patch or pill?

just wondering what all of the rest of you sisters are using for HRT...patch or pill. Still debating and deciding.

Dear falldc - I am using vivelle patch 0.075 and I love it. I've been using it since my surgery in June. I like it because being transdermal, it doesn't go through the liver and digestive system. I feel blessed because I have been tolerating the patch well. I know some women can't use it. Good luck with your decision!!

There isn't one right or wrong way to get hrt into your system. Everyone is different, some women do better with a patch, while others don't absorb patches well and do better with oral hrt. I use creams for my hrt.

I would start with whatever method you prefer and that you think works best for your lifestyle. Ie: some women prefer to just put a patch on once or twice a week, while others prefer to take a pill daily. It can be a matter of trial and error to find what is ultimately going to work for you.

I've decided to try th patch first. I'm still adjusting dosage - so I don't know if I'll be able to stay on the patch.

Hi

Very early on after my surgery I started out with oral estradiol and never quite felt like I achieved balance. I then decided to try transdermal (Vivelle Dot) and have done well on it ever since (with a few tweaks in dosage along the way).

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Oral oestrogen never agreed with me and after much trial and error I settled happily on my Evorel patch. I have no problems with it and like the idea of it not going though the liver. It is a personal thing.

I decided to go with the patch because oral hormones (birth control pills and fertility drugs) always gave me nasty GI effects. I like the idea of the drug going through the skin rather than throught the liver and GI tract. I'm only one week into it so it's too early to say whether this will work for me long term, but so far I feel good with no ill effects.

Best wishes with your decision.

I started with a patch and stayed with it. Personally, I don't want to remember to take a pill every day, vs changing a patch once per week. I also like the bioidentical features of the patch estrogen, and the fact that the hormone doesn't have to pass through the liver before it gets into the bloodstream. The choice, IMHO, is what works best for each individual woman and her needs. Pills, patches, creams--it's nice to have choices, something our mothers/grandmothers certainly didn't have.

isewquilts

Thanks for posting this. What are the pros and cons of having it go through or not go through your liver? If you are already on other pill meds, is it better to give your liver a break and do the patch?

I'm on Estriadol (generic Estrace pill) 1 mg and my dr never offered me an option. I'm not sure that the pill is doing the trick. Shelley and others who have switched, would you mind telling me more about how you switched over and what your dr said? How long did it take for you to get results on the patch vs pill?

For those taking Estrace/Estriadol pill now (or formerly), what time of day do you take it?

Of course, I will ask my dr what he thinks...now I am curious.

TIA!

When a pill is swallowed, a great deal of the medicine is lost to the body because it has to be broken down in the stomach, then is "filtered out" (for lack of a better term) through the liver. A patch bypasses the stomach and liver, so less medicine (or hormone) is needed to start with because the medicine goes directly into the bloodstream. At least, that is my crude way of understanding the process...I am sure your doctor could be more precise in explaining how the absorption methods differ.

isewquilts