Elleste Duet sequential 2mg no stock so prescribed Kliofem

[Lucycat]

I've had 2 very happy years on Elleste Duet sequential hrt- apart from quite heavy breakthrough bleeds - but now it's out of stock, as are all the alternatives it would seem after spending a good 30 minutes with the pharmacist last week. They have suggested Kliofem as the closest alternative in terms of content but this is a conti and as far as I know I'm still perimenopausal so I'm really nervous about taking this. I'm really unsure what to do, should I give it a go and see what happens.... any advice?

You don't have to use this. You can have 2 precriptions for 1) estrogen and 2) progestogen.

You need a 1mg source of estrogen- Elleste Solo- , and 1mg norethisterone as the progestogen (that's what's in Elleste.)

Baffles me why no medic thinks of this.

Many thanks for your response- I seem to be going backwards and forwards between doctors receptionists, locum GPs and pharmacists. I shall endeavour to try and get an alternative prescription whilst working full time in a job where I can't access the phone. 🙄

Quick update for Jingling thank you so much for your response.
I've been onto the pharmacist who has been fab and found a tablet (Trisequens) that has identical ingredients to my original, it suits my postmenopausal phase, it is sequential and I've found some in stock too! Here's hoping it suits me 🤞🏻

@Lucycat
Sorry to rain on your parade but it's far from the same as what you were taking!

1 It's 2mg dose of estrogen (not 1mg as you were using.) for 3 weeks
2 the red tablets taken contain only 1 mg estrogen.

This is why it's called 'tri' = 3 types of pills.

1 2mgs estrogen
2 2mgs estrogen plus Norethisterone
3 1 mgs estrogen

This is actually quite a weird form of HRT- no reason at all why you should have to drop to 1mg during the month and it may send your hormones all over the place to chop and change from 2mgs to 1mg.

Far easier to replicate what you had with 2 separate 1mg pills - simply estrogen and Norethisterone.

ps You don't have to use a pack of pills /HRT.
I've been on HRT for 11 years and have never used a pack of pills- my consultant has always worked on an 'a la carte' basis, of 2 separate products to get the right balance.

Oh just brilliant 😟
The Elleste Duet 2mg that I was using contains more than 1mg of the Estradiol though...

And maybe suppliers should get their arses into gear so that when one product becomes unavailable for unknown reasons there is at least something similar that pharmacists can be aware of and can suggest, rather than us women flailing about trying not to cock things up in terms of our hormones 😡

Ah okay -sorry. I guess the obvious answer is Elleste Solo 2mgs to use daily and 1mgs Norethisterone (though are there issues with Elleste Solo?)

have you contacted the company to ask why? They are in Potters Bar nr London.

I suspect some of this is due to Brexit. They are all stock piling raw materials ( pharma companies- know someone in the trade) so maybe this is impacting on the manufacturing process?

They just say that there is a long term manufacturing delay and they don't know when they will be back in stock. It's been like this for a few months apparently and all that happens when one particular brand is out, women just switch to the closest recommendation which also becomes out of stock. Most Elleste products are either out of stock or at low levels according to the manufacturer. I can't find Clinorette or Femoston either. Sigh.
Thanks for your help Jingles - sorry I came across as rather short, it's just exasperating. 😕

My GP has rung me today as they cannot fulfil my prescription for Elleste 2mg that I put in on Friday. Got an app to see a dr tomorrow to discuss an alterative. I'm terrified they will use this as an excuse to stop HRT altogether.

As I said before, you can use two items: estrogen as a pill, patch or gel and Norethisterone- identical to what is in these packs.

Unfortunately GPs don't seem to know how to do this and simply go to the set lunch menu rather than the a la carte options!
Meno specialists wouldn't think twice about swapping to something else.

Well, I'm back from the GP empty handed sadly. I don't know if its because they are a dispensing practice, and don't keep a wide range of stuff in, but they could not supply me with anything similar at all. I've got to go back tomorrow for another prescription which I can take to various other pharmacies and hope for the best. Trouble is I am very rural, so I'm going to spend most of tomorrow driving long distances. Nearest Boots or Tesco is 40 mins away and if they don't have it, then its an hour to the next ones, and so on.

I had the same problem 3 months ago - couldn't get Elleste anywhere, so had to visit the Dr again to discuss a change. The pharmacy said it's not just this particular HRT - they are having problems supplying across the board.

IF they're stockpiling because of Brexit, why didn't they just up manufacturing for a while? It doesn't make sense to me - they've created an issue where there doesn't need to be one or if there does need to be one, it's early!!

Yes... I got told its HRT across the board too and the word 'Brexit' was mentioned.

Just been prescribed Kliofem as my usual Elleste Duet 1mg unavailable - a bit nervous as other threads report heavy bleeding on Kliofem. And am also incredibly angry that women are having to put up with this crap, whether it's because of Brexit or otherwise..............

It’s so frustrating isn’t it?!? Being peri menopausal and suffering so many horrid side effects of that is bad enough without then being forced to change HRT because of shortages. I was on Elleste Duet 2mg until last weekend & have had to change. The pharmacist recommended Kliofem but after picking up my new prescription I realised it was a conti regime & not sequi & I certainly was not keen to take norethisterone every day! Another visit to the surgery & I now have Femoston 2/10. Hoping it will agree with me as I did struggle with the norethisterone and it contains a different progesterone. I just knew what to expect with that and now I’m back in the unknown again whilst still working in a busy pressured environment and running around after my DS8! Oh what fun to be a woman!!

I was put on Elleste Duet October 2018, was trucking along nicely until I had to fill my new prescription. My Doctors office managed to give me their last 3 packs, after Boots couldn't. 3 months along, same issue, Boots said they won't have any supplies until the end of June, Doctors pharmacy had nothing, so they switched me to Novofem (1/2 way thru first pack), feel like a bloated beached whale at the min. Have a Docs appointment on June 10th and going to have a big chat about this, would like something that actually works, and doesn't create heavy painful periods.

I m 37 and had 3 periods in a year diagnosed with premature ovarian failure abd living in south Turkey. Dr gave me trisequens but couldn t take it, tnats why started searching from strach myself. Thank you so much for all this info its Gold. Have an appointment with an another GP next week and really want to be the one that will tell him what to prescribe me. What should l ask for? Dosage? As far as l ve read the estrogen patch and micronised progesterone is what I need, is that right and do i ve to make sure its bio identital form. Thank you.