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[LILIANE]

Hello,

I live in Belgium and am postmenopausal since 2011.  I have no uterus and started using the estrogen for hot flashes.  At the same time I used 5 mg DHEA.  I never felt good being on the patch and suffered from anxiety.  When I stopped taking DHEA IN 2014, all hell broke loose.  The anxiety got so extreme that I tapered off the patch in 2015, but of course the very severe hot flashes came back.  Since  then I still have anxiety but not as bad as it was on the patch.

I wonder if there are some other women who have had a estogen patches. 

[LILIANE]

I am sorry ladies, I am new here and I must have done something wrong because my message did not get posted the way I wanted.  The last sentence should be : I wonder if there are some other women who have had a similar reaction to estrogen patches.

I even tried Femarelle, but the same thing happened as with the patch.  So even phytoestrogens make me sick.

Thank you for reading this message and I am looking forward to your reactions.

Liliane

[Daisydot]

Hi Liliane welcome to the forum.I didn't get on with the patches I didn't seem to get enough oestrogen at a steady rate so I swopped to the oestrogel pump method or transdermal gel and I haven't looked back,you can tailor the dosage to suit your needs and it sounds like this would suit you better,so start off with one squirt of gel daily on your thigh,takes a while to dry,then gradually build up to a comfortable level after a few weeks if no immediate reduction in symptoms.make a gp appointment and discuss and any other questions post away the ladies here will try to help and support you.If your having vaginal problems like dryness or soreness you could also ask for some vagifem pessaries or estriol cream to plump up the vaginal membranes while your at the gp.itll help stop v.a and urogenital problems like uti,s ,this is a lifelong treatment for the v.a it never goes away and usually worsens if you. try and stop the treatment.good luck and hope you get sorted out soon.xx

[LILIANE]

Hi Daisydot,

Thank you for your warm welcome

I am glad to hear you found a solution.  Did you get anxiety while on the estrogen patch ?

Liliane

[Daisydot]

Yes it did nothing to help lift my mood,I went from tablets to patches to gel.it reduced the sweats but wasn't consistent by day 2-3 I was so weepy and anxious again I knew it wasn't giving me what I needed.hope this reassures you.xx

[LILIANE]

thank you Daisydot

[Daisydot]

Your welcome Liliane and good luck xx

[Mary G]

Liliane, I agree with Daisydot.  I didn't get on with patches either, they didn't give me anything like enough oestrogen and they didn't stick properly either so I wasn't getting a steady dose of oestrogen.

I would definitely look into Oestrogel or you can probably get an oestrogen spray called Lenzetto (Evamist in the US) in Belgium, it's available in most EU states now.  You might want to read up on it online.

I take 25mg oral DHEA every day and find it very good.  Why did you stop taking it?

You are lucky that you don't need to take progesterone which makes HRT far more challenging. 

[Hurdity]

Hi LILIANE

 

If you suffer from anxiety on the patch it won't be to do with the patch itself as a delivery method, if it's pure oestrogen - this is a perfectly good way to deliver oestrogen. It depends on your needs (in terms of dose) as well as your absorption. What type and dose of patch have you been using and how often do you change it, and where on your body do you apply it? For most of the time I've been on HRT I have used patches and never suffer from anxiety or low mood! At the right dose oestrogen should make you feel energised and full of life. Do you have your ovaries still?

Depending on what the dose of oestrogen was on the patch I would try for a higher or lower dose - for example if you were on a 100 mcg patch maybe this is too high - although I have no experience of anxiety caused by too much oestrogen.

If after experimenting for several weeks on different doses of patch - you haven't cracked it - then do try the gel! That would be my recommendation

Hurdity x

[LILIANE]

Hurdity and Mary,

Thank you for your replies.  I am very afraid to try a different form of oestrogen, because the patch caused extreme anxiety, no matter what dose I tried over the four years I used it.  In the leaflet of all oestrogen products they mention anxiety as a side effect.  I am sure there must be some other women here on this site who had a similar reaction to oestrogen.

The anxiety I had on the patch went through the roof and I thought I would end up in a psychiatric ward.  So, you will understand my reluctance to using any form of oestrogen.   

Liliane xx

[waltzingfrog]

Hi Liliane
I tried patches 3 years ago and experienced dreadful mood swings. For more than a year I persisted because everyone advises to persist to give a chance for hormones to balance/settle. I started at 50mcg estradot and it was assumed that I wasn't absorbing so I moved the patch around from tummy to bum as advised to no avail. I cleaned my skin with alcohol to ensure adhesion but to no avail. I was then advised that dose was too low so it was increased to 75mcg and the 100mcg. Mood just got worse. Then because I was in a position to be able to access serum hormone levels I did them daily for a week. Ha! Blood tests revealed wildly fluctuating oestradiol levels. Day 1 following patch showed really high levels of oestradiol which plummeted by day 3/4... I also tried  Oestrogel but same result. I then switched to femoston 1/10 and whilst not perfect overall it suits me fine .. I figure I must me an alien because I think most people tolerate  transdermal route better than oral plus oral route has slightly more risk but it seems to suit my ‘alien' body better 👽 👽 -sorry for longwinded reply but I hope it helps (although lucky you won't need the progestin if you ever switch to oral) Best of luck - those mood swings are dreadful - hang in there ♥️

[LILIANE]

Hi waltzinfrog,

Thank you so much for sharing your experience.  I feel less of an alien now.  I will talk to my GP about oral route.