Vivelle Dot losing its effect.

I use Vivelle Dot, started last March, it seems like they are not working as well as they did in the beginning. In the first few months, my breasts would get tender about 24 hours after I changed the patch, now for the past 4-5 months, that doesn't happen. My blood work shows that my levels have dropped, 3 months after I started my levels went up to 97, now my checkup in November has me back down to 40. Has anybody noticed the patch losing its effectiveness?

I don't think it's necessarily a bad thing that your breasts are not sore. Are you having any other symptoms? The numbers are but a number. The main thing is how you are feeling. If you are having other symptoms maybe your dose needs to be tweaked.

(sechadyl) interesting you should say that. I just started to use the estrodot again, which is the Canadian version of the vivelle. I was using Estrogel for the past 9 months, but went back on the patch because my skin was getting irritated from the gel, possibly since it is an alcohol based gel and being winter time.

Needless to say my patch has not seemed to be working yet, and I too noticed the adhesive seems to be different
and the patch seems thicker then it use to be. I am using the 1.00 patch dose. Hot flashes are back. Almost tempted to go back on the estrogel.

What dose do you use?

I am using the 1.00 mg patch. Kim, blood levels do have a meaning, I can't ignore the numbers, 97 down to 40 is a huge drop. I started at 15 before the patch and felt very energized when it was 97, now I've been feeling less energetic and more forgetful. I am turning into a homebody, that's not like me, I am usually always on the go.

I think I know what Kim means. My doctor doesn't even do hormone testing. She's a well respected OB/Gyn at a major academic teaching hospital. She says the numbers mean nothing and your symptoms are what need to be treated. Period. So you noticed you're feeling less energetic, what if your numbers were normal? Would expect your doctor to say there's nothing wrong with you because your numbers are normal? Of course not (though many would say just that). You just need to have your dosage adjusted until you feel better. So in that sense the number is meaningless.

By the way, my best friend goes to an expert in bioidentical hormones. All this doctor does all day is work with people on their hormones. She told my best friend you usually feel great when you first get your dose adjusted but that feeling does wear off after a few months as your body adjust to them. Good luck. I see this as a long journey. The important thing is having a doctor who is willing to work with you.

I'm not quite understanding the views of some, with respect to blood levels. When you have a cholesterol of a high 250 compared to a low 110 or hemoglobin of a low 8 compared to a good 12, this means something quite significant, why would estrogen levels have zero meaning?

I know what you're saying. This is how it was explained to me - hormones can fluctuate from hour to hour AND what is normal for one woman is totally different from what's normal for the next. So woman #1 feels great when her estrogen is at 200 while woman #2 feels horrible at 200 but really great at 75.

It's particularly a problem when you have your ovaries and are still in the peri-menopausal stage because that is the time when hormones naturally fluctuate the most.

People with thyroid problems run into this all the time. Your lab test may say you're within normal range but you still feel bad because what's 'normal' for one person is different for another. I'm dealing with this right now with my thyroid. My lab results are within normal range so my family doc refused to up my thyroid medicine but yet am having major symptoms of hypothyroidism - my hair is falling out, tired, etc. Fortunately, my Gyn is wiling to treat the symtpoms, not the lab value and has upped my thyroid medicine.

So I can see it from both sides. Nice to have a number to look at but does it mean something significant? Maybe, maybe not. What does matter is you are not feeling good and need an adjustment to your dose.

I've been on thyroid meds for almost 20 years, I know what your talking about with those levels, however my levels were never a huge swing from feeling good to not feeling good.

Sorry, I didn't mean to indicate that the blood levels have absolutely no value. What I meant was that even if you were on the low side, but were feeling good, that would be fine. If you're having symptoms, than the level you're at is not the right one for you and does indicate that you need to do some tweaking or change method of delivery.

One thought I just had was that maybe your ovary(s) were outputting some hormones, but now that is becoming less, thus the change in your levels. Just an

That could be, I have one ovary left, I had one removed in 98, when I was 5 months pregnant, due to a extremely large cyst. My dr. told me that my one ovary would continue to function, as if nothing had happened. Haha, she was very incorrect.