Having trouble finding your Estradiol Patch?

Patches containing bio-identical estradiol are commonly prescribed as part of menopausal hormone therapy but recently many providers and patients are reaching out to RCP due to shortages, backorders and out of stocks situations at the wholesale and pharmacy levels. We get asked weekly if we can compound a patch. Unfortunately, no, we don't have the equipment at this point to compound medications in patch form BUT...... we can compound a transdermal estrogen cream as an alternative that is applied once or twice daily.

It is important to understand that a compounded transdermal preparation is not the same dosage form as an estradiol patch, therefore the amount prescribed should not automatically be considered equivalent on a milligram-for-milligram basis. Your prescriber and compounding pharmacist can work together to determine an appropriate formulation and monitoring plan.

RCP did create a starting dosage point chart for those providers who were interested in this option until their patients could return to the commercial patches.