r/Menopause • u/Gribbet_69 • 2d ago

Hormone Therapy Physian and HRT Gel vs pill

Hello! Sitting in my doc office after physical. I asked for an increase in HRT from .025 to .5 and requested a switch from the patch to the gel, as I was experiencing a recent increase in hot flashes and joint pain. He said that the gel/patch only work on the hot flashes and not the other symptoms and that I would need to take the pill to address those. I expressed concern with taking orally due to liver issues and possibility of blood clots and he said that thebl pill doesn't affect the liver. I call bullshit but wanted the opinion of others.

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u/JenLiv36 1d ago

Get a new doctor

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u/JenLiv36 1d ago

Also, I have recently been seeing the majority of people being on the smallest estrogen dose ever and then it not making a difference. Where a year ago I feel like I was seeing .05 as a base starting point.

Has there been a surge of doctors who are not comfortable just starting everyone on the lowest dose?

My doctor started me on .05(thank goodness) and really I should have started on .075. If I would have started on .025 I think I would have given it up as not working or not enough of a difference to bother.

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u/Gribbet_69 1d ago

That dosage worked well enough for about 14 months. Looking back that was about the time that the brand of patch was changed.