Any tips for keeping patches on?

[reup]

I’ve just been prescribed femseven sequi patches. I followed the instructions and after 2 hours it was curling and coming off and had air bubbles. I’ve only been given 2 months worth so that’s now down to one months worth.

Can I put a plaster over the top or what?

Also it says don’t wear tight clothes so that would mean tights, leggings, exercise trousers? That’s not very realistic?

I’m so desperate and I was told I couldn’t have tablets so this is my only hope (my symptoms are extreme depression, anger, crying a lot, waking at 4, aching all over, thinning hair: dry mouth - not hot flushes)

Any top tips?

Thanks

I feel your pain. I felt better on the femseven than i did on evorel was it placebo? i dunno...
just applied my gel. i do not understand the dosage. as supposed to get 3 month supply but 2 cannisters (?) mean 8 weeks if using 2 pumps a day.

WHY IS THIS SO DIFFICULT

Tablets would be so much easier!

they could give us an injection and put us to sleep. much easier. ha.

I use Estradot patches, which are micro ones. It's 3cm x 2cm. The adhesion is superb and I place it in my knicker area, just above pubic line. I don't have to press it in place or hold it there.

I think the patches you're on are known for having really poor adhesion.

I have Evorel they are fine on fleshy bits of my hip/upper thigh luckily but it did take a couple of weeks to work out the best place. I am on month five and and feeling better and better so I reckon it takes time to build up

Yes I dream of a put you to sleep injection - I’ve got several months to catch up on!

But actually there’s a contraceptive injection so an hrt would be good - maybe!

Re-up,phone your surgery/GP and ask for a repeat prescription and day why.I had no problem doing this to avoid a gap.

Day 9 of my oestodiol gel and I am back to full on hot flushes,tired though not many night sweats(maybe that is my new wool duvet helping there).Will battle on but not sure what to think.My joint issues also seem to be getting worse.
I'm too young to be falling apart like this!

Hothead i wonder if you need a higher does of the gel?

Reup - how ru feeling?
My depression has lifted, thank god, but i am still tearful and angry.
i am a delight to live with.
why don't you google those surgical tape things that some women on here say help their patches stay on.
I hope you're feeling ok x

Yes I meant to do it last week but then I hadn’t good run of 5 days and thought I’d be ok. The last ones coming off now so there will be a 2-3 day gap as a minimum.

The trouble is if I go through 4/5 patches a week I’ll need a months supply for each week which makes no sense so I’ll try and make an appointment as well to see if I can get something else as this isn’t working and it’s making me more upset.

Oh god the joint aching is awful - I feel so old when I bend my knees!

The trouble with using tape or opsite is that if the patch adhesive isn't sticking itself you aren't getting the drug.
I'm supposed to take half a sachet and the whole one if it doesn't work,I upped the dose last week!May have to go on tablets but Im not the best at remembering to take them.

Hot - I have heard that too but I really think worth a shot if they are coming off away. I mean mine were letting in water but I still felt better so something must’ve been going in.
If not get thee to the docs for gel or tablets. I reckon the best tablet is femostan. Basically you want body identical. I have oestrogel and the Utrogestan tablet which is micronized progesterone. Apparently gold standard HRT.
As I have said I am only just starting it all so cant yet vouch for its efficacy.

Bloody doctors - I have to speak to someone about it but I can’t get calls at work and they can only make calls at specific times so I won’t be able to speak to someone till Thursday.

Reup does your surgery have a twitter account? DM them if they do.... x

I've had a crappy, tearful day. feel like bathing in the bloody gel to hurry it up haha

how ru?

I’ve never looked - will do now. Well I screamed and shouted for 5 mins when I realised something I ordered online is coming in dribs and drabs and they didn’t mention it in any emails.

It seemed reasonable at the time in my rage and now I’m thinking why did I explode?

I also had some tedious work training today and wanted to kill people who asked stupid questions or rambled on with pointless anecdotes, that is still reasonable of me I believe.

I spend most of my day wanting to kill something - myself if I’m feeling depressed or other if I’m feeling ragey. ( bit of an exaggeration)

Reup i feel the same. This morning i was supposed to have an eye test but couldnt find my voucher so called the opticians to ask if it'd still be ok. i got a very dim person telling me to look harder on the webstie for it. the irony was not lost on me.
i got the rage and cancelled the appointment.
i am snapping at my friends and then feeling like an idiot and upset at myself and the world.
it's grim. x

I’m getting a different brand of patches - evorell - let’s hope they stick. The alternative was gel and progesterone tablets. She said the gel can be. Annoying cos it take while to dry - do you find that Kalifornia?

And oddly the last patch fell off on Sunday and it’s really red and itchy where it came off.

Hi Reup - I was on evorel but they didn't work for me so I am now on the gel and have found it dries really quickly - not a problem at all. I use 2 pumps putting 1 amount on outside of arms and the next pump inner thighs. It’s sort of like the consistency of witch doctor gel - not greasy so it dries quickly.
I actually started to feel better on Thursday morning. I woke feeling like my gloom cloud had disappeared. It is such a strange feeling to feel bettwe overnight and know it's hormones. My DH has been singing Thank for the Oestrogen to the tune of thank you for the music....
I am a week in to the gel.
Worried about taking the progesterone but praying it doesn’t flatten me.
Let me know who you get on with evorel x

Thanks that’s good to know. The dr said something about having to take tablets as well if if I had the gel but I shouldn’t take hrt tablets. (my previous GP had given me duet elleste on the lowest dosage in tablet form and I took them for a month with no change and then she decided I shouldn’t have them - the main reason why I changed GPs)

A week is nice and fast! How long before you gave up on the evorel?

The gel I use is clear and has the consistency of lube or the gel they use for sonograms, although it melts away and is absorbed to nothing rather than being gloppy.

It’s very quick drying and takes little or no wait time before I put on my clothes. About as long as I take to put on my bra it’s completely dry.

I love the gel as I can give myself an extra pump if I get a hot flash. (Still occasionally ovulating)

My gel started working in two days. Honestly it was just amazing to feel so good after feeling so bad.
All aches and pains gone, all brain fog gone and all bad / ragey short temper gone.

Don’t write the gel off... it’s the easiest hrt to use imo as you can change the dose and analyse how much you need and dose accordingly (with GP approval of course)

I use vaginal utrogenestan as well for 15 days (100mg) and have withdrawal bleeds. No adverse reaction to that either.... just a bit sleepier (no bad thing as I use it at night)

Yes Reup you will need progesterone tablets called Utrogestan taken day 15-26 of your cycle. This is non synthetic progesterone.
I asked for pessaries but was told they were only licenced for fertility treatments. I knew this not to be true but by this time I was so exhausted from fighting for what I wanted that I just took the prescription for the pills (consequently realising she has mis prescribed the amount, but, hey, why get things right when you can totally piss off your already raging patient...)
As Dorje says the gel is fast drying. No probs at all.

I gave Evorel 3 months. I felt terrible. x

Thanks for that. The gel sounds great. I’ve got the new patches now so I’ll give them and go and see if they stuck on my wrinkly skin! But the gel sounds better.

I shall talk to the drs more knowledgeably now!

@KaliforniaDreamz I use the progesterone capsules vaginally. They are spherical in shape, quite small, and cream colored. They have the natural micronised progesterone dissolved in oil in them. They’re quite squashy, not hard, rather like evening primrose oil softcaps.

They melt over night and deliver a localized 100mg progesterone dose to my womb.

I find if I took them orally, I had to take 2 of them and they made me so sleepy, and quite grumpy.
Now with my GP’s ok, I take one X 100mg vaginally for 15 days a month, then I have a withdrawal bleed.

I hope you can sort out your patches, but if you still find them falling off @reup, perhaps try the little round progesterones and the oestrogen gel.

I feel marvelous on my hrt. (Everyone’s asking me what face cream I’m using!) I’ve got my brain back too.

It’s worth having as much info as possible, as a back up. Good luck!

Dorje my GP was adamant i could only have the tablets. Honestly it became a battle... or rather a farce...

What gel are you all on.Mine comes in sachets,estradiol 0.5 mg.I have now been one it18 days(previously on patches)and Iam back to hot flushes,waking at night,badly aching joints and a dry,irritated undercarriage.I am also very irritable.
It is about as effective as water and any benefit I had from the patches as faded.I was going to give this a chance but things are getting back to pre hrt.
I am not keen on tablets but know my GP will suggest this next.Do they have more side effects?