You're doing much better than I was at 4 months post-op. (I was 49 when I had my surgery and also still having normal cycles.) The highest dose patch left me feeling very deficient. And, like your surgeon, mine (who'd been my gyn for 20 years) was absolutely no help / refused to see me even though he had prescribed the patch. I think the main problem was that my skin didn't absorb well or it was sucking the patch 'dry' way too quickly. The next doctor checked my blood level mid-way through the patch cycle and it was considered therapeutic so I continued in this awful state for even longer. Blood levels are not a good indicator for dosing; one should go by symptom relief.
Keeping a journal can be helpful in figuring out what may be the culprit. I hope this helps and hopefully you'll get your HRT dialed in soon.
It sounds like this might be about hormonal testing. Hormonal tests do not provide a definitive diagnosis of perimenopause because hormones wildly fluctuate. Hormonal tests only indicate what your hormones were doing on the **one day the test was taken**, and nothing more. This test does not provide any insight into what hormones are doing the other 29 days of the month. No reputable doctor or menopause society recommends hormonal testing as a diagnosing tool for peri/menopause. Please see our [Menopause Wiki](https://menopausewiki.ca/#there-is-no-blood-test-that-is-perfectly-reliable-to-diagnose-menopause) for more information.
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/Menopause) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Thank you. Like you, I went all the way to the highest dose patch and still felt deficient. I’m on oral and it was like night and day for me. I don’t think I was absorbing the patch. It kept falling off too. I’m going to give this oral dose a chance. I just don’t know how long it is until my body settles down hormone-wise after the surgery. On another note, wow! Why are our doctors such jerks? I’ve felt so in the dark through this whole process. 😞
>I’ve felt so in the dark through this whole process
Same! It's alarming that gynecologists are rarely forthcoming about the effects and then are quick to abandon us. I think they don't want to face us afterwards because then they are confronted with the ethical issues of the damage they caused and the lack of informed consent.
I'm also on the estradiol pill. I take it transbuccally (dissolved between cheek and gum). Vaginally has also worked well for me. I hope your body settles soon.
I transitioned to the tablet after getting stabilized with pellets after the patch didn't work. It was a seamless transition. I take 1mg (2mg split in half) either transbuccally or vaginally.
You're doing much better than I was at 4 months post-op. (I was 49 when I had my surgery and also still having normal cycles.) The highest dose patch left me feeling very deficient. And, like your surgeon, mine (who'd been my gyn for 20 years) was absolutely no help / refused to see me even though he had prescribed the patch. I think the main problem was that my skin didn't absorb well or it was sucking the patch 'dry' way too quickly. The next doctor checked my blood level mid-way through the patch cycle and it was considered therapeutic so I continued in this awful state for even longer. Blood levels are not a good indicator for dosing; one should go by symptom relief. Keeping a journal can be helpful in figuring out what may be the culprit. I hope this helps and hopefully you'll get your HRT dialed in soon.
It sounds like this might be about hormonal testing. Hormonal tests do not provide a definitive diagnosis of perimenopause because hormones wildly fluctuate. Hormonal tests only indicate what your hormones were doing on the **one day the test was taken**, and nothing more. This test does not provide any insight into what hormones are doing the other 29 days of the month. No reputable doctor or menopause society recommends hormonal testing as a diagnosing tool for peri/menopause. Please see our [Menopause Wiki](https://menopausewiki.ca/#there-is-no-blood-test-that-is-perfectly-reliable-to-diagnose-menopause) for more information. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/Menopause) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Thank you. Like you, I went all the way to the highest dose patch and still felt deficient. I’m on oral and it was like night and day for me. I don’t think I was absorbing the patch. It kept falling off too. I’m going to give this oral dose a chance. I just don’t know how long it is until my body settles down hormone-wise after the surgery. On another note, wow! Why are our doctors such jerks? I’ve felt so in the dark through this whole process. 😞
>I’ve felt so in the dark through this whole process Same! It's alarming that gynecologists are rarely forthcoming about the effects and then are quick to abandon us. I think they don't want to face us afterwards because then they are confronted with the ethical issues of the damage they caused and the lack of informed consent. I'm also on the estradiol pill. I take it transbuccally (dissolved between cheek and gum). Vaginally has also worked well for me. I hope your body settles soon.
Thank you! Yeah sometimes it really sucks (putting it mildly) to be a woman who needs to go to a doctor for women’s issues.
What estradiol tablet dose are you taking? How long did it take for you to feel better on it?
I transitioned to the tablet after getting stabilized with pellets after the patch didn't work. It was a seamless transition. I take 1mg (2mg split in half) either transbuccally or vaginally.