# Estrogen patches or transdsermal estrogen anyone?



## katkat2014 (Nov 28, 2014)

Has anyone ever taken estrogen patches to thicken the lining, what was the dosage of the patch and what was the protocol? Did if work out ok?
And is there anyone who has ONLY taken transdermal estrogen like patches or gel? What were the results in terms of lining?
I have lining issues and I was told that I should down regulate and then just use transdermal estrogen only. My 2 times with pills and gel were a disaster (lining 6.8mm on day 17 and 5.3mm on day 1. 
Natural FET is the alternative when my lining grows to about 6.5mm pre-trigger and 8mm post-trigger shot but I've had 4 failed FETs on it.


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## Pv7882 (Jan 25, 2017)

Hi Katkat, sorry i dont have an answer for this but ll be watching this space for others replies. I have recently been asked to take oestrogen patches as well but along with the normal oestrogen tabs (progynova) both orally and vaginally. The consultant also told that the buserelin injections sometimes hav a negative effect on the lining and tend to not allow it to grow to the recommended measurements..


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## katkat2014 (Nov 28, 2014)

Hello Pv7882, thanks for your message anyway. Were those the Evorel 100 patches (6.4mg)? Will you be taking these/changing these daily and is it just the one patch per day? My clinic are still going on about oestrogel (a gel) but it didn't work last time, so just trying to find out if patches could be a better option. Also, I didn't know that down regulation could have a negative effect. My second attempt of a medicated FET (subsequent to another attempt the month prior) was a down regualation one, with one Decapeptyl 3mg shot on Day 21, and then a mix of oestrogel and pills, plus vaginal pills. That was the disaster of 5.3mm!


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## pauli (Sep 19, 2016)

Hi Katkat, sorry to hear you are struggling with lining. I do not have all the answers, I only had 1 medicated FET. I did not down reg, just started patches from Day 2, Evorel 100 which I replaced every 3rd day. Also Progynova tablets from day 2, cannot remember the exact dose anymore, I think it was 2 tablets AM and 2 tablets PM. Remember having headaches at the start but it got better. 5 days before transfer I started progesterone in injections and steroids only for 4 days around ET. This protocol worked for me although it was DE, currently in last trimester. Hope you get the answers you are looking for and figure out the best protocol with your clinic. Baby dust to you xx


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## Pv7882 (Jan 25, 2017)

Hi Katkat, sorry to hear that the gel didnt work for u..maybe the patches and tablets together s worth a try. As pauli mentioned, my consultant told that the patches need to be changed every 72 hrs (not sure about the dosage yet).
And yes it was a new information to me about down reg affecting the lining; but my consultant also mentioned that the oestrogen should compensate it in 90 percent cases but in 10 percent it has an issue it seems..I was bit upset as i had a mock cycle for ERA (poor lining too) jus before my FET and still they didnt pick this up  
Hope the patch works for both of us..Good luck xx


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## katkat2014 (Nov 28, 2014)

Hi Pauli, thanks so much for the info. If I have to go down this route then id like to try the patches too. If it's patches only I guess they will have to give me more like 2 at a time. My clinic seems to want to use Oestrogel again but really I did just that before (together with pills) and my lining didn't grow :/ anyway congratulations and all the very best for your last trimester!

Pv7882 thansk again. I also did the Era and my Lining was only 4.5mm and with 5 days of progesterone for some reason it was receptive. Very odd!

If anyone else here has just done patches or gels and nothing else please do let me know as I'd be very interested in hearing about it.


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## Stacey10 (Jun 7, 2013)

I usually don’t have lining issues at all but with my last cycle I did acu and the doctor did omnibuxtion to increase blood flow, after each session for a couple of days I spotted brown and thought it was weird, had another session a wk later and same thing, roll on lining check and my lining was 3 cm after 9 days of estrogen   I also had fluid in my uterus, so cue panic as everything was booked and paid for, my clinic upped my estrogen to 8 orally per day and one vaginally, I also added in an estrogen patch which I changed every 3 days, 3 days later my lining had grown to 9.5 mm, so if your struggling with lining issues I think doing a mix of vaginal, oral and patches should help. Anyhow end of the story was I had a cancelled cycle due to the fluid which turned out to be old blood, so the omnibuxtion was too strong and was breaking my lining down as the estrogen was building it up.


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## Hopeful_10 (Jan 20, 2018)

I was having problems growing a thick enough lining in prep for a FET late last year. I had down-regged on Buserelin. The cycle was cancelled and I had a few months without buserelin on progynova (tied orally and vaginally) and then added in a patch (changed every 3 days) to see if that would help. Lining was reaching 6.9mm ish every time. Dr wanted to check my lining so needed to wait to have saline scan (he initially wanted a hysteroscopy but we were unsure because of the risks when there was no known issues with my uterus and nothing showing up on 3D scan). Saline scan showed no problems so we proceeded with FET prep downregging on Buserelin, on aspirin and progynova orally increasing up to 2 tablets 3xdaily with a patch every 3 days. Lining still only reached 6.9mm but we transferred and amazingly we got a BFP. I’m 9 weeks 2 days now and everything’s was looking good on the viability scan last week. My feeling is that either ai just have a thinner lining or that it was effected by years of being on the contraceptive pill. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## katkat2014 (Nov 28, 2014)

Hi Stacey, this is great, thanks a lot! Sorry to hear your lining was cancelled. I ahve had consultation with 2 clinics and both said I should go without pills and just transdermal. Just never met anyone else who only used patches only.

Hopeful it is is so reassuring to hear that a lining of 6.9mm worked perfectly fine for you. I don't think I really have a choice anyway but go wth the lining I have (at least it is trilaminar). 

AFM if anyone else did patches only then would be great to hear from you. I have just started another natural FEt cycle, will see how this goes (lining currently between 6.2mm and 7.2mm so maybe that's enough anyway), but estrogen patches only (with down regulation most likely) will be the next step if this gets cancelled or fails.


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## trying1 (Jul 7, 2015)

My lining didn’t respond to oral oestrogen so I added in vaginal 4mg and 2 patches of evorol  changed every 2 days and it did much better and I got to 7mm and had my son. It took forever though. I think some people don’t absorb the oral oestrogen so do better with the patches (like me). I also took viagra prescribed from clinic to help and myself tookhigh dose vit e and l arginine.


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## sarahprj (Mar 28, 2013)

Hi, I’m not really sure if I have lining issues but I’ve only ever used patches to grow my lining. I’m late 40s, post menopause so no AF cycle. On previous cycles I had 2 Evorel 100 patches and lining was about 7-8mm. On previous cycles added in cyclogest pessaries once lining deleloped. 
On this cycle (FET) I did 3 Evorel 100 patches and at my scan on day 10 my lining was a massive 11mm. Other meds this cycle are cyclogest and prontogest injections. 
My diagnosis/reason for infertility I suppose, was none existent AMH at age 41, adenomyosis and enlarged uterus. I do take meds for thyroid, I was in the government recommended range but was symptomatic so they keep me at the bottom of the scale. Thyroid issues were suggested by my clinic. 

My OTD is tomorrow so will soon find out if it’s worked. Patches certainly worked for my lining

Good luck x


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## katkat2014 (Nov 28, 2014)

hey Sarahprj, thanks a lot for your post! That's a lot of Evorel - did you take all three from Day 1 and changed them every other day? I hope you got good news on your otd fingers crossed! A lining of 11mm is certainly amazing!


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