HATE these horrible sticky HRT patches - Menopause Message Board

septemberwoman · 01-17-2007, 12:45 AM

I am so sick of the itching, burning, falling off, sweat collecting, adhesive leaving estrodial patches!!!! I am getting more and more allergic to the glue that it leaves actual sores! What is the latest, greatest thing? I don't seem to absorb pills. Do they give shots anymore???

I am 50, surgical menopause for 4 years. I have hot flashes day and night without some estrogen. There has to be a better way!

rheanna · 01-17-2007, 08:02 AM

septemberwoman,

Yes, the glue in the patches can cause allergic reactions. And you are likely NOT absorbing estrogen from the sites where your body is reacting against the glue.

3 things come to mind.

First, another brand of patch might have another adhesive that your body can tolerate. This was my experience. The first brand I tried caused a nasty allergic reaction. I am now using another brand which my body is happy with.

Second, I use a salve with 30% arnica montana in it to sooth the skin when I remove a patch. This helps the skin heal faster. I get it from my Apotheke (pharmacy) here in Germany -- you can check at your local drug store to see if it is available there.

Third, there are creams with estogen in them, which you can get as prescription, or from compounding pharmacies. You rub a specific amount of cream into your skin each day to get your prescribed dosage. The advantage of the creams (as well as the patches, if you could tolerate them) is that the estrogen is absorbed through the skin directly into the bloodstream without having to go through the liver -- so that you need a lot less of the estrogen than you would be taking with pills. Talk with your gynacologist about this.

I hope you find something that works. This is a difficult time for many of us.

--rheanna

septemberwoman · 01-18-2007, 04:47 PM

Hi Reanna--I have made an appointment with a doctor in early Februdary. I am hoping she will help. Thank you for your suggestions as well. I have been considering asking her for the cream you mentioned. It is by prescription only in the US. I have been putting some arnica salve on my skin and it seems to shrink the swelling and stop the itching mostly. It seems to me that science would be ahead of where they are in this area--don't you think??!!

rheanna · 01-21-2007, 02:14 AM

septemberwoman,

Yes, it seems that science should have more ideas about how to help women in menopause, and about how to avoid the negative side effects (like allergic reactions to glue!) in their products.

But the more I read about how the medical world works, the more I realize that there are good and not-so-good sides to science.

On the plus side, I am really grateful that there are hormone preparations out there, and that scientists have looked at studies and determined that there are certain people with certain risk factors who should NOT take these hormones.

On the negative side, all this research takes money, and the money frequently comes from makers of medical products, who are not going to be concerned about looking at the people who will react negatively to their products. They want to get their research money back by selling products. So they just don't bother spending time (and money!) creating different glues for different people, for example.

So it's up to us who "talk" on forums like this to share information with each other. If we're lucky, we can share this information with a doctor who's willing to listen to his women patients, and he or she can then use this information to help other women, and maybe eventually this information will get back to the manufacturers. But mostly, doctors and manufacturers don't listen to the women who are suffering.

I hope you are able to find some help with a hormone delivery system that works for you.

--rheanna

septemberwoman · 01-21-2007, 08:33 PM

I have a friend of many years who has remarried to a PA, (phys. asst). He makes nearly ALL of his income "speaking" to promote a very large German drug company. He tells how wonderful their urology drug is etc. In reality he told me that it is no better than others and has side effects that are worse than others. When the medical profession goes back to be avocates of the patient then we will see reform and progress unlike any other time in history. I believe the knowledge and money is there, but the "flesh is weak". Every time I meet a doctor of compassion and putting his patients first, I am so thankful!!