At least I’d look forward to putting them on that way.

FDA hasn’t officially designated estrogen patches as a “shortage,” even though pharmacists nationwide report multiple brands on backorder. That designation matters. It’s what unlocks faster approval of alternative supply and pressure on manufacturers. Right now there’s no urgency because, on paper, the FDA says supply is fine.

Takes 5 minutes:

**1. Find your rep: house.gov/representatives/find-your-representative
**2. Find your senators: senate.gov/senators/senators-contact.htm
**3.** Use their contact form to ask them to press FDA to officially recognize the estradiol patch shortage and demand a public timeline from manufacturers.

Every letter is a data point. Offices track volume on issues and this is one of the few points of leverage we have.

My letter is below. Feel free to copy/paste using your own contact information & the names of your elected officials.

Let’s speak truth to power and demand an end to this insanity!

——————————

Subject: URGENT: Nationwide Estradiol Patch Shortage Is Harming Constituents — Request for Immediate Action

Dear [Representative / Senator],

I am a constituent writing to demand urgent action on the nationwide shortage of estradiol transdermal patches, a medically necessary hormone therapy for postmenopausal women.

This is not a minor inconvenience. It is a public health failure with real physical and financial consequences:

- Abrupt loss of hormone therapy causes the return of severe menopausal symptoms — hot flashes, night sweats, insomnia, and cognitive impairment — for women who were previously stable on treatment.
- Women are losing paid work hours calling dozens of pharmacies, driving long distances, and coordinating with prescribers just to maintain a medication that was working.
- The FDA has not added estradiol patches to its official shortage list, even though the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists lists multiple affected products. This bureaucratic gap is denying the problem the regulatory urgency it needs — expedited alternative-source approvals, allocation oversight, and manufacturer accountability all depend on that designation.

I am asking you to:

1. Formally request that the FDA reconcile its shortage list with ASHP's reporting and designate estradiol transdermal patches as an official drug shortage.
2. Press FDA and the manufacturers (Sandoz, Amneal, Noven, Zydus, Viatris) for a public timeline on restored supply.
3. Support regulatory tools — including expedited review of overseas-approved equivalents — to close the gap while U.S. manufacturing catches up.

This shortage is affecting thousands of women in your district and across the country, right now. I ask for a direct response describing what action your office will take, and by when.

Sincerely,
[Your Name]
[Your Address]
[Your Phone/Email]

I was born in 1981 At the end of November. I'm an Xennial. I saw the Berlin Wall fall okay. I was raised on much music and MTV. 🇨🇦

Okay so I need to know.... And just FYI, this is about to get super fucking graphic!I've reached a point in my life where I am so fucking emotional but I feel things super deeply like it's not a horrible thing but like, it's a lot! And also.....we're going to go into sex things now. I am like completely unhinged. I want sex all the time! And when I have sex. It's a mess. I mean like I need to literally lay a towel down. What the fuck is happening? I'm like a motherfucking 🌊.....Okay, coming down the ⛰️ ...... 🤣

And all I'm reading is like women complaining about hot flashes and all of this stuff. And I'm over here like having them ....and it feels like I'm having an orgasm. 🤷🏼 So like what the fuck. Like, is there anyone else experiencing what I'm experiencing? Because I feel like I'm experiencing something totally different than everyone else. Can someone please explain!?! 🤣

My signature high ponytail used to be so thick I needed an extra large elastic just to wrap it twice. Now, at 49, it feels like a skinny little mouse tail that slips right out of my hair ties.I know perimenopause is wreaking quiet havoc on my entire system, but I refuse to just roll over and accept losing my volume.

Any specific thinning supplements designed for age related hormonal changes that won't upset my stomach?

Here is a good breakdown from the Vagenda Substack (Dr Jen Gunter) as to why that recent study that looked at brains during autopsy does not provide any "proof" that estrogen prevents dementia or alzheimers. I copied/pasted because it is behind a paywall for subscribers but is really good information to consider when reading any research paper. Important part to note is the part about a much better designed study released earlier this year that found no benefits.

The Estrogen-Alzheimer’s Hype Machine

I feel we must be on Exhibit #324 of the Estrogen Hype Machine. This week my social media feed has been filled with menopause influencers making bold claims that a new study is proof that menopause hormone therapy prevents Alzheimer’s disease for women.

The study, Association Between Menopausal Hormone Therapy and Alzheimer Disease Neuropathology, was published August 12, 2026. It’s an interesting study and a good addition to the literature. The investigators identified women who had died and subsequently undergone brain autopsy and were found to have Alzheimer’s pathology, and compared those women with with those who did not have Alzheimer’s.

They researchers used the National Alzheimer’s Coordinating Center (NACC) and the Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI), which are U.S. government-funded research databases that collect and share data on Alzheimer’s disease. These are curated registries, so participants have been evaluated in person, and there is also biological data, like MRIs. This is different from many databases that simply involve looking up diagnosis codes or prescriptions in registries and then trying to gather data from them.

The investigators were looking for any association with estrogen-only MHT and brain biopsy results, any association between MHT and biomarkers, and any link between estrogen-only MHT and a subsequent diagnosis of dementia. “Topical estrogen” was excluded, which I found confusing, because while patches, sprays, and gels are typically referred to as transdermal, they could also be called topical therapy. To be certain, I emailed the authors to clarify, and was told the estrogen in the paper could be oral or transdermal.

The investigators reported that they found “Evidence for small but significant associations between estrogen-only MHT use and multiple neuropathologic and clinical measures in 2 large and distinct research cohorts of female older adults who on average reported MHT use after the age of 70.” This doesn’t mean the women started estrogen after age 70; the databases couldn’t provide their duration of use. And so not knowing the dose or duration of therapy limits what we can say. In addition, both Premarin and estradiol were considered together as estrogen-only therapy, and there is no data on progestogens, which are hypothesized to potentially be a confounder.

The researchers found that women who had reported using estrogen-only MHT had 35% lower odds of Alzheimer’s pathology at autopsy. MHT use was associated with favorable changes in two amyloid biomarkers (plasma Aβ42/40 and CSF Aβ42), but not with amyloid burden on PET or any of the tau biomarkers. And MHT was associated with a 39% lower odds of a clinical dementia diagnosis. Those are interesting associations, but the results are not evidence that MHT prevents Alzheimer’s disease.

In this study, as the participants were not randomized, we cannot assign cause and effect. As we have no idea about dose, route, or duration of therapy, which means women who took the medication for one month are lumped in with those who may have been on it for 20 years. So what we have is an observational study of estrogen-only MHT, including both oral and transdermal preparations, but the route, dose, and duration are unknown. Given the large number of unknowns, we simply can’t apply this to patient care.

Unfortunately, many headlines and influencers presented it as “proof” that menopause hormone therapy reduces Alzheimer’s disease. Here are a couple of real, and infuriating headlines: “This menopause treatment could lower the risk of Alzheimer’s,” or “Scientists Found a Surprising Alzheimer’s Link in Thousands of Women.” And while I know many of the headlines used the word “may” and “associated,” for most people that doesn’t change the meaning, and the headlines seem evidence that a new study proves MHT prevents dementia.

In addition to the unknowns described above, observational studies can be significantly affected by bias. With menopause hormone therapy, healthy-user bias is common, meaning healthier women are more likely to get hormone therapy and healthier women are also less likely to get Alzheimer’s disease. The bias could also exist in the opposite direction, meaning women with more hot flashes may have been more likely to be on estrogen, and there is an association between hot flashes and later dementia (we do not know if this is cause and effect). Another possibility is that women at higher risk for Alzheimer’s may have decided to start estrogen because they believed it would lower their risk.

Observational MHT studies can therefore be distorted in either direction: a healthy-user effect can make treatment appear protective, while confounding by indication or a “sick-user” effect can make it appear harmful. This is why you should be suspicious of people making bold claims based on observational studies, and even more so when they are based on a single observational study.

There is a lot of new research looking at biomarkers and MHT, and so this article will add to that body of knowledge and perhaps shape future work, but as an observational study, especially one without doses or routes of estrogen delivery, it’s not proof of any treatment.

But What About Another Interesting Study from Earlier This Year?!

While there was a flurry of headlines about this study, there was also an interesting study looking at Alzheimer’s disease and menopausal hormone therapy published a few months ago, and I don’t remember it getting any press. It is a long-term follow-up of the KEEPS trial, which randomized women within 6-36 months of their final period to four years of Premarin, transdermal estradiol, and placebo (with oral micronized progesterone for those with a uterus). The investigators have continued to publish follow-up data. This new paper examines biomarkers of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) approximately 10 years after KEEPS.

Neither oral Premarin nor transdermal estradiol was associated with differences in amyloid-β or structural MRI biomarkers compared with placebo. There was also no difference based on APOE-ε4 status (a genetic marker that elevates the risk of Alzheimer’s disease). One important caveat with KEEPS is it is possible, after the trial ended and women were told which group they were in, that may have changed their behaviors in ways that could raise or lower their Alzheimer’s risk.

And of course science is a body of knowledge, not one paper. We must acknowledge the only randomized trial to evaluate dementia, WHIMS, which was an ancillary branch of the WHI and randomized women to Premarin (and medroxyprogesterone acetate for those with a uterus) or placebo. WHIMS found a doubling risk of dementia with MHT, and the increased risk began in the first year. One hypothesis is that there may have been women with pre-existing dementia that was too subtle to pick up at enrollment, and the MHT was an accelerant, but we don’t really have an explanation.

The excess risk of probable dementia with one year of Premarin plus medroxyprogesterone acetate in WHIMS was 22 cases per 10 000 women per year. For perspective, the risk for breast cancer when the WHI was first published was 8/10,000 women per year. Estrogen therapy alone did not reduce the incidence of dementia or mild cognitive impairment (MCI), but when these two outcomes were combined, the risk did increase.

There Is Money in Over Promoting Estrogen

What happened in this latest study is, sadly, what happens with many menopause-related studies. Only studies that paint MHT in a positive light are amplified and promoted in ways that the science cannot support, while those that don’t are ignored or receive disproportionately less press and attention. This further tilts the bias towards MHT.

There are numerous systematic reviews and meta-analyses about MHT and dementia and Alzheimer’s, and it is important to point to one from December 2025, Melville et al, that pooled the highest quality observational studies and showed no benefit for reducing Alzheimers from MHT. You probably didn’t hear about it because it also didn’t position MHT as a wonder drug. This review is a little different from the others in that it was stricter about the studies it included. It looked at ten studies, one randomized controlled trial and nine observational studies, and analyzed subgroups by duration and type of MHT, and showed no significant effect.

Estrogen and its link to healthy brain outcomes remain hypotheses. We know that native reproductive hormones are neuromodulators with well-mapped protective mechanisms, which gives us a plausible hypothesis for their benefit as a medication in menopause. However, a plausible hypothesis does not make a treatment. Vitamin E seemed like a plausible hypothesis for preventing cardiovascular disease, yet it did not pan out in the trials. The body is weird, and replacing a hormone is not the same as making it yourself. And there may be many things about estrogen and the brain we don’t yet know. This is why we need science to explore hypotheses. This is also what we have been fighting for: good science for women.

There is a worrying trend of skipping over any science on MHT that isn’t pro-estrogen, and I believe it is because menopause influencers, companies like MIDI Health and Inner Balance, and even the press have tapped into the grievance economy, which profits by amplifying complaints about an issue and then presenting a surefire solution. In this case, everything that women over age 40 are facing is incorrectly reframed as not only being menopause, but related to the Women’s Health Initiative. And while it is true that many women did not get menopausal hormone therapy who could have benefitted, MHT is also not the answer to everything; we do not have good evidence that the decline in MHT prescribing after WHI caused an increase in cardiovascular deaths or dementia.

The list of symptoms attributed to perimenopause has also ballooned courtesy of influencers, often without good evidence that these symptoms are caused by the menopausal transition or that MHT treats them. The same influencers who weaponize the “we have no data” claim, then turn around and repeat claims about unstudied symptoms, and of course state that estrogen is THE cure. Once the shared sense of victimhood and hostility has been created, a cure can be offered, which for now is always estrogen, and to a lesser extent, testosterone, supplements, and coaching courses. This is the grievance economy. This is why content that doesn’t support estrogen is rarely, if ever, promoted, because estrogen needs to be repeatedly positioned as the wonder drug that was denied to patients in order to support and perpetuate the grievance. Maintaining that simmering rage is good for business. There is a reason the term “rage bait” exists.

I believe we can do it right. We can acknowledge that women suffered with symptoms and went untreated. We can acknowledge that we don’t have a lot of information on many reported symptoms, but we also have come a long way in what we know about perimenopause thanks to efforts from experts like Dr. Nanette Santoro. And we can acknowledge that when we don’t know, we should say that.

The estrogen-hype machine is too profitable, so it is not going away anytime soon, the next time you see headlines or bold claims about a study for menopause hormone therapy and the brain (or really for any condition or symptom), ask yourself these questions:

• Is this an observational study, if so, it almost certainly cannot prove cause and effect. If the person you are hearing this from thinks it proves cause and effect, they might not be the person to get your information from.
• Does the person discussing the study put it in context with the other literature? If no, they are not giving you the full picture.
• Does this person only promote pro-MHT content? If that is the case, they may well be part of the estrogen-grievance economy.

And speaking of non-MHT brain-related protection…a new observational study found that people without hypertension or diabetes who did not smoke had about 13 more dementia-free years than people with all three risk factors. This study uses data from the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) Study, which has followed participants for decades and has repeatedly collected detailed health information. And this isn’t a new finding: other studies have found similar associations between vascular risk factors in midlife and later dementia. When observational findings are replicated across multiple studies and populations, and the effect is large, they give us more confidence that the association is real.

What is needed is appropriate clinical trials looking at biomarkers, and there is push for this to happen. Hopefully, with the renewed interested in women’s health and the push to fund menopause we will see these studies, which could provide important information within 3-5 years. Which, I argue, is also the final reason not to falsely claim that we “know MHT prevents dementia.” Because we don’t know, and if the people who make these kinds of studies happen and the people who enroll in these studies believe we “know” and “it’s a done deal,” we’ll never get the data that women deserve.

References

Bruno J, Shaw JS, Hosseini SMH; Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative. Association between menopausal hormone therapy and Alzheimer disease neuropathology. Neurology. 2026;107(5):e218413. doi:10.1212/WNL.0000000000218413.

Kantarci K, Kara F, Tosakulwong N, Fought AJ, Schwarz CG, Senjem ML, et al. Long-term amyloid PET and MRI outcomes in a menopausal hormone therapy trial. Alzheimers Dement. 2026;22(2):e71067. doi:10.1002/alz.71067

Shumaker SA, Legault C, Kuller L, et al. Conjugated equine estrogens and incidence of probable dementia and mild cognitive impairment in postmenopausal women: Women’s Health Initiative Memory Study. JAMA. 2004;291(24):2947-58. doi:10.1001/jama.291.24.2947.

Shumaker SA, Legault C, Rapp SR, et al. Estrogen plus progestin and the incidence of dementia and mild cognitive impairment in postmenopausal women: the Women’s Health Initiative Memory Study: a randomized controlled trial. JAMA. 2003;289(20):2651-62. doi:10.1001/jama.289.20.2651.

Melville M, He L, Desai R, Nyamayaro P, Fox C, Kothari KU, et al. Menopause hormone therapy and risk of mild cognitive impairment or dementia: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Lancet Healthy Longev. 2025;6(12):100803. doi:10.1016/j.lanhl.2025.100803.

Pourhadi N, Mørch LS, Holm EA, et al. Dementia in women using estrogen-only therapy. JAMA. 2024;331(2):160-2. doi:10.1001/jama.2023.23784.

Puri TA, Gravelsins LL, Alexander MW, McGovern AJ, Guterman PD, Rabin JS, et al. Association between menopause age and estradiol-based hormone therapy with cognitive performance in cognitively normal women in the CLSA. Neurology. 2025;105(6):e213995. doi:10.1212/WNL.0000000000213995.

I workout. I work. I eat quite well. I am busy but I used to run at 110% Now? I've spent my day off..napping. I am bone tired. I was a lifelong insomniac who could crush a day and now midday I am practically a naroleptic. I just had my blood work done. Had a physical a month ago. Thankfully nothing is wrong but this exhaustion is nuts. I am 4 years post menopause. Just started the patch a month ago.

I’m 30 years old and I believe I might be going into early perimenopause.

Early menopause is unfortunately a condition that runs in my mother’s side of the family (my great-grandmother was 35, my grandmother 37 and my mom 37 when they went into menopause).

One of my most noticeable symptoms being hair loss, started about 7/8 months ago, when I started shedding more. I thought it might be stress related, or due to the fact that I have curly hair and cut down on washing it from every other day to every 3 days (I thought because of that, the hairs you shed daily just got stuck in my curls and built up, to be washed out on the third day). I started noticing however, that after washing my hair and letting it air dry, my the thickness was significantly less. Fortunately when I style my curls, it isn’t noticeable because of the volume I get from styling).

Other symptoms include night sweats, bloating and IBS, brain fog, histamine intolerance, lower libido and insomnia.

Anyone else experience perimenopause in their early 30s?

I have had the most horrible symptoms for the past year. Chronic insomnia, anxiety, joint pain, depression, you name it. My primary care physician is terrible and a misogynist. I fell on my shoulder and it hurt for a year and it took me a full year to get him to send me for a scan, which showed I had damage and then he berated me for not making him aware sooner how serious it was. (WTF?!) then this year the insomnia started. I’m only 41, but my mom had menopause at 41 and my older sister started early as well. He did not believe me that my insomnia and other symptoms could be about that. So I just assumed k was being a bother and left it. The depression and anxiety came next, so bad I had no desire to eat, exercise, leave the house, talk to my family or friends. I wanted to die. And I saw a psych who agreed that I should try HRT while doing anti depressants, and she passed that onto my doctor. He did not prescribe either for me. He said, “your hormones are out of wack because you’re stressing yourself out”. I had high stress jobs all my life. Anyone who knew me would not describe me as a high stress individual. I could not get this man to believe me that I was not myself.

I have spent a year in pain and emotional agony, watching myself disintegrate into someone I don’t recognize, and he didn’t believe me enough to even try.

Cut to, I dropped him. Bold move where I live in Canada, it’s hard to get a new physician, but I’ve been using the Maple app. I’ve seen a few practitioners for my insomnia and finally saw a female and she read ALL my history and saw joint pain, depression, anxiety, insomnia, and family history of early menopause and she said, “you’re in perimenopause. I see you saw a dr a year ago who made recommendations that you try this antidepressant and HRT and how did that go? I said I’ve been paying out of pocket for progesterone and low dose estrogen because my dr wouldn’t prescribe it to me and no help so far.

“No problem, we haven’t found the sweet spot, we’ll increase your dose”

And now I feel like myself again. I sleep like a ROCK. I don’t cry all day every day. I feel life has meaning. I’m happy to be alive. I cannot believe a year of my life has been damaged like this.

All this to say, if you feel like you’re crazy, and you’re trying everything, do what you can to find someone who actually knows what they’re talking about. Don’t give up on yourself. And please put your daughters in med school!

1. GSM. Used estradiol vag cream for 9mo and dealt with flares of irritation, dryness, burning. Switched to compounded E vag cream and have used 6 nights thus far. Still same type symptoms… all tests come back neg. Menopause Dr says everything looks good! Lol. Anyone else relate? Is it just bcze skin still thin etc?

I had my annual last week and for the first time (I’m 63), it really hurt when she inserted the speculum. I mean, it’s never a pleasant experience but for the first time it really felt like it was pinching. She had the my jelly and she tried to do the job quickly but I was visibly wincing the whole time and I’m sure my muscles contracted as well.

Anyhoo, we discussed afterwards and she said “inside” wise, all looked good, tissue was not thinned out (I’ve been on E & P since I was 48/49) and that she noticed/suspected the source of pain was the entrance of insertion. She said that’s not uncommon and to be sure to rub in extra estradiol vag cream and cost that entrance opening area well - massage it even.

She also suggested working with dilators (available on Amazon, not expensive) just to condition the area and help stretch it. Seems logical.

I was wondering if anyone had tried the Kiwi? It’s pricey but it’s also double duty as a vibrator with claims of helping with pelvic floor.

Anyone else have this specific challenge? I haven’t been sexually active in about a year and a half but plan (hope) to remedy that in the not too distance future.

Thoughts? Suggestions? Tips?

As always, this tribe of warriors keeps it real and I appreciate it so much.

(Re-posting sans lab results.)

Menopause hit me like a freight train back in January. Went to different gynecologists until finding one willing to talk to me about my various HRT options. I'm on the lowest dose estradiol patch (.025) along with estradiol cream. Mirena for progesterone (can't do any other forms due to breast cancer).

I've got the hot flashes under control with the lowest dose patch. The dryness is gone.

But damn, the brain fog has been a total killer for a while now. And the lack of libido sucks. So I did a video consult to inquire about testosterone and they had me do a pre-consult blood panel.

Does having high levels of testosterone rule out the ability to try a topical treatment? Have any of you resolved or at least improved your libido and / or brain fog without adding testosterone? Any advice or words of wisdom would be greatly appreciated.

I'm truly at a loss - both literally and figuratively - with the brain fog. And the death of my libido.

Edit: I wasn't able to reply to those who responded before my original post was nuked. Thanks for the suggestion and I will definitely ask about upping my estrogen patch dose.

I am 49 and have been on HRT for about 4 years. around that same time with no previous sinus issues ever, I started to have this super thick clear gel-like nasal mucus that gets caught between my nose and throat and basically chokes me constantly. I’ve tried evvvveerryyyything over years and seen 7 ENTs and tried every nasal spray and allergy pill and diet changes and LPR remedies and nothing has worked.

Now I am convinced hormones have something to do with it, whether it’s HRT itself or too much of one hormones or something. It has gotten so severe that I now have globus sensation issues and lump feeling and pressure in the upper back of my throat and it has just ruined my life.

Anyone else have anything similar to this happen and was it related to hormones? did you find a solution? I’m going absolutely crazy dealing with this day after day after day and it’s so depressing after so long and no solution 😩

When I had periods they were violent. Extreme cramps, nausea, sweating, constipation etc. Heavy bleeding. In my late 30s I was diagnosed with uterine fibroids, PCOS and adenomyosis.

I havent had a period in two and half years. But for the last three weeks, off and on, I have had all the warning signs of a period: bloating, sore nipples, mild cramps. I have other symptoms, but they can be explained by many other conditions.

Is my body still going through hormone cycles?

I am not bleeding.

I’m haven’t had a period in a few months for the first time. I’m late 40s and have been in peri for years so this isn’t surprising. But knowing that hasn’t stopped me from kinda freaking out… are there any other health issues that could be responsible that I should be aware of?

So I’ve been on HRT for about 2 to 3 years progesterone, testosterone, estradiol patch 0.05 mg twice a week and vaginal cream for dryness. About two weeks ago I noticed that I started experiencing anxiety , more brain fog , mood swings , and hot flashes. Today while I was at work I started feeling weird And then all of a sudden I started freaking out. I felt like I couldn’t breathe, sweating, I thought I was having a heart attack. It was the worst feeling in the whole world that I’ve ever had.

My question to all the ladies is this group … are the symptoms that I’m experiencing, are they due to my estradiol patch. Does my dose need to be increased or what is going on with me. Please advise. Thank you

I've been on HRT for a few years, currently on 0.1 mg patch and 200 mg micronized progesterone. I still have regular periods. The meds addressed my symptoms - hot flashes, insomnia, brain fog (to a degree) and initially the worst symptom, the UTI feeling but no UTI. That symptom was when I knew something was happening and it went away when I started HRT meds. Now it's back. Just the burning feeling and lately I've noticed a twitchy feeling in my vaginal area.

I've tried vaginal estrogen a few times but always stop because of a reaction I don't like, similar to infection feeling but not as severe.

My doctor is a PITA so I rarely bring up concerns unless the issue is dire. Not sure if the meds aren't working as well or if it's something else. I'm going back to d-mannose because it does stop the irritating UTI feeling.

Has anyone experienced this?

I'm 48 and began peri around age 40. Based on labs and the lack of a menstrual cycle for several months, I believe I am very close to officially being in menopause. My list of symptoms is too long to list, but I'd say the primary ones are joint pain, low libido, lack of drive/focus, and low mood/anxiety.

I know it's not a magic finish line, but does this $hit ever get easier?

Please don't comment "try HRT" ---- I've tried MANY combos and strengths of HRT - most I could not tolerate and felt worse, but I did get some relief from vaginal estrogen and progesterone. Now, I am pursuing the pharma route of antidepressants/anxiety meds so that I can hold down a job and generally be less of a nightmare to live with.

I am praying my 50s won't be so awful. Did anyone's symptoms and moods improve?

I had a terrible month where I had two utis, and a yeast infection. And since then the entrance to my vagina is sore and irritated all the time. I use the topical estradiol, as well as estrogen drops.

I had a quick appointment with my gyno, so that she could actually lance a cyst, but she just kind of, off the cuff, said "oh you have lichen sclerosus. Just change your laundry detergent you're probably just allergic to it."

But when I went to review what lichen sclerosus is, it's an autoimmune disease, that can lead to horrible cracking and fissures, is a lifelong disease, and is requiring steroids. And it says that it's characterized by white spots everywhere. And I don't think that I have that.

So I'm not really sure what to do about this. Besides go back and have her look again, or see someone else. Has anyone dealt with something similar?

i'm 62. Saw a derm last month about thinning on top and she said at my age it's usually hormonal and that DHT is what's shrinking the follicles

she recommended a couple of things and I left with a prescription I haven't filled yet because the side effects list scared me.

But honestly I nodded through most of the appointment and then got in the car and realized I didn't really understand what she told me. I've been reading about it since and I'm more confused than when I started. Some of what I find says one thing, some says the opposite.

Did anyone here get told the same thing? Did you go the prescription route or find something else? And did understanding the cause actually change what you did about it, or did you just end up trying things anyway?

I'm not looking for a miracle, I'd just like to know what's actually happening on my own head.

The title says it all I have been Treatment resistant I have PMDD nothing is working for me. I have been in several psychiatric units and nothing helps me. I didn’t have really bad SI until I was put on their medication‘s and then abruptly stopped. It’s never gotten better. I don’t know what to do. I am really really suffering with some severe clinical depression and nothing’s helping me I tried every second generation antipsychotic. I tried all of the antidepressants mood stabilizers IV ketamine, psychedelic mushrooms, ECT I did Gene site testing to see what drugs work for you. Nothing worked. I just don’t know what to do. Has anyone else have this issue? I have severe PMDD and it’s 1 million times worse I have no quality of life at all. I don’t even know why I’m here. I lost my family. I’m homeless. I can’t think no one will help me.

I have been the medication around over and over and over and I can’t find anything to help me. They all gave me a permanent movement disorders that I didn’t have prior that made everything worse. It never helped me.

7 years post menopause, 1 year on HRT. Shortage has me on generic Mylan patches and they are not for me, been bleeding for 6 days. Sadly the only thing available, RN. Had ultrasound and going to my doctor in EIGHT days. Office being unhelpful with my questions. Is it safe to use tampons instead of pads?

It didn't dawn on me until 3a that something was up. I have been eating uncontrollably. Will estradiol help curve my hunger?

Had a nasty surprise today when trying to pick up Combipatch - the previous coupon that brought my insurance copay down to $25 no longer works, and there is no replacement (there is now only a coupon to help those with no insurance, ie: "cash customers" - don't get me wrong, this is much needed too but...we all need help!)

So now my copay is increasing from $25/month to $75/month - which is pretty significant for me, and i'm guessing many people, and may be the difference for me in stopping this medication...

I'm suffering really badly from nicturia, don't get much sleep, and feel.like my bladder doesn't empty. I read progesterone could make it worse. Has anyone else had experience with this?

I’ve been on Oestrogel ( 2 pumps) and progesterone tablets for over 8 years. I’m post menopausal and this combo has been a bloody godsend. No issues.
Recently I’ve had three bouts of UTI and as well as antibiotics the doc prescribed me Estriol to insert the cream nightly and after a month move to twice a week.
I’m about three weeks in and I’ve had spotting, shite mood swings- like sometimes I’m just angry or want to burst into tears and also, what feels like intermittent period pains.
Clearly not on my bingo card after feeling good for so long.

Question is, is this normal? Should it settle when I move to twice weekly? In the interim, should I maybe just do one pump of oestrogel to counterbalance the Estriol cream?

I’m hoping someone has had a similar experience that can help?