Oestrogel: new packaging (yet again)? - Thread 2

[ConfusedEasily]

Carrying on from a previous thread by Cosmetichamster which can be found here:

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/menopause/4696464-oestrogel-new-packaging-yet-again

Slightly at a tangent, but is anyone else having their prescription cut back? I used to get three bottles, so three months’ supply, but this time there are only two.

Supply issues?

I've had this, I've gone up a pump but no extra gel given. However, I seem to be able to re order more quickly. This makes me think it is supply issues so it's harder to stockpile.

I have only ever been allowed to order one month’s supply at a time. It’s really annoying.

I had my meds check, told them all about the issues I was having, only to be told that I needed to book an appt with someone else because despite being a meds check, they weren’t actually able to change my meds or up my dose. sigh

The person I need to see is off now until sometime in January. So I am considering whether I can afford to make a one off appt with the Private Menopause Dr so I can at least have some hope of feeling a bit better for Christmas.

I was wondering about supply issues.

I would ring and ask to speak to the practice manager about this. You shouldn’t have to go private.

Surprisingly, I was automatically changed to 3 monthly supply a couple of weeks ago. I was going to request this next month so it was in line with my other 3 monthly prescription meds. So, although it's great that I now get 3 months supply of everything, I now have to request menopause meds four weeks before I can request my other meds and do two trips to the pharmacy

I have a medical exemption certificate so I don't pay for my prescriptions, thankfully. I wonder whether that is why I have no arguments with being given 3 month supply?

I find this really strange. I'm on the Besins oestrogen and noticed no difference at all when the packaging changed. I've also been ok 3 months supply since I started, as have the friends I know on it (not all from local to me).

I couldn't honestly say I've noticed symptoms returning, just that the pump doesn't work very efficiently. I'm nearly 60, so a slight decrease in oestrogel, as long as it continues to control my symptoms, is probably less of an issue for me than for women who are fresher into menopause. I don't have to take progesterone as I don't have a uterus any more, which makes it so much simpler as I don't have to balance it out with oestrogen.

Glad you both don't notice a difference in symptoms-this gives me hope! I only have a couple of the old dispensers left before I move onto the cylindrical one and not looking forward to it.

I knew within a week of changing to the new shaped bottle of Oestrogel back in September that it wasn't working for me, but my GP wanted me to give it a chance. I tried until the end of October and then changed to Sandrena but have been struggling to find right balance for myself. Too much gives me daily headaches/increases my migraines and too little leaves me flat, tearful and struggling to cope with my daily life. Up until September I had been feeling the best this year that I have felt in a long time and I am so frustrated that my life seems to be imploding.

That is exactly how I feel , I was so happy before they changed the bottles. I went in to estradot and they are very good and I feel well so maybe worth a try?

My cylindrical bottles have a pump that takes ages to lift again. This means that if you pump three times quickly the dosage is affected. I can tell what’s right visually but I’ve solved the problem entirely by decanting into an old conical bottle with a non sticking pump. Not easy to get the bottles apart but it is possible

I've been feeling great on 2 daily pumps of oestrogel for the last 3 years, with the funnel shaped container & green top. This week I started on the cylindrical container with the white cap and I feel like hell. Headaches, hot flushes, cracked burning lips, UTI coming on, restless legs, exhaustion, acne breakout, broken sleep, and the most horrendous feeling of dread and hopelessness. Just what I needed at Xmas. Something's really off with the product in this new packaging. I also notice it dries faster than the gel in my previous bottles. How is it legal for the manufacturer to put out a statement asserting there is no change and no difference in the product and dose between the old and new packaging, when there is an obvious degradation in effectiveness? I've even tried upping my dose from 2 to 3 pumps in case that helps, but although it's taken the edge off slightly, I really don't feel myself at all right now.

@MGent it definitely doesn’t seem to work - I’d been on 3 pumps of the old bottle and had been feeling like a new woman but on the new bottle .. palpitations came back with a vengeance.. brain fog . Night sweats , I’ve been swapped to sandrena but it’s early days yet . The last period I had on the new bottle was barely anything too so I definitely wasn’t getting enough oestrogen

I just want to say that this is an old, old problem with Estrogel and why I won't touch it with a barge pole. Here's my experience. I went into surgical menopause in 2015 following TAH/BSO and was prescribed Estrogel in 2017. I managed to stabilise on it and was doing well until it was changed to packaging with Oestrodose on the label which everyone was assured was the same product by Besins. Long story short - I descended back into hellish symptoms and spoke to my NHS menopause consultant about it immediately (she was the author of the NICE 2015 menopause guidelines btw, so very experienced). I explained that I had found out that for cost effectiveness, the bulk product was now being imported and repackaged in the UK - and that the results I was getting from using the newer version were very sub standard. She replied that she wasn't a bit surprised and suspected that there were probably issues related to quality control as a result of trying to reduce the cost to the UK market. Needless to say I wasn't prepared to chase all over to find a pharmacist to see if they had any of the 'old' bottles.

And now, here we are. It's now 2024 and countless bottle changes later, the same problems exist. I would strongly suggest switching to either Sandrena or another type of HRT altogether, as it seems Besins are refusing to acknowledge what we all know is a very real problem. Don't be gaslighted into believing what some people claim that the product is consistent across different packaging - it clearly isn't especially as some of us were experiencing this issue 7 years ago and it's still ongoing.

I was really interested to find these threads.

I've been on Oestrogel for just over a year, along with continuous Utrogestan as I'm postmenopausal. One pump is all I needed as I'm 59, plus 100mg Utrogestan. All was fine, no issues at all, I felt great.

Now I'm on the new shaped bottles I am all over the place. My moods are fragile, I'm anxious and stressed, I've had to go back on the Vagifem that I hadn't needed since starting HRT, and to top it all I've started bleeding erratically. I hadn't had a period since I got the Mirena coil put in when I was 46, ffs, so that's been quite a shock to the system.

Of course I'll get the bleeding checked out with my GP, but as all these changes coincided with the new Oestrogel packaging I'm certain there's something going on.

This doesn’t surprise me at all . My Gp wasn’t surprised either and changed me to estradot 50 which are ok but I do get joint pain in my wrists with it even though it’s an equivalent to the 2 pumps. It’s such a shame as I was so settled on the original ( circa 2021/2022 gel ) but I won’t go back to the new gel as it practically caused me to have a breakdown for a week ( just when I had started a new job and was on a conference 😫).

I am so heartened to read such well written articulate accounts of this awful dilemma with the oestrogel. I mean how could anyone argue with what the above posters have written? I am so terrified of my last "old" bottle running out that I am willing to do anything to get another. I have had this problem before with the oestrogel but none of the other options worked for me either. The patch made me angry and the dosage of sandrena I couldn't get right. Does anyone know how or where we could obtain the conical bottles? Or has anyone noticed the cylindrical bottles have improved in delivery of the estrogen? BESINS have me at their mercy.

I have about 3 old bottles of Oestrogel left and loads of the new bottles. I have an HRT review with my GP in the middle of Jan so reluctantly started the new bottles of Oestrogel so if I felt differently I could discuss with my GP at my review. I've only been on the new bottle for about 5 days but so far I feel fine-my mood has been nice and stable and I'm sleeping well (I use 4 pumps of Oestrogel daily and take Utrogestan each night). I'm crossing everything that this continues!
I did notice with the new bottle that the pump takes longer to fully go back after each depression so takes a bit longer to apply each morning.

Newyorkdollmama- I have one unopened gel you can have that is the old style

Thank you I sent you a pm!

This is interesting to read.

The bottle has changed since I started using it,& it now has a dangly bit?
Does the dangly bit have a use? I ended up covered in gel while trying to find out

I think the dangling bit is just a cap for the nozzle.

I’ve just started the new ones with the dangly bit before Christmas, and to be honest, I can’t tell the difference between the old and the new - the consistency seems fine. A PP mentioned that you have to make sure that the pump goes back sufficiently so I’ve made sure that that happens.

Okay, perhaps I've been too quick to say everything is fine with the new gel! I've now noticed that I have developed a numb, cold, wet sensation on my inner thigh. It comes and goes and is the size of a big coin. Very strange but only started the day I switched to the new Oestrogel. I'm really hoping it is linked to the gel as google is worrying me with a diagnosis of MS.
Wondering if anyone else has had this. I'm going to switch back to my old bottles to see if it goes away.

Hi, I'm new on this thread. I'm in surgical menopause now after surgery 3 weeks ago. I was given oestrogel in the new cylinder pump action by the hospital - it was sent to my bed post-surgery with an instruction of one pump twice a day. Having found this thread, I'm now anxious. How do I know if it's working or not?

I feel quite tired all the time and I've been waking in the middle of the night which I never used to but this could be post-surgery recovery. But no hot flushes - the opposite, I feel colder than usual and can't quite get warm. Is that a symptom? How to know?

I know literally nothing about HRT, I've had no discussion with anyone at the hospital or with GP - no idea which is the best for my situation (sudden onset surgical menopause in my early 50s, I had not previously had any sign of peri-menopause prior to surgery).

I've got a forthcoming appt with my GP and that's an opportunity to ask for something different or ask for a referral to someone who knows what they're talking about. What is the best, most straightforward way to take a regular dose of eostrogen? I'm already super fed up of trying to rub gel on my arms and let it dry before putting clothes on. Also I can't bear the alcohol smell, I'm a recovered alcoholic. I don't want to live like this. Is there an equivalent patch?