Really bad news for anyone who relies on Estradot

[HufflepuffRavenclaw]

From the British Menopause Society website supply section.

thebms.org.uk/news/british-menopause-society-update-on-hrt-supply/

Novartis pharmaceuticals
Novartis UK confirms that we will go out of stock on ESTRADOT TTS-50, ESTRADOT TTS-100, and ESTRADOT TTS-25. Based on our current information, we expect that these presentations of Estradot will start to go out of stock from January 10, with supplies returning to normal levels within four weeks. Supplies of ESTRADOT TTS-37.5 are unaffected.

Novartis has responded to the significant and sustained growth in demand for Estradot by increasing production three-fold from 2019 to the present day. Despite expanding supply, we have capacity constraints within the manufacturing plant, which we are working hard to resolve. In addition, other HRT suppliers are having supply difficulties, which has increased the demand for Estradot.

We understand shortages such as these can cause great uncertainty for patients, and we are working hard to resolve this matter as quickly as possible. We have notified the Department of Health who are working with us to look at alternative solutions in the interim.

We encourage any patient affected by this shortage to speak with their doctor or pharmacist for information on available alternative options during this period.

Bugger. Thankfully I've just got 3 new boxes but that was hard enough without a shortage. The knock on effect will last for a while after the 4 weeks from experience.

Thanks for the heads up.

demand for Estradot by increasing production three-fold from 2019 to the present day.

Can't blame it all on Davina and Newson then. But that illustrates a desperate need for women who weren't on hrt prior to this time.

I have so many colleagues I now know really suffered in peri/meno, some also lost jobs.

Oh bloody hell. I've got 2 and a half boxes. Hopefully that will see me through until the end of the shortage. If not I guess I'll have to switch to Evorel.

Thanks for posting this. Did I imagine it or did someone post recently that they (manufacturer? supplier?) said supplies were fine and there was no shortage?

It doesn't mention 75s but the pharmacist told me they've been out for ages and have no idea when new stock could be expected.

According to a poster on this thread the British Menopause Society said there were no supply issues despite women experiencing supply issues for months: www.mumsnet.com/Talk/menopause/4715946-estrodot-supply-issues-alternative

A pharmacist told me there are manufacturing problems. Why are there so many different stories?

I think there's been no issue at the factory end, but a Combo of logistical supply and then fulfilling orders. If women are waiting they're constantly on the back foot. If I get my estradot from the local boots there's always 6 people waiting ahead of my prescription.

If only 4 people's worth come in I have to wait for the next batch. The most local Gp to that boots (mine) is now issuing 6 month prescriptions too, which may add to that

If I ask for the prescription to be sent to a boot further out of town I appear to be able to get it no problem.

But now there is an issue as per the dates in this statement, which may add an extra pressure to the supply issues over the coming weeks.

That was me who posted earlier about Estradot. It was only last week that the Menopause Soc website updated to reflect what the rest of us have been saying for months - that Estradot is like hen's teeth and you can't get hold of it anywhere. I got a prescription for Estradot 75 mcg the first week of October and spent hours phoning around before getting one solitary box.

I can't use Evorel as I'm allergic to the glue and do not get on with the gel. It's a really worrying situation.

Just bumping this as I have read on Twitter this morning that many Swedish and Finnish women are struggling to get Estradot too, reports that it won't be available in Spain until May. 😱

I have about 3 months' worth, it's really stressful not knowing what/when i will be able to get.

Shit. I have two boxes left, 2 months. I'll clearly have to start looking in a months time

Forewarned is forearmed. Hopefully the shortages will be a blip.

Oh shit. I've only got 2 boxes too.

Does anyone know if there are any updates on the supply issues? Has anyone managed to get hold of Estrodot? I'm down to a box and a half and wondered if I should ask the GP for the prescription now to give me time to traipse round every pharmacy in town!

Has anyone heard any updates? In the end I got so sick of the uncertainty I ordered some Evorel and Utrogestan privately from Boots and have just found out they've cancelled my order because their warehouse is now out of stock as well.

Estradot should be back in stock but so far it's still showing out of stock at Lloyds and Boots.

The Boots stock check thing is so crap it'll push me over the edge, I need to step away!

Diane Danzebrink is apparently on radio 5 tomorrow to discuss this. Unfortunately this is the latest:

Boots stock checker doesn't work for estrogen I find. You have to physically ring around.

I was sent to another pharmacy for testosterone after I found it showed up on boots stick checker and the pharmacist rang them go double check.

When I turned up they randomly had a pack of estradot 25s which is what I wanted. It hadn't shown online.

Sadly and also accidentally I have found that the pharmacies that are in lower socioeconomic areas are more likely to have stock.

It's not just lower socio-economic areas. I had success with a pharmacy in an area of town which is very studenty, young professional.

Worried about estradot shortages though. Even the private online pharmacies don't have it.

That's a good point re students areas.

I've posted the link to 5 live in a new thread.

HRT issues on bbc 5 live www.mumsnet.com/Talk/menopause/4747634-hrt-issues-on-bbc-5-live

What gets me is that it should only be the studenty areas that have the surplus's stock.

Women in across all areas of society should be getting the same level of support.

Agree Warrior. It seems it's only the educated middle classes who are getting the HRT because they are the ones approaching their GPs and demanding it. Of course women in lower socio-economic groups are suffering at the same rates and their GPs should be proactively offering it. But we all know that doesn't happen.

I've just tried 3 pharmacies with no luck. All of them said I should request Evorel instead. I've still got enough for about another month so hopefully it will come back in stock before I run out.

The pharmacists said I need to ask the GP to write a new prescription for Evorel. I'm not going to do that just yet because I'm still hoping to find some estradot somewhere! But if I do need to request Evorel, I thought the chemist could just give it to me without me going back to the GP. That's what I understand from this anyway psnc.org.uk/our-news/two-new-ssps-issued-for-estradot-50mcg-and-100mcg-patches/
Am I wrong?

What you should do is ask GP to prescribe the estradiol patch and dose generically with no branding so that any brand can be used.

We are only allowed to use the specific brand prescribed on a script with no substitutions.

Which is fine if you’re not allergic to the glue on Evorel.

Feel sorry for Estradot users right now. I live in a fairly deprived town with a ton of social/ economic problems etc. Not a whiff of Estradot here either! I can just about get evorel!

Yeah, my area is pretty mixed @Runaround50 . I started at the Boots at the more affluent end and worked my way along to the independent chemists at the more deprived end. Nothing to be had anywhere. There seemed to be plenty of stock of Evorel.
The Boots online prescription stock checker says there's stock at a store a short drive away. I don't know how accurate the online checker is though and they're not answering the phone...