Niamh, I rub the gel over my outer, upper arms and shoulders and then wipe off the residue on my thighs. I do this before going to bed at night. For the next dose which I take 12 hours later, I can't do this because it's during the day so I just rub it on my arms. You don't need to overly rub it in, but just spread it out over your skin and leave it to dry - it usually takes about 5 minutes to dry.
GypsyRoseLee, I was on the 100mcg patch at the time I sought help and saw Professor Studd and he recommended I switch to the gel. For some reason, I always had problems absorbing the patches and he said it is a common problem and he always prefers to prescribe the gel.
It is difficult to pin point how I felt while the patches were not working. I didn't particularly suffer with mood swings and I have never had hot flushes or night sweats but I did have vaginal dryness and my temperate control was not great. I became hot (but not intensely as people do with hot flushes) far more quickly than I should have and broke into a sweat far too easily. For example, if I was outside in very hot weather and then went into an air conditioned room or car, I would start sweating which I would never have done before and don't now so I knew that something was not right. Also, particularly in hot weather or stuffy conditions, I had the panic attacks in bed at night even though my body was not actually hot to the touch - I now think that this did in fact have something to do with internal body temperature. Believe me, it was not fun and I felt that I should find a better alternative which fortunately I did.
To summarise, it was a generic feeling of hollowness, not firing on all cylinders and an overwhelming feeling that the medication was not hitting the spot.
Hope that helps.
