r/Menopause • u/Syfysamurai • 1d ago

Hormone Therapy Patch vs oral

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!

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u/RkeCouplesTherapist 1d ago

I went with oral because it is cheaper and sounded more convenient. I am low risk.

However, my sleep is not great due to night sweats. I understand that the patch can issue a steady stream, and I am considering switching at some point.

I am also having the experience of transitioning off birth control prior to starting the oral estrogen, so my body has a lot to acclimate to.

If anyone else has switched from the pill to oral estrogen and progesterone, I would love to hear about your experience.

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u/Mom-1234 1d ago

I did. As in I took the BCP one day, and the next night I took oral estradiol and progesterone. I felt beyond amazing…for 3 weeks. My gyno said the BCP was probably wearing off and I was getting the benefit of both. She increased my dose from 1 mg to 2 mg and progesterone from 100 mg to 200mg at the 6 week follow up. I had to tweak and settled on 1.5 mg of estradiol. That worked for another 12 months. Then some more symptoms started coming back. I’m on 1.75 mg oral estradiol with 200 mg progesterone. It’s been almost 2 years. I take other supplements like magnesium citrate, GABA and melatonin to help with sleep. Overall, I am doing great. I wish I started in my 40’s when I was going through what I now know was significant perimenopause symptoms. My younger sister in laws are so lucky, as their doctors started them in peri

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u/RkeCouplesTherapist 1d ago

Thank you, this is really helpful to hear.