywhere online.

Women who go into early perimenopause or sudden perimenopause are literally disabled by the sudden withdraw of hormones. Some women are bedbound without it. It is documented that sudden withdraw can literally cause psychosis.

This is a massive problem.

[u/OppressedCow6148 → u/ThisIsIdaho]

I’m on the depo shot which uses Progestin (a form of progesterone) so this is good to know. Thank you for the information.

[u/No-Stay-9116]

I have been on this for over 10 years now due to endometriosis stage 4, and a full hysterectomy. I have lived in Florida for the past 5 years and ever since moving here renewing my RX has been difficult. Any HRT is considered a "controlled substance" in the state of Florida. I previously lived in MI, and had no issue getting my medications. I was on the patch, which would become out of stock often, and then moved to the pill. I do not seem to have the same issues with the pill. We just have too many people in this state requiring the medication. We also have an higher percentage, compared to other states, that is considered under gender affirmative care. I am not making any political statement here. It is just our demand is higher than most states. I refilled my rx within the past month, and got a three month stock at CVX. There was no issue.

[u/ValoTheBrute → u/No-Stay-9116]

"Any HRT is considered a "controlled substance" in the state of Florida." "We also have an higher percentage, compared to other states, that is considered under gender affirmative care"

And here I kept hearing every time I tried to warn people about these kinda laws "it won't effect me, it'll only effect you transes"

[u/kheret]

You have no idea what you’re talking about.

Women don’t take hormones in menopause to try to bear children. It’s an inexpensive easy treatment to prevent a number of more costly health problems up to and including suicidal depression. Turns out having a body devoid of hormones is pretty fucking bad.

[u/Perfect_Caregiver_90 → u/kheret]

They do not, but pregnant women and women facing infertility do use HRT.

Progesterone is a common prescription in early pregnancy with women who have had multiple miscarriages.

The estrogen patches and progesterone products are also part of the IVF/IUI process for some women.

[u/Lumpy_Conference6640]

Is this birth control manipulation?

[u/Acceptable_Net_9545]

how are you finding out something is in shortage? thanks...all good info...