Need to go off Vivelle Dot, next best method of delivery ??

I've been on Vivelle Dot .75 and feel great except for ongoing, pins and needles all over my head. Started out slowly after my surgery and now they are ongoing 24/7. I'm thinking that I need a different delivery method of estrogen due to fluctuations, but don't have a clue as what to try. My hormone Dr. seems to have given up, has never dealt with this type of side effect and has no input on what to do. Hoping someone can offer help.

Femring might be an option - vaginal delivery of estradiol. Comes in 0.05 and 0.1 strength. Usually drs can get a free sample from the drug reps so you can try it before you invest in a 3 month copay.

Is your dr sure it's the estrogen and not the testosterone? Would be curious to hear if dr tested any hormone levels.

Calypso, thanks for the reply. I actually have had both my Estrogen (which was 180) and Testosterone (which was the middle of the range) tested. I had the pins/needles before I started on the Testosterone, so I know it's not the cause. I had migraines right after I started the BHRT, they finally subsided and then the tinglies, pins and needles started, just once in a while at first and over the last year have progressed to 24/7. So I'm thinking it must be the delivery of the estrogen ? or type of estrogen ? just looking for some input or help from my Hystersisters...

have you tried .1 vivelle...mabe your dose is not high enough

Could I suggest one thing possibly-----consider having this worked up for another cause? Maybe neurological, I don't know. I hear that it started after surgery but if it is 24/7 now it may warrant more investigation. Certainly if adjusting your HRT doesn't help I'd try to rule out other causes. Hope you find a solution soon.

Hi Rochelle I got that tingling sensation when my dosage wasn't high enough... what happens if you use the 0.1mg/day patch?

s,
-Linda

Thanks for the reply, I was on the .1 dot for only a couple of weeks and my boobs started hurting really bad, so my Dr. took me down to the .75 dot. I honestly do not remember if I still had the tinglies then or not. I'm thinking that may be my next change to see what happens. Thanks again

Thanks for the reply, I've been to the neurologists, who did an MRI and said everything looked fine (thank heavens) and said it must be hormone related....so I'm still working on a solution. Thanks

Hi gerryrose -

Your situation makes me wonder if you are one of the women whose bodies don't like straight estradiol. Some find it too stimulating and do better with a blend like biest. Blends have to be compounded though and I don't know if you have access to that. There are regular prescription estrogens like Ogen and Ortho-est that are estrone based, but they aren't bioidentical, if that is important to you. Plus they are pills and not transdermal.

Another possibility that suggests itself is that the constant supply of estradiol via the patch is irritating your body. Maybe switching to a once a day method like Estrogel or Divigel would help. They are both straight estradiol, so if you still have problems on either of them, it would suggest that maybe the straight estradiol is the problem and give you an idea of where to go from there.

Isn't this fun?

Thank-you for your reply...I am going to ask my hormone Dr at my appointment next week if we can make some changes. She just seems to want to change the dosage of the Dot and has not given me any other options, so this is why I'm trying to get info myself to present to her. I really feel great having the BHRT except for the pins/needles on my scalp. So I know I need some type of replacement, just trying to figure another method that will get rid of the pins/needles and still work. My Dr. has me on compounded Testosterone so I would think that I could also get the compounded estrogen. I just had saliva testing done and am hoping that will give her enough info to head in a new direction. I would like to stay with the Bio's if possible and not put any meds through my liver, such as pills. That being said I would make those changes if necessary to get the correct balance so that the pins/needles would go away. I would wear the patch on my forehead if I thought it would help. Thanks again, and if you have any more specific info on the biest I would love to know