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[bluebird68]

Hi Ladies, I'm on 100mcg estradot. Has the material changed as it doesn't seem to feel the same and not as good sticking to my skin, I've noticed this since I was able to get hold of them again  Had anyone found the same with these patches?  I've been told I'm a low absorber. I only had one blood test which is a snapshot in time. I'm post menopausal.

[CeCe]

I use estradot 100 too. Haven’t noticed any difference recently and don’t have any sticking issues either (except struggling to get them off). I do ensure I don’t use any moisturiser or moisturising products in that area prior to applying a new patch. Sometimes I wipe my skin with alcohol before putting a patch on too. They seem the same to me, been on them for approx 9 months. My local pharmacy hasn’t experienced supply issues with 75 mcg and 100mcg estradot. I don’t absorb from other patches so I’m lucky I can get them locally.

[bluebird68]

Thanks for the reply. what is the alcohol you use to clean the skin?  I dont use moisturizer so it's nothing to do with this.

[sheila99]

I'd also like to know about the alcohol. I've asked for rubbing alcohol at the pharmacy but they say they don't sell it anymore.
  I used tattoo film over the patches, it's cheap on eBay. Some people use tegaderm dressings. I don't have trouble with estradot, I got it when I had to have estraderm, but it stops the dirty marks round the patches so I've continued with it.

[Hurdity]

Hi - I haven't used Estradot for years but just a point about alcohol.

I would not rub your skin with alcohol before applying the patch. Although it should evaporate quickly it can dissolve the glue designed to make the patch stick.

I use rubbing alcohol to remove the black marks left when  patch is removed but I do this when I remove the old one and not before I add the new one. (I used to leave the marks because cba to remove them but then I felt the marks probably interfered with absorption - because it's basically gluey gunk with fibres from underwear attached - and I was somewhat criss-crossed with them - seemed to take ages to come off after showering etc).

Sheila - you can buy rubbing alcohol easily and cheaply from the web. Google is your friend!

By the way bluebird - I find Evorel great at sticking though I didn't really have a complaint about Estradot for years except in the summer in hot weather - they seemed to be a bit less stable and slide about a bit when I was out in the sun....

Hurdity x

[Shirazette]

I did have problems with Estradot sticking when they changed to Sandoz but after the first batch I haven't had any difficulties. I did change the patch location at the time to the lower abdomen so I didn't lie on it at night and have carried on with that as it's easy to see what you're doing.

[bombsh3ll]

You can buy rubbing alcohol cheaply on eBay or Amazon.

My clinic advised it for helping the patches stick when I was using them for IVF.

The purpose of the alcohol is to strip the natural oils from your skin before putting on the patch so it sticks better.

In my experience this did help although I also used hypafix dressings over the top.

If you were concerned about the alcohol affecting the glue in the patch you could always clean the area with alcohol before you shower, that way the skin there is still less oily as long as you just wash with soap and water, and the alcohol would be gone.

I would just add that whilst I don't know your personal medical history, many women struggle needlessly with finicky, high maintenance, expensive and unreliable transdermal products, because they are terrified of oral estradiol - in reality the increased thrombotic risk is of the order of an extra one clot per 4000-5000 women per year on oral.

This is statistically, but not clinically significant for most healthy users.

[CeCe]

I use isopropyl alcohol (available from Amazon). I wipe the area with the alcohol, dry it off with a towel and stick the patch on. I was advised to do this by my GP and a menopause clinic. Since doing this I have had no problems with patches sticking or absorption from the patch. I stick them on my lower abdomen.