a comparison of the four forms of estradiol i've taken since starting hrt
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estradiol delivery methods
a comparison of the four forms of estradiol i've taken since starting hrt
i started estradiol injections a few months ago and felt it might be useful to write out my experiences with each of them for posterity
patches
my endo started me on estradiol patches. these definitely work, but only if you put them in the right spots and also if they stay on
i had trouble with both of those and found it pretty annoying
aside from that, i could feel them starting to wear off 12-24 hours before it was time to replace the patches. definitely not ideal
additionally, insurance sucks and regularly caused me to be a couple days late on replacing a patch because they wouldn’t cover it in time
sublingual pills
these are pretty neat. easiest and cheapest of the bunch
unfortunately, i could feel these wearing off too, at about 5-6 hours after a dose. apparently this isn’t common, but it affected me sooo
i’ve also had problems with getting accurate estradiol level measurements since it flucuates so much. definitely my preferred method if they worked better for me
swallowed pills
before switching to injections my endo had me try out swallowing my estradiol pills instead of dissolving them. the results for me were that i couldn’t feel them wearing off anymore, BUT i couldn’t get my levels back up either. not an ideal solution
injections
these are great
i was super nervous before starting them but turns out it’s actually not that hard to inject yourself if it’s your only option
cannot feel these wearing off at all between doses and i get good estradiol levels
my E levels are so consistently good now that i don’t need a testosterone blocker which is very nice
however!
insurance sucks
my insurance filled my first three-month prescription of estradiol valerate for around $120. this is absurd.
then they failed to fill my prescription when i was out. when i called to ask for a fill, they told me they couldn’t. doing the math from what they told me i found they expected me to around 16 and half doses out of a vial, which would be an extra 3-4 weeks over what the prescription from my endo actually said
so instead i went out of pocket and through discount programs get my estradiol for cheaper than with insurance and (importantly) on time
loooooove insurance.
conclusions
- injections rock if you can get insurance to cover them
- sublingual’s good too and works great for most people but didn’t for me
- avoid swallowing them
- patches are ehhh
that is all.
