Is there a shortage of Evorel Sequi patches?

[extinctspecies]

Or is it just my bad luck? Reordered on Tuesday, went to pick up today & the 3 pharmacies in my town don't have them (including Boots).

And the pharmacist said they aren't very common & mine was the first prescription he'd seen in 2 years...

I asked my GP for patches after reading advice on here, thought they were widely used, so I'm a bit surprised. Should I ask the GP to put me on gel instead?

I use evorel. Love them, but they never have them in stock and so I always have to wait a couple of days for a prescription.

Yes, I've got mine now & need to remember to reorder earlier in future.

Is there something better I should be using though, which is more widely available?