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Q: Does estradiol cause weight gain? A: Estrogens, a group of steroid compounds, are used as part of some oral contraceptives, and in estrogen replacement therapy for postmenopausal women.
Terrylynnh, I am also using a patch, and I can attest to the fact that simply cutting the round/oval shaped patches in half doesn't work. They are round/oval for a reason - it's so that there are no corners that can get caught in our clothing and cause them to be rubbed off. I think the last time I tried that (I was trying to increase my dosage that time, so I was attempting to use one and a half patches), the patch (pasted on my hip under my underwear) rubbed off within a couple of hours. So, my recommendation is to cut a little circle from the plastic protecto-backing that you have just pealed off of the patch, and put this little circle in the middle of the patch just before you paste it on. This will have the effect of creating a barrier so that no meds can get through from this part of the patch - effectively cutting down on the dosage. Since we are talking about circles and ovals, and I never was that good in math, I leave it up to you to discuss the size of your barrier-patch with someone who can either do the math or eyeball the size.
When I was last attempting to wean myself from HRT, I was using pills, and I got really good at cutting them carefully into fourths, and I had a complicated system of how I was going to wean myself over several months. When i got down to only 1/4 pill per day, the meno symptoms came back and I discussed with my doctor what my options were. I decided to use the patch. So that's what I'm doing.
Which means that someday I too will have to take my own advice as described above. Or perhaps some other method that some brilliant lady on these Boards can describe for us?