Hi Julesarx - welcome to the forum.
Sorry that you have been having a tough time of it but I think you should stick the the doctor's advice as to when the start the patches. Are your main symptoms feeling low or do you have others such as hot flushes, vaginal dryness etc?
You will find loads of help and advice on here and someone else will be along soon with their own thoughts on this I'm sure. HRT can take up to three months to really kick in properly so you may not get a quick fix for the low mood so don't despair and think that it wont work for you if things take longer.
Taz x