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[Flamingo]

Prescribed oestrogel 4 pumps a day - 2 in the morning and 2 evening.  Obviously will apply morning after shower but do I need to wash skin before applying in the evening? What do other people do? I usually put moisturiser on after shower in the morning so guess is still on skin by evening! Thanks

[Mariab]

Hi flamingo...welcome
I use two pumps in the evening, usually after a bath, but if I do have a shower in the morning I just apply gel in the evening as normal but I personaly would wash your leg in the evening just to make sure however I have read that as long as you havnt put cream on in the few hours before then you should be good to go

[Kathleen]

Hello Flamingo

When I was using several pumps daily
I would apply the gel to one thigh after my morning shower and then wash the other thigh at bedtime before applying the nighttime dose. My blood test levels were good and I was definitely absorbing well.

After a while I felt that this was a lot of gel so I changed to the equivalent amount of Sandrena gel.

I hope this helps you and take care.

K.

[joziel]

Flamingo, I am on 12 pumps of gel.

You don't need to wash the area you're applying gel to - as long as it hasn't had gel on it that day (since being washed I mean) and as long as there are no moisturisers or other products on the area.

I shower in the morning and then put 6 pumps on my left thigh and butt cheek and then 6 pumps on the right thigh and butt cheek before bed. Each pump seems to cover something like an A5 area so if I rotate around my leg, I get 5 pumps on there easy. I don't overlap them.

I prefer not to put it on my upper arms because I don't want to contaminate the blood draw area on my inner elbow or get it on my boobs. Plus in winter at least half my body can be covered whilst I wait for all the gel to dry...

[Uma17]

Flamingo, I am on 12 pumps of gel.

You don't need to wash the area you're applying gel to - as long as it hasn't had gel on it that day (since being washed I mean) and as long as there are no moisturisers or other products on the area.

I shower in the morning and then put 6 pumps on my left thigh and butt cheek and then 6 pumps on the right thigh and butt cheek before bed. Each pump seems to cover something like an A5 area so if I rotate around my leg, I get 5 pumps on there easy. I don't overlap them.

I prefer not to put it on my upper arms because I don't want to contaminate the blood draw area on my inner elbow or get it on my boobs. Plus in winter at least half my body can be covered whilst I wait for all the gel to dry...

Hi Joziel you should only apply one pump per area at a time. Try to do one pump per inner thigh and one pump on each shoulder if you want to avoid your arms. Use a tablespoon to apply.

[Dotty]

Hi I use 4 pumps of Oestrogel.  I put 2 on each inner thigh every morning. There's no need to split the dose, unless you want to.

[joziel]

Uma, I'm on 12 pumps a day. TWELVE. I can't use one pump per body part...

[Uma17]

Uma, I'm on 12 pumps a day. TWELVE. I can't use one pump per body part...

I understand that. The instructions say that you should only apply one pump per body part or it won’t be absorbed. But of course follow your doctor’s instructions.

[joziel]

We'll see how much I'm absorbing when I get bloods done in 2 weeks   

Either way, I'll have to switch products because I can't be doing 12 pumps of gel much longer 

[aj1971]

Uma, I'm on 12 pumps a day. TWELVE. I can't use one pump per body part...

I understand that. The instructions say that you should only apply one pump per body part or it won’t be absorbed. But of course follow your doctor’s instructions.

The problem here is that the PIL is written for a maximum of 4 pumps - so two legs and two arms make sense. If someone is applying more than that, they have to be a bit more creative. What Joziel is saying is that she uses 12 different areas, so they don't overlap (the same principle of 4 different limbs, but applied differently due to the 12 pumps). The point is that you don't want to saturate one area with oestrogel.

Joziel, I agree that something better than dealing with 12 pumps every day would be good! Hope your blood tests are helpful and you find a solution. Not easy unless patches are an option for you.

Re. washing, my view is that it is about consistency. Do the same every day. Then assess whether or not it is working.

Common sense says that things like moisturisers and sun lotions are going to act as a barrier, though I doubt they would prevent all absorption of oestrogel. A quick shower or wipe with a warm face cloth would ensure the skin is ready for the gel.

I find splitting my dose helps iron out the big afternoon dip I get.

[joziel]

It's not impossible to go back to patches. I started originally on them but on a 75 patch my estradiol was only around 230pmol. So at the time, I thought I might absorb gel better... Fast forward and it looks like I probably won't absorb anything transdermally very well.

The other thing about patches is I saw on social media there are some worries about Estradot now, in terms of... the company was sold to another company and recently people have been reporting that they are just not sticking like they used to and the return of loads of symptoms. So it doesn't seem like a good time to go back to Estradot. And I don't want to try the other patches because I know they are larger and stick less well. With the gel, I kind of like not having to worry about 'has my patch come off' - especially if I'm going to need about 4 of them or something ridiculous... they used to get stuck to my knickers and then get ripped off when I went to the loo and that kind of thing... So I think I'd probably try Sandrena next... And then oral. (With oral, I do get worried that it increases SHBG which can decrease the amount of free testosterone we can have. I'm already on T3 thyroid hormone, which also increases SHBG. However - hopefully I will be off that soon. That is the next project.)

Please can we have some kind of continuous estrogen monitor like the continuous blood glucose monitor, along with some kind of steady insulin-delivery system to deliver whatever estrogen we all need!?!?!? Maybe in 50 years...

[aj1971]

Yeah, that's concerning about estradot. They are definitely the neatest, and (were) the stickiest, option!

And Evorel to the capacity you would need it would be a complete pain.

I hope you get on well with Sandrena if you switch. I know many women really like it, and less to spread as you say.