Femring .1 to estring and nothing else - is this a good idea?

There is a back order on Femring. I have been on that for three years and I love it!

My doc, however, seems to think that Femring and Estring are one and the same, or at least that is what her nurse, Nurse Rachett, seems to think. She refuses to allow me access to the doc to discuss it. So, I am going to see a new doctor. I don't pay people good money to be rude to me. I can get that for free just driving down the road. At any rate, if I go on the Estring, should I supplement with oral estrogen until the Femring comes back in stock. And what are the advantages of staying on Estring and oral estrogen, if any.

Thanks to all who feel to help.

Hi!

Femring and Estring are both estrogen rings inserted into the vagina and left in place for up to 90 days but that's the end of the similarities. Femring provides systemic relief for menopause symptoms while Estring is meant solely for the treatment of urethral/vaginal dryness and atrophy. The two are commonly mistaken as being the same, even in the medical profession. To convince the nurse otherwise, you could go to the websites of each product and print off the prescribing information that would prove her incorrect in her thinking.

If you're going to be on Estring and want systemic symptom relief, you definitely will want to supplement with another estrogen. It wouldn't have to be oral--there are patches (Climara and Vivelle Dot are two popular ones) and there is also a lotion called Estrasorb and a gel called EstroGel. Those are all bio-identical estrogen choices. In pill form you could ask for Estrace which is also bio-identical and there are plenty of options which aren't bio-identical if you don't care if your estrogen is bio-identical or not. Here's a link to the Hormone Jungle Articles where you can learn about estrogen choices in articles #10 - 13.

I've never used Femring but if I did I'm sure one thing that I would like about it is the convenience. I am using Vivelle Dot which is changed twice a week and that's not hard to remember. I'm much worse about taking daily pills. It really comes down to what our preferences are and what works best for our needs.

I hope this will help you!

s

Thanks so very much. Your answer was just what I thought. I will send the prescribing information to the doctor, (maybe it will help someone else) but I am going to go to another doctor next Tuesday. I hate to give up on this ob/gyn doc, but, oh well. At a little over three years post op I really don't need a heavy duty surgeon, just someone who knows something about hormone replacement, and that's where I am going.

I have some left over estrace. I don't do too badly with pills, I have some other things I must take daily and I have a routine. I can just add another pill for a while.

I really think I might try to go for Estrace now. It's widely available. With the Femring, there is one manufacturer in the whole world, so there is always a chance of this happening again.

Perhaps this link will help you with your DR and nurse:

http://www.rphlink.com/femring031605.html

It's a link by the manufacturers of Femring, explaining that it and Estring are not the same product.

s,
-Linda

Thanks so much, surfer babe. I am mailing this memo along with a letter to the ob/gyn doc to see if I can get past the nursing staff. But, I am still going to go see the hormone lady. I went to her prehyst in an effort to avoid the surgery.