Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT): Oral versus Transdermal Estrogen

Hormone replacement therapy comes in various forms, including pills, patches, creams, and gels. 

Each formulation works differently and depending on how the hormone enters your body, it may have different benefits and risks. 

For example, the pill form of estrogen can be effective for many women, but when we ingest any drug orally, it is processed through the liver, and in the case of oral estrogen this can give risk to a slightly higher risk of blood clots and hypertension.

Transdermal estrogen, on the other hand, is absorbed through the skin and is available in the form of patches, gels and sprays depending on where you live. Transdermal estrogen is delivered directly through the skin into the bloodstream. Therefore, bypassing the liver usually does not have the side effects that I mentioned earlier. And in general is considered a safer option for estrogen. PMID: 33506261

So, if you are someone who is currently on oral estrogen OR someone who is considering hormone replacement therapy, you might want to discuss transdermal estrogen with your doctor and perhaps switch over from oral estrogen. 

Remember, if you have a uterus, you also need to take progesterone along with the estrogen to protect the lining of your uterus.

More about progesterone in my following post…

#menopausewize #menopause #perimenopause #hrt #hormonereplacementtherapy #menopausalhormonetherapt #mht #estrogenmatters #estrogen #progesterone