Is Estrogel approved or dodgy? Names of NHS / approved oestrogen please

[LimeLemonOrange]

I had a consultation with a private menopause clinic and asked the difference between bio identical and body identical HRT. From her description I decided I wanted body identical and that's what she said she prescribed.

I just looked up what she prescribed - Estrogel - and it says bioidentical! I've read that bioidentical are not fully approved / trialled.

What are some names of body identical / approved / NHS oestrogen products so I can research them?

Oestrogel (name on bottle) is 100% approved. I've used it for 12 years prescribed by a top (mainstream)meno consultant.

I suspect you have looked online on a website (where did you 'look it up'?) where the author is confusing body and bio-identical (which loads of people do.)

Thanks. The brand name is Estrogel and it was on the Estrogel website itself that it used the term 'bioidentical'.

Thanks for letting me know the name of yours.

I've emailed the clinic to ask for clarity, but I suspect they'll take ages to reply, so I'm asking MN in case someone has an answer sooner!

Oestrogel is mainstream oestrogen gel, as prescribed by the NHS, too. Completely fine and lots of us find it works very well.

@LimeLemonOrange It's just a slightly out of date US website you have seen. The Oestrogel prescribed here is made in Europe by Besins.

In the US they aren't as up to date as we are here on HRT (for example they still use mares urine estrogen a lot) and over the past few years in the UK, meno specialists have tried to stop companies using the 'bio' term because it really only applies to compounded HRT (that's off licence and made in a private lab for the individual.)

The correct term is now body identical.

Oestrogel the one you will get from a high street pharmacy is mainstream, used by the NHS and safe.

@JinglingHellsBells I got this prescribed through a private clinic and they used a specific pharmacy to post it to me.

It's an aqua blue and white box with bits of orange, called Estrogel, box says it's Estradiol. But it does say it's made by Besins so although the spelling is different from the type you mention, the producer is the same which is reassuring.

I've just found my product on this page -

www.besins-healthcare.com/products/

They use both words Oestrogen and Estrogel - by the context it looks like they're the same thing.

BUT it says it should only be prescribed to women who have had 6 months since their last period and I'm still having periods!

Like this?

well that's not the case- 6 months after last period.

Never seen that but TBH never looked. Was given it when in peri 18 months before last period.

Stop worrying! You are over thinking it.

Yes exactly like that photo Abraid2!

Jingling thanks for the reassurance, it's much appreciated (and needed).

I'm a bit of a wreck at the moment and not even 100% sure my symptoms are perimenopause.

I have done well on oestrogel and utrogestan and it helped my mood swings a lot. Also a sense of impending doom has lifted in the year I’ve been taking hrt.

Hope it works well for you! I’m sure it will help.