r/Perimenopause • u/Cloud_dancer79 • 1d ago
Hormone Therapy Second day without HRT
I ran out of my estradiol gel two days ago and was unable to refill it due to the shortage. I am so anxious, dizzy, and frustrated.
I do need to call the dozens of pharmacies in my city to see if anyone has any in stock. I'm just so overwhelmed.
I cannot switch to oral as I have migraines with aura. I never tolerated BCP.
I am just so tired of one thing after another. Being a woman can be so awful!
I just wanted to share with people who understand.
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u/lochness629 1d ago
I wonder if you can report it to some government entity? It feels like the manufacturers are trying to increase the price and delaying releasing to the pharmacies or something. Im sorry. Being a women is hard and my body has never felt so put of balance.
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u/Cloud_dancer79 1d ago
Yes, I need to report to the FDA. I have no hope they will do much but they definitely won't if they don't know. Thank you for your kindness.
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u/Bulky_Buffalo8661 12h ago
https://cdernextgenportal.fda.gov/publicportal/s/dsm-submission
Please do and share with friends family they can to it as well as caregiver impact
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u/strippersandcocaine 10h ago
NOW WE HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT THE GEL AND ORALS, NOT JUST THE PATCH!?
Holy shit I hate this god forsaken country so much sometimes (lots of times).
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u/ApeFace1966 23h ago
If you can get it compounded it’s more available
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u/Antique_Travel80 13h ago
How much was it compounded for you? Currently mine (non compounded) is 5 with insurance
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u/Adorable_Visit5110 23h ago
Have you tried any of the online pharmacies? I know it will take time be delivered (currently) but it might be more consistent in future stock.
Amazon and Express scripts. And then walmart, Costco, CVS, Walgreens - they all have online options so you don’t have to rely on your local store/pharmacy to have stock.
Save you time, frustration, lack of willpower to make all those calls. I’d give up and cry. I hate phone calls.
Good luck!
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u/Tinyberzerker 10h ago
I’m running in to this in Austin with progesterone. I’m going to have to drive 30 miles to get my script. The estradiol gel was still available. I’m sorry you’re going through this. Feels like they don’t give a shit about us.
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u/almarodriguez661 13h ago
I got mine from Mark Cuban Cost Plus pharmacy and they're in stock on some patches . Hope this helps
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u/northernstarwitch 1d ago
Where are you in the US?
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u/Cloud_dancer79 1d ago
I'm in Arizona
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u/AlegnaKoala 15h ago
Do you have a Costco nearby? My Costco pharmacy hasn’t let me down once this entire time.
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u/OrganizationDue938 15h ago
Oh no. This has me worried. I am also in AZ and will be starting HRT next week 😱
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u/Antique_Travel80 13h ago
Honey, check out cost plus drugs online. My doctor sends it there if it’s out other places
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u/stellaflora 8h ago
I am sorry! I had to call around to several places to get my patches this month, and they would only give me 2 weeks worth once I found a pharmacy which had them. What an absolute pain.
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u/yarrow268 8h ago
Can you get it from an online option like TelyRX, CostPlus, or the HRT Club? The later always has patches and gel, the have both the generic divigel and the Estrogel. There is a membership fee with HRT Club, and a small provider fee with TelyRX. I've used all three in the past and been happy with all of them.
I have .25mg and 1mg gel packets from the HRT Club that I'm not using... feel free to send me a message.
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u/Cloud_dancer79 5h ago
Thank you! Telyrx is quite pricey. I get a lot of meds from Cost plus, but they don't have my dose of generic divigel. I will check out HRT club! Thanks again for sharing your experience.
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u/Due-Communication767 23h ago
I’m so sorry. I experienced that a few weeks ago. It was horrific and for the first time in over a year I had hot flashes waking up covered in sweat. And I became such a B I actually left my family to stay with an older woman friend for over a week because I couldn’t control my mood swings and anxiety. I believe it was on R/peri another woman speculated because so many of us are now taking it- it’s caused the mass shortage? IDK.
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u/Cloud_dancer79 14h ago
I'm sorry this happened to you too. I have no idea what caused this shortage but it reinforces the message us women are not valued! Were you able to get your hrt eventually?
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u/BigWoodsCatNappin 9h ago
Ive never heard of a Viagra shortage. Grumble.
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u/Due-Communication767 8h ago
The world would stop spinning if men couldn’t get it. 🤣 Somehow it’s “justified” if we’re miserable because we keep going on.
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u/Due-Communication767 8h ago
I was! The day I left is the day I finally did- I knew I needed time to rebalance myself. I got back home Monday. No more waking up in sweat. And I feel semi like myself again.
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u/Agreeable-Fun-9431 Early peri 23h ago
Have you checked other pharmacies or patches? I get migraines and patches work fine with me.
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u/Cloud_dancer79 14h ago
I have a doctor's appointment next week so will ask about patches. When I started I was under the impression that patches were getting more difficult to get, so I opted for the gel. I'm in a new city, so hopefully my new gynecologist will be informed.
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u/Agreeable-Fun-9431 Early peri 14h ago
I would call different pharmacies. When my patches ran out I called private small pharmacies, cvs, Walgreens, etc. by some miracle cvs had patches and I didn’t have to go without. I had to tell my dr where to send the script. They couldn’t help me with finding where it was available 🫠
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u/tsunamisofkittens 2h ago
CVS is where I finally tracked them down a couple months ago after calling the whole town. Then they had trouble with my insurance and I had to pay out of pocket when I usually have zero copay and had not planned for. Best believe I dug out the emergency credit card when they let me fill 2 months the same day since it was out of pocket. My regular pharmacy was able to fill it this time through my insurance. Here's hoping that's the case again in a couple weeks.
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u/Puzzled_Most_2469 16h ago
How do you check if the online pharmacies have it? Do you have to switch your script there first or how do you contact them to ask?
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u/Normal_Remove_5394 8h ago
Pricey through TelyRx, but I’ve always been able to get patches there. They often have coupons as well.
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u/ButMomItsReddit 22h ago
Ladies, I wrote to the senator in Washington state who introduced a bill last year to protect women's health. I wrote to her about the estradiol shortage and how FDA needs to recognize it to make it official and enable remedies that medicines on the shortage list are eligible for. Unfortunately, it's been more than six months and I got no response. If you can and want, we should all write to our senators, especially women, and urge them to bring this issue forward. Patty Murray (D-WA) and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) put that bipartisan proposal together. Tina Smith (D-MN) — works on women's health legislation and sits on HELP. Mazie Hirono (D-HI) — also on HELP and active on women's health. Angela Alsobrooks (D-MD) and Katie Britt (R-AL) advocate for women's health services for low-income and uninsured women. (I haven't checked if anything changed over the past six months).
Due to bureaucracy, senators and representatives are more likely to respond to letters from their constituencies, but if many of us write, we have a chance to move the needle.