Just to clarify re estriol vaginal cream.
Once upon a time there were two branded estriol creams - Gynest and Ovestin. Gynest was 10 x weaker than Ovestin, at 0.1 mg per g ie 0.01 %. Ovestin is (was?) 1 mg per g ie 1 %. The dosage for the Gynest cream was much greater than for Ovestin (because it was weaker) so it could therefore easily be used more liberally without messing up the dose.
Some years ago Gynest was discontinued and replaced with a generic version (well so I thought but I've just looked it up and it seems to be there again!) - exactly the same formulation that I could make out - and just called Estriol cream. Same dose, same effect as Gynest.
Fast forward to now and I see that the same thing has happened to Ovestin - now discontinued as a brand name but replaced with a generic, exactly the same formulation and dosage. Unfortunately also called Estriol cream.
[I think to do with expiry of patent? Like happened with Vagifem and also Utrogestan? So the company which developed it originally no longer has a monopoly on production.]
This means now, as I understand, both are called Estriol cream but at two different concentrations and dosages, and therefore it is important to specify which you want. The original 0.1% Estriol cream is just called Estriol cream, and the stronger (Ovestin) 1 % cream is called Estriol 1 mg/g Cream
https://www.medicines.org.uk/emc/product/5384/smpcFor those on repeat prescriptions, the pharmacy should know what doses these creams are and just change your prescription from Ovestin to Estriol 1% and I suggest anyone concerned should check their repeat to ensure they are prescribed the right one.
So there you have it!
Hurdity x
