Menopause Matters Forum
Menopause Discussion => All things menopause => Topic started by: JacksJacks2 on October 20, 2018, 07:25:20 AM
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Hello all
Advice or experiences please
Does estrogel slowly build up and store in the body, or does it literally last for the 24 hours approx, dropping off towards the end ?
I feel as though my levels start dropping approx 14 hours after application, and then, by morning it is as though there is nothing left in me - with a restless night to boot !
Within an hour of applying in the morning, I can slowly feel my head improving.
I am currently on 3 pumps daily. I apply 1 on each thigh and 1 to an arm - all in the morning.
Anyone experience the wearing/dropping off on the gel ?
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Hiya JacksJacks2,
Ive just come off Estrogel because i couldnt seem to get a happy medium, I was on 3 pumps daily too.
If I did 3 pumps in the evening my mood was awful the next day and tired by mid afternoon, but if i did 2 at night and 1 in the morning i couldn't sleep at night.
Have you tried splitting your dose? It might work for you x
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Hi Allie,
Am thinking of splitting my dose. Maybe the 2 in the morning and then one at bed time! Dr suggested I might need to take 4 pumps, so then I could do 2 and 2.
What, may I ask, are you using now?
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I'm using the Estradot patches, just over 3 weeks and, scuse the language but i feel bloody awful so far. The worst I've felt since starting any HRT x
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I feel for you Allie .... I have been trying to find the right balance for me for over a year ... not an easy task!
I am hopeful with the estrogel, but time will tell. At least for a period of time in the day I have feelings of normalcy, so that is already a plus for me.
Persevere Allie, with dedication and hopefully not too much time, you will find what works well for you.
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Thank you.
Weird observation, when i started on Estrogel in March my was wee turned bright neon yellow for a few months, gradually going back to normal colour. I felt so awful again today i used 1 pump of gel this morning and my wee has been that yellow colour again.
When i was using the gel i was shedding lots of hair aswell and I didnt have to wash it as often, every 3 to 4 days. Its greasy after 2 days now since stopping and no more hair loss.
Glad youre feeling well, hope it continues!
Xx
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I use three pumps a day, I split the dose as using it all at once makes me jittery, I do two at night and one in the morning.
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I find all this so confusing - I thought the whole point of taking estrogen in any form is that you get the background level up to a point that works for you, and then your daily dose keeps it that way. If your daily dose is causing such huge fluctuations then maybe that means that your background level isn't high enough; your body should be able to cope with a certain amount of fluctuation within 24 hours. I don't use gel so I have no experience to contribute, but with patches I haven't noticed any difference in my symptoms which correlate with the patch needing to be changed. I just change it when I'm meant to and my symptoms remain the same. And I know that I'm absorbing well from the patches as my estradiol level got up to over 1000 pmol after about 6 months on a high dose.
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racjen, could you tell me how long it took for you to feel better using patches and what dose you're on?
My doctor wont do any blood tests despite me asking virtually every time i've gone X
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Hi Racjen
Blood tests confirmed my estrogen was on the floor, even with 2 pumps daily. Hospital advised I up it immediately to 3, or 4 if I felt no improvement. Today I added the 4th pump.
I have had beeen having really debilitating migranes and the latest was a 9 week headache that didn't go away for even 1 minute. For a portion of that time I was signed off sick from work as my head was in such a bad way. Even now, I am phasing back in. After numerous checks, scans, blood test and everything coming back fine, I asked my gp if it could be my estrogen. She sent me for blood tests and the following day the lab phoned my gp who then phoned me, advising me to increase immediately.
I am hoping now that it will start to build up in my body a bit and then should not "drop off" towards the end of the day. That is my hope anyway. My headache is much less, but still present, but now that I have added a 4th pump, I am hoping that it just fades away !
I have another blood test scheduled in 2 months to see if my levels have improved.
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Oh hun thats so awful for you. I can't imagine how you must be feeling. I'm sure ive read on here that a gel called Sandrena is supposed to be more easily absorbed. Maybe that would help.
Really hope you start to feel better very soon xx
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I will remember that Allie, in case the estrogel increase does not work.
Thank you
Have a nice day
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I've been prescribed Sandrena because I wasn't absorbing Oestrogel very well. I've no idea yet if this is any better as I won't be getting another blood test done until December. I'll update when I know more, though.
JP x
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When my estradiol level was tested initially in August last year it was so low it was almost not there (something like <39 pmol) - I had a sudden menopause due to chemotherapy, which just destroys your ovaries overnight. It then took a gradually increasing Evorel patch, from 50 briefly, increasing to 100 for maybe 3 months and then 200 for probably another 3 months. So I'd say at least 6 months at a pretty high dose. It's helped a lot with the depression, but not at all with anxiety which remains my main horribly debilitating symptom (but I don't believe that's related to estrogen, I think it's either progesterone or testosterone,neither of which I can tolerate).
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Am so sorry to heaar than racjen. How are you feeling at the moment? X
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Hello all
Advice or experiences please
Does estrogel slowly build up and store in the body, or does it literally last for the 24 hours approx, dropping off towards the end ?
I feel as though my levels start dropping approx 14 hours after application, and then, by morning it is as though there is nothing left in me - with a restless night to boot !
Within an hour of applying in the morning, I can slowly feel my head improving.
I am currently on 3 pumps daily. I apply 1 on each thigh and 1 to an arm - all in the morning.
Anyone experience the wearing/dropping off on the gel ?
I certainly could feel the gel wearing off when I was on 2 pumps a day. I now use 3.5 a day. 2 in the morning and 1.5 in the evening about 12 hours apart and I will go up to 4 pumps a day next week I think.
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My headaches have increased this past week, so I have split my 4 pumps a day with 2 per morning and 2 per evening. I notice a major improvement within an hour of applying in the morning - not so much in the evening. I have been struggling to sleep this past few weeks and just recently been having really vivid dreams - some not very nice. Not sure why !
I got my testosterone levels back from the hospital <0.4 and my Dr is thinking this could be cause of the headaches, but cannot prescrible any testosterone as not licensed other than by Menopause clinic - my next appoinment with them is Feb 2019.
Interestingly to learn, what little bit of testosterone my body is making, might be converting to estrogen to boost that... I don't appear to be winning lately.
I will persevere with Estrogel until Nov 27th, then have to have a blood test and also start Utrogestan. If I don't feel any better by then, I will swap back to Evorel but will start at either 75mg or 100mg.
It is all so depressing isn't it !!
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I'm on a 75mcg patch, and I've found that on the day I was due to change it (3.5 days) I would start proper flushing again - more mildly than before patches, but still....
So, I'm now changing my patch every third day, which seems to be helping, but will ask my gynae for 100mcg patch script when I have the Mirena inserted just in case I need more xx
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I'm using the Estradot patches, just over 3 weeks and, scuse the language but i feel bloody awful so far. The worst I've felt since starting any HRT x
Alli O just to say I felt awful at first in estradot but persevere as it does get much better x