I've seen a couple of references to Divigel here. Am seeing my MD soon to request an alternative to Vivelle. Have tried Evamist but it gives me hay fever or something similar.

I'd prefer something I could titrate a bit as needed and my MD is fairly flexible. Should I ask for Divigel, Estrasorb or a compounded estradiol cream/gel/lotion.

My estriol, progesterone and testosterone are all compounded creams.

Thanks everyone.

Interesting... I'm on compounded estradiol cream now and thinking I will switch to the patch on my next MD visit. I'm on compounded estradiol, progesterone and testosterone (separatly) and quite honestly I'm miserable. I don't know if I'm not taking enough of one or too much of the other or if they just aren't being absorbed but I'm miserable. It's like constant pms.

I've tried the estragel pump and it makes me too edgy..so I thought maybe the vivel dot patch. I did try it in the beginning and the first day was wonderful yet the remaining week was zilch, nada, nothing as though I had ****** up all the estadiol on the first day and now the patch was empty. I also didn't like the tell-tell sign of the gum residue left behind. But now, with so few options left I'm considering giving it another try. Why are you looking to change?

I'm changing because I'd like the leeway in dosing. Sometimes I can feel my body craving more and some days I'm just fine with less, for instance when the Vivelle has run out. There are some patch-change days that I even forget to slap on a new one because I feel fine for several days after its due-date to replace. There are others, out of the blue, when one patch doesn't even seem to register. I know it's ideal to stay with one steady dose, but my system just seems to need more some times and lessor none at others. I think there's a seasonal component to it.

I know what you mean about feeling as though your body has ****** every molecule out of the patch. Hence, for me, more E some days; less, very little, or none on others. Perhaps another permutation of one size not fitting all.

Also, a minor problem with the patch is that after awhile, my skin irritations lead to small welt-like thingies and tubes of anti-itch cream. I've let them air out momentarily to dissipate the offending substance, but without much success.

Good luck with Vivelle - I hope it works for you.

Well perhaps this is my problem, needing more or less however how does one tell? I know what my symptoms are but I dont' know whether they will be relieved with estrogen or progesterone. How does one tell? Such as..

Now, my symptoms are bloat, gassiness, cravings no desire or umph to do anything and just a feeling of misery... which would lead me to believe I am progesterone dominance or in need of estrogen but I skipped my dose of P and upped my dose of E and the symptoms get worse. If I weren't so afraid of mind fog and the hot flashes and lethargy I believe I would go off them completely and see if I couldn't feel better then. It's madness, total madness to always feel this bad!

But to answer your original question...since you are using creams on the other and like those why not use cream for your estradiol?

Hi there,
This is how I felt a number of weeks back so I mentioned it to my doc. We decided that it was probably a case of not enough E to balance out the P I am taking. I was, at the time, taking Estrace 1 mg. So, I started taking another .5 for a total of 1.5 mgs. I take 100 mgs. of Prometrium. Immediately I felt a huge difference.
Last week I needed to renew my rx for the Estrace and thought I would try the gel for a month instead.
I don't know if I'm making a mistake in messing with what was a good thing, but I thought it would be a good idea to be able to tweak the E through out the day/month.
I used the gel yesterday and today, but I've got a nasty cold/cough right now and am feeling pretty crappy. It's just not a good time to be deciding whether I can feel a difference or not.
Just thought I'd mention that upping my E did make all the difference in the world for me.
I'll give the gel a month and go from there.

Cathy

What manner of gel are you using? Compounded or branded?

How does one tell?

I have a sheet from a compounding pharmacy that may help. Here goes:

Signs of:

Low Estrogen: hot flashes, night sweats, vaginal dryness, foggy thinking, memory lapses, incontinence, tearful outbursts, depression sleep disturbances, heart palpitations, bone loss.

High Estrogen: Mood Swiings like PMS, tender breasts, water retention, nervous, irritable, anxious, fibrocystic breasts, uterine fibroids, weight gain in hips (oh, puh-lease.....), bleeding changes, headaches.

Low Progesteronee: Hot flashes, depression/anxiety, night sweats, sleep disturbances, vaginal dryness, heart palpitations, decreased libido, foggy thinking, bone loss, memory lapses, water retention, incontinence, tearful, menstrual headaches or migraines.

High Progesteronee: Sleepiness, breast swelling/tenderness, lethargic, candida infections.

Hope this helps. Yes, I see the overlaps. I know that when I cannot muster much in the way of energy or a coherent, linear train of thought, I need estrogen. And when I am in a stupor, I've OD'd on progesterone.

LOL That is the only symptom I have that 's on the list.

I suppose that is what is concerning me. I don't suffer from any of the usual symptoms. Since going on compounds I no longer have hot flashes, brain fog, headaches. palps, anxiety or any of the typical menopausal symptoms. Those have been addressed and taken care of yet I'm still miserable .. mostly digestive in nature. Gassiness and the hard stomach that feels bloated, insatiable cravings, similar to pms. I know there is a possibility my issues are related to food intolerances which is why I'm very careful to avoid any wheat or gluten in my diet yet it seems like once or twice a month I am physically miserable so I find it hard to believe it isn't hormonal but then.. I go round and round on this..


Cathy, Thanks for the tip. I go to a new doctor in Feb and I'll ask her about it, till then I may try to up my E and see how I feel. I can't very well feel worse.

Hey there,

I'm using Estrogel and it's not compounded. One pump gives me 1.25mgs of estradiol. That's a bit less than what I was taking in the pill form, but I'm thinking that maybe because it's transdermal it might even out.
We'll see how it's working when this stupid cold lifts.

Cathy

Just thinking....I've also noticed that I can have days of feeling fantastic and once in a while have a day or two of feeling crummy again (although not nearly as bad as before starting the hormones). I am pretty sure that my body is still trying hard to pump out it's own P and E at times during the month. So, with that and the supplementation levels can fluctuate even though I'm taking the exact same amount of P and E each day.
Am I making sense....I'm tired :-)
So, we're not going to feel the same every day even if we're taking hormones.
In terms of symptoms, I'm with you guys. It's very difficult to tell whether it's too much E or P when it does happen. Fortunately for me, it's not often.

Cathy

Well another thing with the creams, and GilK, I don't want to dissuade you but this is a concern for me and thought I would share.

When I first started using creams, I got them from Aetna's compounding pharmacy, a 3 month supply at a time. I switched insurances recently and had to get a new script of T, I still have a months supply of E and am just now running out of P. When I called my new insurance's compounding pharmacy (Anthem) to order the T, the pharmacist told me they can only give it for a 2 month supply because the cream isn't good beyond that.. so.. Now I'm wondering if the E&P creams that I have are just not working. It could very well be the different pharmacies use a different transport cream and both are equally well.. I have had these sam symptoms before switching and Cathy, it may be just the regular roller coaster ride of hormones...

I did have some estrogel from months back so I'm using that this morning and hoping that will help.

I hope someone else can come along and give some information about Estrasorb and Divigel. I've never heard of either of those... But I apologize Gilk if I went off topic on you.

Good morning

Regarding the expiration on the compounded creams; I used to use compounded P cream way back when and each syringe was tagged with a BIG label that had a best before date on it. It was two months from the date of dispensing. So, they definitely expire and probably being to lose their efficacy along the way.
Hope that helps.
I have read somewhere on PS about Divigel. Have you searched the name here?

Cathy

I do know the gels are proven to absorb far better than the cream. I believe Divigel is similar to Estrogel. I use Estrogel and get much better results than when I used a compounded estrogen cream, probably because it absorbs better, but also because most compounded creams have more estriol than estradiol, and the estradiol is what seems to give much better results for me and others here.

Wanted to say thanks and to let you know the MD gave me samples of both Estrogel and Divigel. Apparently, some patients find the Estrasorb too greasy, so we didn't go there.

I was advised to either split the dose or just use it at night -- because -- when applied this way (vs. steady dose patch) estradiol levels tend to peak hours later and, for me, getting through the day lately is harder than getting through the night.