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Menopause

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27
Azaleah · 25/11/2023 18:03

@funnelfan Except regarding two different manufacturers of one single product.

Azaleah · 25/11/2023 21:30

There's been a recent update (15 Nov) on the MHRA products website. Now there are 3 leaflets by Besins and 10 by parallel importers.

Rockschooldropout · 26/11/2023 07:11

Well after finding a funnel shaped bottle in the cupboard and switching to that after symptoms returned … I had no choice but to start back on the new packaging yesterday after using up the old bottle (and feeling better , sleeping well ) .. I was on 3 pumps on the old packaging to upped it to 4 with this (menopause specialist had said 3-4 pumps anyway ) and last night have been awake half the night with hot flushes … is there actually ANY active hormone in this stuff ?!!
Im going to ring my specialist on Monday and asked to be prescribed something different now … it’s so frustrating .. I was feeling so good until I switched to the new style packaging 😭

MargotMoon · 26/11/2023 08:00

@ConfusedEasily Thanks for the new thread 👍

BlessedMog · 26/11/2023 20:28

Evening all,

Following on from my post 3 weeks ago re symptoms returning when prescribed the cylindrical bottle of Oestrogel.

I tried and failed to source the blue lidded bottle and since then have been reluctantly using the white cap bottle.

Despite upping the dose to 2.5 pumps (from 2) symptoms are back with a vengeance, night sweats, awful mood swings and huge anxiety.

Not only is the amount dispensed from the pump smaller, the consistency of the gel seems different and I am convinced that the formula has changed. There is no other explanation as to what I and many of us are experiencing.

I spoke to the prescribing nurse at the GP’s on Friday and she said I could try Evorel patches if I wanted.

What I want (in line with everyone else on this thread) is to feel myself again which I did more or less until the recent change to the prescribed medication.

I am not sure I want to try the patches but feel like it may be the best option as the ‘new’ gel is not working for me at all.

I agree with the earlier comments that there should be more publicity/noise about this. We can’t all be wrong.

Original poster
ConfusedEasily · 27/11/2023 00:29

You’re welcome @MargotMoon . I didn’t want to lose you all now we’ve found each other!

Totally agree with you @BlessedMog . I just want to feel myself again too.

I’m (over)due for a meds check. (I’ve been holding off because I had been secretly hoping Besins might start taking things seriously and start looking to fix the issue 😂 Naive and ever hopeful.)

I really don’t want to have to go through the stress of switching product and risk ending up feeling worse, but although my anxiety has mostly settled back down to a manageable level my headaches just seem to be getting worse and worse. The Oestrogel had made them go away entirely since starting it just over a year ago. They came back the first month the bottle changed. Then there’s the hot flushes. They wake me in the night and I struggle to get back to sleep. As well as some other niggly things that came back also.

I know from before the bottle change that I can definitely be better managed, BUT, I also know that I can be a whole lot worse too. I was a non functional, crying, anxious mess when I finally got put onto the HRT and I just can’t risk ending up back like that. So I am left not knowing what to do for the best when I go in for my checkup especially with Christmas coming up :/

sigh Why can’t things be simple for once?

OP posts:
Newyorkdollmama · 27/11/2023 17:42

I have managed to procure 2 bottles of the old bottle and am absolutely dreading the day I finish. What on earth are we supposed to do? There is something seriously wrong with the cylinder bottle. It's not just a matter of the dose...there seems to be no active ingredients in it all!

BlessedMog · 27/11/2023 19:05

@Newyorkdollmama Good news that you have managed to source the ‘old’ stuff and I hope you manage to keep your
supplies topped up. Was it luck or did you go searching specifically?
I really can’t face starting again with the patches but given the ‘new’ gel doesn’t seem to be working at all I feel like I either give up on HRT altogether or try something else.
Did the pharmacist give any indication on whether the blue bottle will be making a return? It’s so demoralising the whole thing.

Newyorkdollmama · 27/11/2023 19:18

@BlessedMog I feel your pain! Do you know what I did? I went on Facebook and checked out all the selling sites and posts regarding the oestrogel and i found a lady who was selling her old bottles as she had quit HRT. We need to think outside the box..I know it's considered unsafe to buy outside the market but I was desperate!

nonsensicalmess · 28/11/2023 13:33

Found this thread after having a similar experience to others. Started the 'new' bottle a few weeks ago and within a week noticed some symptoms creeping back. Upped my dosage from 2 to 3 pumps - no difference, symptoms continued to worsen to the point now I'm barely sleeping, having night sweats, increased anxiety, feel dreadful generally.

Phoned GP earlier in week and they said they haven't heard anything about a change but will do bloods to see what my levels are like. Bloody awful, so hard to function like this

Newyorkdollmama · 28/11/2023 20:02

@nonsensicalmess I know how you feel. Try to get your hands on an old bottle even if it's half full and see if you feel better. At least then you have a marker to work off. It's truly awful!

nonsensicalmess · 28/11/2023 20:11

Newyorkdollmama · 28/11/2023 20:02

@nonsensicalmess I know how you feel. Try to get your hands on an old bottle even if it's half full and see if you feel better. At least then you have a marker to work off. It's truly awful!

How do you even go about trying to find an old bottle?!

Newyorkdollmama · 28/11/2023 20:15

Have you any friends or a menopause group you could ask? I found 3 bottles on a Facebook group..its a shot in the dark!

Namddf · 30/11/2023 10:22

@BlessedMog @Rockschooldropout

I upped my dose from 4 pumps to 5 and still didn’t feel right, so no, I don’t think there’s much active hormone in the new bottles at all.

And no, we absolutely cannot all be wrong. In fact, historically, whenever a group of women have asked this the answer has almost always been that we are absolutely spot on (ref. the mesh scandal, where women were horrifically gaslighted into thinking it was all in their mind).

You only have to see the recent recommendations that women try CBT for menopause symptoms to see how lightly health care professionals treat this issue.

Eventually they will admit that there is something amiss and there will (possibly) be an enquiry, but until then we are on our own.

FWIW, I’ve now switched to Sandrena gel and am self-medicating with the correct equivalent dose, which by the way is apparently off-licence. But I do feel better. I’ve got about 6 bottles of the cylindrical oestrogel in the cupboard and I won’t touch them.

Namechange87654321 · 01/12/2023 11:51

Just adding my voice to those who say this is not just a dosage thing (although there is definitely a much smaller dose being dispensed by the new shape bottles!), but I’m actually cynical that there are any active ingredients in it anyway. I’m a hot mess of anxiety, night sweats and horrendous sleep.

I'm under the Newson Clinic, and Louise’s advice is to discuss with your doctor if you’re having issues - but that involves me forking out another £200 or so which I refuse to do!

I did email the pharmacy about it but no joy there either.

I hated the patches when I tried them - I was sure they didn’t absorb properly. So what’s my alternative?

Newyorkdollmama · 01/12/2023 16:08

I totally feel your pain....the only advice I can give you is to beg steal or borrow the old bottles..call into every pharmacy or online pharmacy. I tried other alternatives and none works the same for me. I reckon by the time this gets acknowledged it will be a few more months.

Rockschooldropout · 02/12/2023 20:58

@Namddf @Namechange87654321
I agree .. all my symptoms are back .. I’m depressed tearful and anxious .. and I really don’t know what to do

Charla20 · 07/12/2023 18:47

Omg, I thought I was imagining it . I tried the new bottle and had the worst week of my life - anxiety , depression and inability to string a sentence together . I have been fine for 2 years on oestrogel and then suddenly o wasn’t . I worked out that it was the new gel and so got prescribed patches but I’m not entirely sure they are working as I keep waking up at 3/4 am every morning . Has anyone upped their patches by cutting one in half to add to the 50 patch? I also feel that since starting the patch, my 12 days of Utrogestan is much more awful . I hate this peri business 😩

Namechange87654321 · 07/12/2023 19:00

Is there no alternative apart from patches? What’s Sandrena, is that an alternative type of gel?

Namddf · 07/12/2023 20:16

Namechange87654321 · 07/12/2023 19:00

Is there no alternative apart from patches? What’s Sandrena, is that an alternative type of gel?

Yes, Sandrena is an alternative gel. It comes in little individual sachets of 0.5mg or 1mg. I find it a good replacement for the dodgy Oestrogel, HOWEVER, the equivalent dosages don’t make sense so I am having to take a dose that’s off licence to get the same effect as 4 pumps of Oestrogel.

LeafDancing · 07/12/2023 22:10

I had to finally switch to one of the newer bottles last week and my boobs are so so sore and huge! What is going on?? I’ve been using this gel for years it’s definitely not working. And I can’t use patches as I was allergic to the glue in the plaster. I have had Sandrena gel in the past if it’s the one in tiny foil packets that you have to guess how much to squirt. I guess I’ll have ask but no chance of getting a GP apt until January now

Namddf · 08/12/2023 05:47

@LeafDancing You shouldn’t have to guess how much to squirt if you use the whole sachet?

Charla20 · 08/12/2023 07:09

How much is one sachet? I was on 2 pumps of oestrogel .

JinglingSpringbells · 08/12/2023 09:20

Charla20 · 08/12/2023 07:09

How much is one sachet? I was on 2 pumps of oestrogel .

If you google 'HRT dose equivalent/ products', there are many tables that compare patches, gels and tablets.

These are from the Women's Health Concern, the BMS and also Dr Louise Newson.

Sandrena is not the same as Oestrogel. It's a higher concentration.

LeafDancing · 08/12/2023 10:16

After yet another awful night of not sleeping and yesterday at one point having to remove my jumper 3x on /off during work zoom due to hot flushes that I’ve not had for months I’ve put in a online GP request to try Sandrena gel again. This is after 2 weeks on new bottle of oestrogel I feel utterly pants despite using gel for years!