Estradot issues

[CharityShopChic]

Estradot is my preferred format of HRT. According to the British Menopause Society "Novartis UK is not experiencing any Estradot supply issues at present".

This is news to me as you cannot get it anywhere. Is anyone else sourcing regular, reliable supplies of Estradot patches?

Yes I'm having issues. Not sure what to do as I do feel I absorb better on estradot.

I've considered trying pharmacy to you again. I've read on forums/ fb they may be more reliable. But I'm on so many medications I find it easier to use local pharmacy.

It's the same issue as with the penicillin at the moment; it's in warehouses but not making it to the pharmacies- and then when it does it immediately goes out as so many are owed.

I also think more gps are giving 6 month supplies which means any coming in will be owed to unfulfilled prescriptions

Considering paying privately for Estradot, I am on gel and feel dreadful.

Have just looked up pharmacy 2 You - can't use it as I'm in Scotland.

However I have found a site which appears to have 100 mcg patches for around £100 for 6 months supply which is not out the box expensive.

I've recently switched to Estrodot and have been lucky. Boots didn't have it the first time I had it prescribed but I found it in an independent pharmacy. I was braced for problems the second time but remarkably they had it in stock in Boots.
Sorry you're having trouble getting hold of it. Have you considered a different patch? Estrodot is definitely my preference but I think Evorel is OK too. Like you, I can't get on with gel.
Good luck!

I got Estradot last week. During past shortages I’ve had to switch to everol patches and aside from them being a lot bigger they were ok. Could you try those as an interim measure?

I've been on Evorel patches before and react badly to the glue unfortunately.

I juts contacted the boots I managed to get it from last time (a less central store to my town/ city) and they said they could order it this time. Which may be the case with other stores. Fingers crossed as I've asked the Gp to send over a prescription🤞

I'm better on estradot. Really noticed the difference this last time.

I'd spoken to the same store last week and they couldn't order it. So hopefully it's coming back into the flow of stock.

I’ve just ordered a repeat of the gel, really would prefer the estradot but with so many holidays over the next 2 weeks I’m not risking running out of hrt. The very idea makes me panicky!

it just seems weird that he official line is that there is no issue with hrt but the reality is different.

And fingers crossed for a New Year’s resolution to all these supply issues!!!

It's the chain of supply to the pharmacies - they're constantly on the back foot; more women on hrt, more 6 month prescriptions etc. as soon as it leaves the warehouses it's ear marked for prescriptions owed.

It seems that an "official shortage" is from the factory output.

When there's an actual manufacturing problem, they do alert. But of course everyone switches to a different type and so the Buck keeps getting passed.

This article is about exactly this problem www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/dec/07/hrt-uk-shortage-supply-menopause-women?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other

Finally, a friendly wholesaler told me that Novartis had installed quotas for pharmacies. My pharmacist can only order four boxes of 100mcg patches a month. That’s just my prescription, and he has half a dozen HRT users on his books. I had got to the pharmacy at 10am on the first day of the month and he had already run out.

I think this is why I'm finding more success with a pharmacy further out of the city.

Id completely forgotten that I'd saved a message from the menopause support network charity off Facebook; apparently Novartis say it's worth asking your pharmacist to contact Novartis customer care and let them know of supply issues: 08457419442. That was from July.

I've got a note on my phone where I save posts and links; of course brain fog has meant I can't even remember what's on there unless I actively look!

I have heard from other people that they are having more success with Estradot from smaller independent pharmacies than from the big chains like Lloyds or Boots. Which is fine. But the idea of spending at least an afternoon a month phoning around on a hunt for an essential medication is just so wrong.

I get 3 months prescribed each time @CharityShopChic . Can you ask your GP to prescribe for 3 months given that it's such a faff to get hold of the patches?

Hi op I get it no problem in Ireland. But I dont want generic one again crap kept lifting off demestrial. I did have look around few places though for mine Im on 75

I got three months of Evorel last time I asked for it - well, the prescription was for generic estradiol patches and that was all they could supply.

I am going to give the gel a few more days but honestly I feel like i'm not using anything. The aches and pains are back, the itchiness, the sore jaw, the anxiety. If I don't pick up soon, I'll be finding a way to get Estradot - which will probably mean paying for it privately.

The boots I've arranged it through has managed to get them in with no issues this time. It's possible they're back into the system now

Oh god, I was the same on gel @CharityShopChic . It was horrendous. I switched to Estrodot and felt better within a day.

I've had problems sourcing Estradot for a couple of years. This time I've been told by countless pharmacies they don't know when they will have it in stock. I've experienced exactly the same issues as the Guardian writer & try to source Estradot from all over the country, but it is the same thing. And I've written to Novartis a number of times. Novartis always say there are fulfilling their orders from the distributors. Pharmacies however are told by the distributors that they do not have enough supply from Novartis to fulfill their orders. The BMS just reports what Novartis say, which is contradictory to what is actually happening on the ground & so it goes around in circles with no-one acknowledging there is a problem, or trying to resolve it. It's most annoying as Estradot has been the best HRT type for me. But no-one really gives a shit. If HRT were a patented product & therefore big money for the pharmas & if it wasn't women's health, I imagine shortages wouldn't be so bad. It usually takes me about 8 weeks to get hold of my NHS prescription & even then it may not all be fulfilled. You just have to be lucky that you visit a pharmacy on the day they happen to get some stock in, as it flies off the shelf within the day.

I'm really struggling to get my estradot prescription fulfilled. Has the situation improved for any of you? Is paying privately likely to increase my chance of getting any? I really don't want to change brands (have tried others).

Not for me @Level75 I am still on private rx to get mine.

Who do you use to get it privately @OrangeKnot@OrangeKnot? I'm willing to pay!