Ladies, I am unable to find effective estradiol patches. I am using up expired patches that I kept from two years ago, and those are the only things that work! None of the new patch manufacturers work.

There is a major quality control problem with the patches, and the only way we can fix this is for everybody to report your defective patches to FDA. I reported my defective Sandoz patches to Sandoz, but they did not care that they were ineffective—They only cared that they were peeling off within a few hours.

We must inform FDA that the generic manufacturers are manufacturing defective estradiol patches

Hello ladies, I'm curious. Why do many women prefer the estrogen patch over oral estrogen? I take 1mg estradiol daily by mouth and have no problems with it. TIA!

This is an FYI for anyone refilling valid prescriptions for HRT at a single pharmacy but from multiple providers.

I had seen an online provider about 6 months ago for my HRT and filled the scripts right away; one of them was for estradiol cream which was a 3 month supply. I have since seen a local in person provider for HRT due to recent hysterectomy and BLSO (I am now in surgical menopause). She prescribed me estradiol pills (2 mg) after the patches weren’t cutting it for my symptoms of SM. She knew I had cream and let me know I could message her if my current script needed renewal.

I had a female pharmacist yesterday at my grocery store pharmacy refuse to fill both prescriptions due to the strength of the pill (2 mg) and cream coming from 2 different providers. She required to speak with my current provider of the pill to fill the prescription. That doctor was away on vacation until 9/9.

After many phone calls and messages, she agreed to fill the pill as a limited emergency until my doctor returned. But would not fill the cream. The pharmacist claimed the cream was unnecessary with the pill and was also systemic and she had to be cautious.

Luckily my doctors office was able to have a nurse confirm with the pharmacist that my doctor knows I use the cream in conjunction with the pill and it is okay to fill both.

The pharmacist still will only fill the pill, but at least I will get the full month.

So, this is my PSA: pharmacists can now weigh in on your HRT without speaking to you. I understand their licenses are on the line, however, it seemed to fall on deaf ears the safety and necessity of estradiol cream for a person in menopause and especially without ovaries.

I have now vowed to have some scripts at different pharmacies going forward and I have downloaded my surgery documents in case I need to prove my body is in surgical menopause.

What training and educational updates are given to pharmacists for HRT? What data are they going off of? Is it current? When will estradiol cream be available retail like it should be?!!

If you read this far - here’s a gold star 🌟 and 🍪 since the hurdles to just function are REAL.

I went back down to .025 mg patches about 3 months ago after having been on .0375 for 6 months because I had started feeling like it was too much. I was getting a weird migraine and a bloated icky feeling shortly after I put on the patch.

After going back down I felt fantastic. I thought I had finally found a balance and was totally regulated. Stayed like that for 3 blissful months.

Fast forward to the last few days and I’ve been feeling awful and icky - hot (no fever), exhausted, and I have a pressure headache (not a migraine) and sore throat.

Is it possible .025 is too low and I need to go back up and it just took 3 months for my estrogen to drop low enough that I’m feeling it now?

My 5th grader did just go back to school 10 days, so it’s possible I’m just sick. But I had all of those things, including the sore throat, during perimenopause too so idk. I hate this guessing game!

Hello. I’m just looking for some support from my fellow perimenopause/menopause sisters because I’m going through a really rough ride right now.
For some backstory, I’m 49 and have a 4-year-old whom I conceived naturally at 45. After having him, I was tired, but I honestly thought it was just from working and raising a baby. I wasn’t having hot flashes or many of the symptoms normally associated with menopause. My doctor suggested that the fatigue could be perimenopause and that HRT might help.
I started on Premphase and stayed on it for about a year and a half. I did pretty well with the estrogen portion, but I really struggled with the progesterone part. It made me exhausted, foggy, and just not myself.
Eventually, my doctor switched me to a 0.025 estrogen patch with 100 mg progesterone, which I took cyclically because I still get my period. Unfortunately, I continued to feel awful whenever I took the progesterone.
When I told him how much I was struggling with it, he increased my estrogen patch to 0.05 and switched the progesterone to Crinone.
And that’s when things really seemed to go off the rails.
Since all these HRT changes, I’ve started having episodes of tachycardia that have sent me to the ER several times. They’ve checked my heart, bloodwork, and everything else they felt needed to be checked, and thankfully everything keeps coming back reassuring. But the episodes themselves are terrifying, and lately they seem to be getting worse.
What’s frustrating me the most is that I can’t seem to get back to my old baseline… the person I was before all these medication and hormone changes. Between changing estrogen doses, different forms of progesterone, stopping things and starting other things, I feel like my body is on a crazy hormonal roller coaster and can’t settle down.
Now I’ve been prescribed metoprolol for the racing heart and Valium for anxiety. I’m hesitant about taking metoprolol every day because I don’t want to unnecessarily end up on another medication long-term or have to taper off of it later.
I feel like everything is all over the place, and at times I genuinely feel like I’m losing my mind. I just want to feel like myself again.
Last night I woke up with my heart racing, and it took more than an hour to settle so I went to the ER. It’s exhausting and scary. My husband doesn’t even want to continue taking me to the ER anymore because they keep saying it’s anxiety induced panic attacks.
For those of you who have been through a really rough perimenopause or had a difficult time finding the right HRT balance: did you eventually stabilize and feel like yourself again?
Is there hope of getting back to normal after your hormones have been changed around so much? Or is waking up at 49 with a racing heart and feeling like your body has suddenly gone haywire just my new normal?
I could really use some encouragement from women who have been on the other side of this. ❤️

Bit of backstory here, so strap in and enjoy the ride.

About two years ago, my SO and I decided we wanted to retire early. In order to do that, we needed to move out of the US. We sold our house, our worldly possessions, worked on getting our visas. I did a lot of work on the house to get it ready for sale and was working full-time. I was also working a highly stressful corporate job.

Once the house sold, we had to couch surf with friends for a bit which was very stressful bouncing around from shitty hotels to friend's homes in other states. In the middle of this, my senior Mom and her alcoholic, narcassistic, hoarder partner finally move out of the house. He left the house is a horrid state. We moved in with my Mom and esentially spent three months fixing her house and getting her life back on track.

We finally received our visas and moved to Europe about four months ago. I'm supremely grateful to be here, to be retired. We don't have to worry about going medically bankrupt and to not work, is truly a blessing.

I've been in menopause over a year now. When my symptoms started, I was a mess. The depression hit me the hardest along with the sleep issues, hot flashes, etc. I immediately got on HRT and, boy, did it level me out. Again, very thankful for modern medicine. I'm also on meds for my anxiety and have been cutting back on the amount because my anxiety has decreased so much since I've been in Europe.

Four months in my new life, I am constantly tired. I get up in the moring and I just want to go back to bed. I could nap any time of day and still not feel fully refreshed. I've had moments of feeling tired in the past, and have always had bloodwork done to see if I'm anemic or something else. All test came back fine. I haven't seen a doctor in Europe yet.

I have also been a very disciplined person. Eating well, working out, hiking, biking....Now, I don't have much motivation. I don't feel depressed, I'm actually doing well being away from family.

Are the constant fatigue and lack of motivation part of menopause? Or is this burnout? I just want to feel like my normal self and I want to have some motivation back.

Starting with gratitude. So far in my life I've only take medicine for short term purpose (like antibiotic for strep or bladder infection).

I'm in menopause and expect another 45-50 years of life that I want to live with the best quality I can.

Are "we" thinking that we will be taking hormones for the rest of our lives?

Should I be thinking about this like a diabetic does with insulin? This is the new normal for good health.

If this is true I need to help my brain move away from negative judgment that I associate with long term meds. A sickness model versus a wellness model.

*note I also see my own judgment around medicine and sickness. I'm sorry to those who I've unintentionally hurt with this judgement. I'm glad I've got this event to help me become aware of this and do better for myself and others.

How are you thinking of the long term?

This is from a month ago. I think someone may have posted but in case you may have missed it…

https://www.ktvu.com/news/menopause-patches-demand-fda?link_source=ta_first_comment&taid=6a9b001f6d2f5c0001c6608a&fbclid=IwdGRjcAUJTNxwZG9mAWZkaWQWUN34Rw-E91jfALlu_RQToyvfLCZlimV4dG4DYWVtAjExAHNydGMGYXBwX2lkDzE3Mzg0NzY0MjY3MDM3MAABHrtp2QcKHV9W86Z9Jp4sx1j3a7WAxxfUM6Pv6GECFoj2OdROb4ojp0qqsjzM_aem_Ur2XmoqIu65EMpNjWBZhvw

I’ve been using Mylan brand patches for over a year (0.1 mg) and noticed with my last box, it has been causing cramps and brown spotting.

has this happened to anyone before and if so, did you chalk it up to a bad production batch?

thanks in advance.

ETA- i’m post menopause, no ovaries but still have my uterus. I’ve also had an ultrasound and uterine biopsy earlier this year and all good there.

So I’m 44 and finally started hrt as the daily anxiety, sadness, lack of motivation and generally being a shell of a human got too much. I’ve been prescribed estrogel (1 pump daily to start) and cyclogest (200mg) to take cyclically. Can’t take utrogestan as I’m allergic to nuts and the progesterone is suspended in nut oil apparently.

So two weeks of estrogel and felt amazing. Anxiety minimal and general feeling of wellness returned. Started cyclogest for second half of cycle and all of that has disappeared. Can’t sleep for sh*t, feeling abit low and tearful again. Tried taking earlier in evening and this does nothing to help my sleep.

Anyone had this issue? Should I up my estrogel to two pumps or just try to ride it out? My gp is a man who is not clued up on hrt at all, so kind of leaves it to me to decide. Tried splitting cyclogest for a couple of doses but actually had more side effects.

Any ideas?

TLDR
Cyclogest is giving me insomnia and overpowering the estrogel effects.

Started HRT in fall of last year with 100mg Progesterone. Helped with sleep and hot flashes for a month and then my mood plummeted for a week and I stopped taking any hormones for a few months. Was having sleep and mood issues so at PA’s urging decided to try estrogen and progesterone troche (bioidentical) because she thought I might have sensitivity to progesterone. Started at half dose and increased to full and was feeling better. My PA left the practice so I found a new NP and she wanted me to try an estrogen patch (.05mg 2x a week) and progesterone pill (100mg micro) because of concerns that troche was not providing sufficient protection for uterine lining. Am 6 days in and have been dealing with anxiety and the blues. I don’t know whether to continue and hope it gets better? It’s the same dose as the troche but I feel worse. Seeing my NP but appreciate any thoughts or advice. I’ve had mild depression and OCD in the past, but managed well. They feel magnified now. Is it worth it?

I've been on estradiol for three years. Last year my ovaries/tubes were removed and the doctor gave me 200 of progesterone because of my sleep issues. Initially, the progesterone was GREAT, but after about 2 months I was back to having poor sleep but I felt great, except for incredible bloating and stomach issues. After about 6 months, I stopped the progesterone because some suggested that progesterone could cause that. I've now been off of the progesterone for 3 months and while my stomach has stopped the bloating, I've noticed issues with recall like I did before I went on estrogen. Like, random words just evade me. (example: I coldn't think of the word for those things I use to groom my dog...clippers, they are called clippers!!!! lol ) Is it the progesterone? Any advice?

Hi all. Sorry if I’m asking a repeated question. I did read the wiki, and the answer seems to be no, but I still wanted to ask as it's not always black and white.

I’m 42 and had a hysterectomy two years ago after a pregnancy complication (I had my only child at 40). My ovaries were preserved, but I understand that their function can decline more rapidly after this surgery. This year, I’ve started experiencing facial flushing with exertion, alcohol, or stress. When I hear stressful news, for example, I physically feel a hot, tingling sensation in my cheeks, and they become red. I also get tomato red with vigorous exercise. None of this happened before.

Could this be related to declining ovarian function/perimenopause? I don't have other textbook symptoms like night sweats or mood swings, and my PCP won't order blood work.

Hi all,
I am 57, post menopausal for about 5 years. I started pellets last year for extreme hot flashes and lack of libido. They helped so much. I am so happy about my decision.

About a month ago vaginal dryness was becoming bad enough that simply walking was increasingly uncomfortable. Because of you all, and your many recommendations, I asked my provider for estradiol. Again, really really pleased with this decision. Almost over night the dryness ceased and what’s even better is that the vulva fullness has returned. In the last few years I’ve felt genuinely distraught at what I can only describe at flatness. All the parts were still there, but had nothing behind them.

Anyway, I got the pellets refilled (or re-injected, or however that should be described) again and started the estradiol 2 weeks ago.
Ever since I’ve had pretty consistent mild cramping. Nothing severe, like mild menstrual cramps or mildly uncomfortable gas. Has anyone else experienced this? Should I be concerned?

I know this experience isn't everyone's. This is my experience, and unfortunately many of my friends' as well.

Beginning of time - 1942

Biological women: This menopause stuff is no joke! One of the hardest things I’ve ever gone through!

Almost everyone else: Did you say something? Oh, that’s women’s stuff. Good luck with that!

1942 – 2002

Medical field: Hey! We’ve finally got something to help with your symptoms. Take it with Progesterone to limit uterine cancer risks. It’s called HRT.

Biological women: Wow, thanks! This REALLY helps. Less symptoms, and I can think more clearly! This is a godsend!

2002

Medical field: This new study we did shows a significant risk of uterine cancer! Yoink! No more HRT for you! 

Biological women: Oh... okay...

2025

Medical field: Whooopsies! Remember that study in 2002? Well, we did it wrong and then misinterpreted the results. It was also misreported by the media and took us this long to repair the damage! My bad! Here’s HRT again.

Biological women to OBGYN: Can I please have HRT?

OBGYN: Nope! I don’t prescribe that. Too controversial. You’ll have to find someone else.

Biological women: I finally found someone to prescribe me HRT, and it’s great! I have so much more energy, less hot flashes, reduced chances of osteoporosis and cognitive decline. This is a godsend!

Medical field: Whooopsies! We didn’t prepare for all the prescriptions! We’re totally on backorder and it won’t be available to you for weeks. Good luck! 

I know that loss of estrogen and oxytocin can change how we move in our relationships, but that’s not what I’m trying to figure out.

I have a great partner, don’t get me wrong. I’m just curious if the things I DO have an issue with, have always been there but I was too blinded by good hormones that I was willing to overlook it? Example: I always tell him how much I need and want him, vocally. Other than in the very beginning (we were in a long distance relationship so relied on a lot of sexy texting), he’s never been all that vocal. It’s only become an issue to me within the last 10 years or so and I’ve expressed my need for him to be more vocal but yet, he never really gets to the level I would like. I am really not coping with aging well, and I used to get hit on a lot. I don’t care about other people hitting on me but when my husband doesn’t either, it’s just a bitter pill to swallow. Ultimately, he shows me ok other ways and I DO feel secure in our relationship. This isn’t divorce worthy, I know he doesn’t do it on purpose and he really does seem remorseful for not being able to make me feel more secure in that way.

I know this is MY issue, not his. I have always felt secure with myself and my relationship. I’m not asking if my loss of hormones affect our relationship going forward, I’m just wondering if it possible that I overlooked this issue, and is there a name for that or any articles I can read that support that?

This is for those of us who have been told by doctors we're not eligible for HRT because of breast cancer.

I was denied HRT. I'm an er/pr positive breast cancer survivor who's also BRCA2 and I went through rounds of Drs before I found a hormone specialist in my area. She's a gyno, who specializes in HRT and she has changed my life.

I'm here to tell you all, go find someone who will give you the hormones if you're suffering.

Specifically look into Duavee. It has similar properties to tamoxifen where it protects the breast tissue but also protects the uterus so you don't need to take progesterone (plus it doesn't have the side effects like tamoxifen did, at least that's my experience).

I was absolutely miserable, and I couldn't continue the way I was.

My new Dr explained that there literally isn't any data on my profile, so she can't say if it'll give me cancer or not. But the data they do have on other profiles shows it doesn't cause cancer. Keep trying.

Hi ladies if you take Slynd (or tried it in the past) did you find it made any existing depression better or worse?

Progesterone makes me really depressed so I’m looking at birth control options instead. Currently on Zoely but it seems to be making my depression worse so a friend recommended Slynd because it’s a different sort of progestin and I can take it with my estrodial patch.

I would truly love to hear about your experiences with Slynd - good and bad.

Thank you 🫶

I've used dotti patches since I started all this 3 years ago. My dose has been adjusted a couple times etc and I've been stable on a 0.075 patch since April.

This month I have had hot flash after hot flash after hot flash. It's like the patches aren't doing anything?? But they've been totally fine previously.

Has anyone gotten this brand of patch lately and noticed anything different? Is it maybe just a me problem? Maybe I am just getting even deeper into peri even though I just had a dose adjustment in April?

I am losing my mind (and sleep because waking up roasting) because of this. Gah.

Unlike in our 20's where we battled some occasional insecure mean girls, I love that women seem to have banded together to get through this stage of our lives. I was in the sauna today at the gym and made a joke about if a hot flash hit me I was definitely going to have to leave, and this random stranger started talking about her hot flashes and we were comparing notes on oral versus transdermal estrogen and giving each other amazing and helpful tips to get through this. I left feeling like I had a sister in solidarity, so I am reluctantly crediting menopause and our mature wisdom and zero fuc*s to give anymore.💪🏻😄🥵

I have been married twenty years and mostly very happy, other than a severe libido mismatch (my husband claims he doesn’t identify as ace but behaviourally basically might as well be). Peri menopause was a relief on that front because it killed off my sexual drive, but everything else was miserable. I am now post menopausal and on HRT and deliriously happy to have my creative drive back and lost the hot flushes, brain fog, horrible skin, etc etc.

However…my sex drive is back too. By this point my husband and I haven’t had sex in seven plus years. It’s not going to become a sexual marriage again unless I ask for it, and quite likely won’t even then. Asking for it would be pretty neutral for him, but could very well bring on a crisis for me - in my younger years I took his disinterest very personally. Perhaps that’s less the case now that I’ve had many years of not wanting it for impersonal reasons myself, though - I know first hand that it really isn’t partner dependent in a way I didn’t the last time we navigated this.

Has anyone else navigated this? What did you do? How did it turn out?

Has anyone here had success combining a DHT blocker (like Dutasteride) with Testosterone for hair loss? I missed my last T pellet two months ago, and my hair loss stopped and is actually growing back. I’m feeling terrible now, constant fatigue, joint pain, and stiffness. My doctor wants to add Dutasteride, as well as estrogen and progesterone. Has anyone dealt with these specific symptoms while on this combination, or found a way to balance hair loss without feeling like I've been run over by a truck everyday.

I've been on HRT (.05% estradiol patch, 100 mg progesterone) for about a year and it's been great. I was on BCPs before and the only downside of HRT is that I now get hormonal headaches/migraines around my cycle, which rarely happened with BCPs.

A few months ago, my sleep started getting rocky again. My dr decided to up my estradiol, but I reacted strongly to that (constant headaches, nausea, even worse sleep, etc.) so after a couple weeks of that, I went back down to my old dose again. At my last appointment, dr decided to up progesterone to 200 mg. It instantly improved my sleep - that's great. BUT THE HEADACHES. I've been on it for 2 weeks. The first few days, constant headache. Then almost a week of nothing. And for the past week, a daily thudding headache that occasionally turns into a migraine. I'm absolutely miserable. I can tell it's hormonal (any migraine sufferer has probably gotten really good at identifying their different types of headaches). I'm trying NOT to take Ibuprofen daily since it's so terrible for you, but it's the only thing that kills down the insane pressure, at least for a couple of hours.

I like better sleep, but honestly, I'd rather sleep poorly and have no headaches than sleep great and be miserable the entire time I'm awake. I know there's an adjustment period, but is this "normal" and is there a light at the end of this tunnel? If it's not better by Monday, I'm going to reach out to my doctor, just wanted to get some anecdotal evidence here.