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Original poster

Desperate to find Estrodot patches

46 replies

checkedcloth · 23/08/2023 10:59

They are the only patch that seems to work for me. I’m on 100mcg, but cannot source them anywhere
I’ve tried alternatives and gel, I just don’t seem to absorb any others and my symptoms come back so quickly .

I am so fed up with this, it’s impossible to maintain your health, hold down a job and family life when you can’t get the right treatment. I feel absolutely at a loss as to what to do.

OP posts:
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5
WhereAreWeNow · 23/08/2023 15:33

I sympathise. I'm on the same Estrodot and it's a struggle every couple of months when I get a new prescription. Usually I track some down eventually by trailing round all the chemists and waiting for more stock to come in. Good luck!

PortiaWithNoBreaks · 23/08/2023 16:04

I’ve got these before when everywhere was out of stock from an independent pharmacy who requested stock directly from the manufacturer - so they scanned my script to them. I think they called it a named patient basis or something?

But, I don’t think some/many pharmacies especially big chains can be arsed to do that They just look at the stock in their wholesalers, shrug and say too bad.

For that reason I always avoid the likes of Boots.

Where abouts are you? If you’re in the south east or north Surrey I can pm you the pharmacy I use.

Original poster
checkedcloth · 23/08/2023 17:03

Please do @PortiaWithNoBreaks I am Surrey !

OP posts:
Agneshill · 23/08/2023 21:19

I've just got my first prescription of these (I went somewhere rural to find them but even so, there wasn't enough to complete the prescription).

It's good to hear they have been good for you op, how long did they take to start working?

Original poster
checkedcloth · 23/08/2023 21:45

Well I’ve been advised by the GP to try to spray as there are no patches of any make available in our area. I am petrified of not having any control of my symptoms. I am hardly sleeping - so driving and being at work feels like I am in a daze.

OP posts:
Sortmylifeout52 · 23/08/2023 22:04

@checkedcloth that's awful.
Can't you get evorel patches even?

Lenzetto is weak ( in my opinion)
3 sprays to a 50 dose patch.

It's a bloody joke women's health!

Good luck. Lack of sleep is rubbish.

Original poster
checkedcloth · 24/08/2023 05:35

I can get Everol every now and again but I don’t like them anyhow, they don’t stick and I don’t absorb them. It’s a minefield, I don’t have the time to be making so many calls and travelling around. I just want a prescription that I can collect regularly. So frustrating

OP posts:
WhereAreWeNow · 30/08/2023 12:21

I just went to pick up my prescription and was told no more stock until January 😭
I've tried Boots and an independent pharmacy this morning. I'll try a few more before giving up and asking the GP for a prescription for Evorel.
What the hell is going on with HRT supply chains?

EstrogenPatches · 31/08/2023 20:40

Oh I hear you. I am allergic to the glue on Evorel, and the gel turned me into an absolute wreck. Estradot is the only thing which works for me.

I am on 75s and think I may need a higher dose. But the 100s are impossible to source. I did get 3 boxes of 75s on a prescription this morning, and still have a stash which I bought online. I may have to cut patches up and cobble something together.

If you have anyone heading to Spain or Portugal, you can buy patches over the counter with either the UK prescription, or a box with the pharmacy label on. I think a box of 8 Estradot patches is about 20 euros.

FishFlaked · 01/09/2023 14:39

I’ve been waiting so long for this prescription for weeks,I think it’s maybe a month now. I can’t remember my symptom are that bad. I’m normally on 200mcg Estradot. It’s making me feel so ill. I trail over to the chemist every few days. Boots. They’ve told me to comeback next week again. Just can’t get anything. Not even the represcriotion for Evorel which I am allergic to is available. I just feel like crying

Thethruththewholetruth · 01/09/2023 15:07

You can get the 50’s and wear two, it’s what I am doing

FishFlaked · 01/09/2023 15:41

Breakthrough on the boots prescription checker which I had given up on- I’ve given up locally but managed to find some 100 Estradot within 30 minutes drive. Last packet in the pharmacy and no more expected until January according to that pharmacist. Have to organise the pharmacy change and all that but feel better to know it’s coming. January though. How is this OK?!

EstrogenPatches · 01/09/2023 16:06

Well clearly it's not OK.

Talking to my friends, most have a preference for Estradot over other patches. Some like me because they are allergic to the glue, others just don't like the size and crinkliness of the other brands, others think they absorb better. The demand is clearly outstripping supply. This time last year I managed to buy some online but all of those pharmacies are out of stock too.

I don't think many people realise just how important this medication is. HRT literally saved my life as before I started on HRT I was planning ways to kill myself. The menopause has been brutal for me and although I know it's not like that for everyone, those of us who use HRT aren't on it for shits and giggles. We're on it because it makes a huge difference.

Nobody is making a fuss about this and shouting on the news about shortages. Nobody.

WhereAreWeNow · 01/09/2023 17:24

I'm with you @EstrogenPatches . I was so depressed and anxious before HRT. It's so frustrating that these supply issues have been going on for so long but no one seems to care (apart from all the desperate women who can't get their prescriptions!).

Sortmylifeout52 · 01/09/2023 17:47

Where's bloody Davina when you need her??

Agree, it's shite. I hate evorel and don't absorb well. I daren't ask the GP to change the prescription to Estradot; I would literally be driving round the county, searching for the damm things!

This is NO WAY okay.

If it were viagra, it would be a different story, I'm sure!

Sortmylifeout52 · 01/09/2023 17:55

The independent pharmacy online have 75 and 50 Estradot patches available right now.

FOffULEZ · 01/09/2023 17:56

My GP told me that the dot ones are more expensive than the generic ones and - as they prescribe by dosage rather than a specific product - I can only have the generic ones (which are Evorel 100)
Even though my skin reacts to the glue on Evorel 100 (and they're massive!) while the glue on Estradots are fine
😥

EstrogenPatches · 01/09/2023 17:59

It does seem to be a northern-Europe issue, if you search Estradot on twitter then there are lots of angry tweets from Finnish/Swedish and German women too.

I am not going down the terf road on this, but Estradot is also the therapy of choice for men who want to be women. I don't think there are enough of them to account for the shortages, but as men who are taking HRT are generally on a high dose and may be doubling up patches, it's not helping.

For some women, they can switch easily between different patch brands or the gel. I can't, and need that Estradot.

EstrogenPatches · 01/09/2023 18:09

Also what pisses me off is that it's all chinese whispers. Women talking about it on social media or on mumsnet. British Menopause Society website has not been update since MAY, and according to them, all doses of Estradot patches are in stock, no issues.

Well we all know that's a lie.

FishFlaked · 02/09/2023 08:48

Apologies I am not on social media apart from here but if anyone has a minute to send this thread link to RCOG- they have good links into the department of health/government and can raise this
Pretty sure I read that there is a women’s health tsar that the Tories brought in, will try to Google that- there will be someone with the governments ear.
Women can’t work and pay taxes and do all the unpaid childcare and elderly care saving the economy trillions and at the same time not have nhs support for our health issues. It’s not physically possible.

Plus there is a huge gap in the market for a uk Estradot type manufacturer if the government wants to take uk into a post Brexit economic success isn’t there

EstrogenPatches · 02/09/2023 08:58

The "HRT Tsar" was appointed by the government (England only, health is a devolved matter in Scotland, Wales and N Ireland) in April 2022. By August 2022, they'd moved her back to dealing with Covid.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-62721742

Because clearly in that short 4 months she'd sorted it all out. 🙄I'm really quite despondent about the whole thing. First you have to psyche yourself up for a battle with your GP to get them to take you seriously, work it all out for yourself and educate yourself on HRT because they aren't interested and just want to fob you off with anti-depressants, and then when you do finally get the prescription, you can't get the medication.

Tablets

HRT tsar returns to role overseeing Covid boosters

Madelaine McTernan was the head of the HRT Taskforce, to ease UK supply issues, for four months.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-62721742

FishFlaked · 02/09/2023 09:22

That’s awful re Tsar know that. However there is still a wider women health strategy going isn’t there? This is part of what they said they wanted to sort out.it is a political issue and we and half the voting population. Plus the TW on their estradot would probably join us with their votes on this one..

FishFlaked · 02/09/2023 09:23

*didn’t know that