Progesterone Intolerance - HRT Advice?

Hello to my fellow r/Perimenopause, I am here to solicit input from this incredibly helpful and supportive community. I am a 44 y/o woman and I fall into the camp of not tolerating progesterone well. Whether it's my own that is made inside me (my luteal phases have been awful as long as I can remember) or if it's me using HRT (I've tried both Prometrium orally and the bio identical cream; both situations left me outrageously bloated, near comatose and completely depressed). With that said - I have never tried adding estrogen, and today I'm going to use my first estradiol patch (.037 to start). My plan is to use the Proemtrium vaginally, in an effort to avoid / decrease the negative side effects. I plan to do this cyclically, days ~14 - 28.

My questions to the Progesterone Intolerant community are: what doses have you found worked best for you? (recognizing everyone is different but still would love to hear) Did you find increasing your estrogen over time helped lower the negative side effects from progesterone? Did you choose to cycle your progesterone, and if so, did that offer enough protection? Finally - I'm SO confused on how to "pierce" the Prometrium pill to get the substance into a vagina applicator - any tips welcomed!!

Thank you so much for sharing - I'd be lost without this community.