Has anyone used an estrogen patch and gotten results? Options

[georgiagirl]

I have been on bio-identical hormones for 5 years and thought I could go off.I have not had a period for 5 years.Even on the bio-identical, I was having trouble sleeping and with anxiety and occasional panic attacks.I was off the bio-identical for 4 weeks when all hell broke lose. I have never experienced anything like that in my life!---constant trembling inside and out 24 hours a day, panic attacks waking up and going to bed, also during the day constantly, crying, depression, weird thoughts, suicidal thoughts, feelings like I would literally jump out of my skin,feelings constantly of losing my mind.
I went back to the doctor and got back on bioidentical, have been on for 4 weeks and have not gotten much better at all.
An older woman who had a breakdown during menopause told me that she had to go on an estrogen patch and it saved her life.
does anyone know anything that can help me before I have to be hospitalized?
I have been on xanax for the panic but I am doped up and can't function.
PLEASE HELP!!

[jasminetea]

What type of bios are you on, and is it in oral form? You might like a transdermal form better. The Vivelle patch (estradiol) works very well for me - I felt dramatically better the first day I had it on, at the lowest dose. After a few weeks I needed the dose increased but it's still at a relatively low dose and it's been over a year now. For anxiety I find over-the-counter progesterone cream helpful.

A year or two before I started the Vivelle patch, I took an oral bioidentical containing estriol and estradiol for several months and it didn't help me at all.

[Floater]

Georgia girl,

Generally the bios which are compounded have a low dose of estradiol, which is the estrogen which gives us the greatest relief from symptoms. Usually the patches or the gels you can get now are bio identical beta 17 estradiol which is what you probably want. I personally use the gel (Estrogel) as I feel I have some control over the dosing plus I have terrible reactions to adhesives (so the patch is OUT for me). Also recent studies have shown that blood clot risk doesn't go up at all with transdermally delivered estrogen as compared to oral.

I use prometrium for the progesterone - another bio identical - and it is an oral pill. I have had no problems with it, and choose to take the oral as it provides better bone protection than a transdermal.

There are so many options out there and it can be difficult to get it just right. Good luck to you.

[skiergirl]

Hi georgiagirl,
I use the Climara patch (.1 mg) and it works well for me. I do have to wear a Tegaderm clear dressing over it or it doesn't stay on. I also have to change it after 5 days (it's supposed to last for 7 days). I had tried some compounded Bi-est cream and later compounded estradiol cream but neither worked for me. I also use Prometrium for 12 days per month.

After 4 weeks, if you're not feeling better, I think it's time to talk to your doctor about trying something else. Like Floater says, there's alot of trial and error involved with these hormones.