Can I change Vivelle Dot more often than 3 1/2 Days?

I have been having a terrible time getting my dosage right with the Vivelle Dot. I started on .05 and worked my way up to .1 + .05. This was fine for the first week, however, this time I feel like I need to change it already and it has only been 2 1/2 days. I'm getting terrible headaches (I had hormonal headaches before the hyst.) and lots of heart palpitations, which seem to be my major side effect of menopause - even more than hot flashes. I'm also awake pretty much all night. I'm pretty sure my problems are from not enough estrogen, rather than too much, but it's hard to tell.

I guess my question is - has anyone ever changed their patch after 2 to2 1/2 days? I'm even wondering if maybe I received a defective patch this time. My headache is terrible and I need some relief!

I get all of the symptoms you're having when my estradiol is too high. I used to think it meant I needed more and I'd keep going up only to have symptoms get worse.

I don't know. I started my dots today. I sure hope they work well for me. Good luck to you as well!

Kimmy

Vivelle dot .1 only lasted 48 hrs for me. I am now on Divigel .1, use it every morning and recently had to increase and have a small dose in the evening also

LSH 3/13/09
BSO 8/27/10

I started mine last Wed and have noticed neck and shoulder pain along with some headaches. I have been reading that the dot can cause all these. Katie, is there anything besides the headaches that make you think it's not working?

My question is will these pains go away? Is this something my system needs to get used to, or is my dosage wrong? And, if so, do I need to go up or down. I ahven't noticed the heart palpatations yet?

I was worried that I may be wrong and that my dose was too high, rather than too low. It's so hard to tell.

As for my other symptoms, I mostly just have the heart palpitations, insomnia, brain fog and a few hot flashes.

I get the same symptoms you have--insomnia, brain fog, hot flashes-- when my estrogen is low (except I get indigestion instead of heart palpitations). I have to change my Vdot every 3 days (I use two patches at once and change them 1/2 day apart), because I was getting migraines on the day after the patch change at 3-1/2 days. Even then, I sometimes get a regular (non-migraine) headache on the day of, or day after, I change patches from the surge of estrogen. I think it helped my migraines to change patches at 3 days because my levels don't drop as low, so the surge isn't as big a jump.

Hi,

I also found I had to change my patch every 3 days. If I go longer I get a headache and am grouchy.

I hope you find what works for you soon.

Lizzy

Last night was another bad night - sweating, tossing and turning all night. Today I woke up with another headache and took a triptan to get rid of it. Today was day 3, so I changed my patches. I am going to the doctor Thursday and can't wait to discuss this with her. I need some bloodwork done to see where my levels are and find out if maybe I shouldn't be on another form of estrogen.