How about a transdermal gel? My endo says they're completely equivalent to patches, but without the adhesive concerns (possible allergies, it might come off for some reason, etc.). According to him, they're completely replacing patches on the market for postmenopausal women, and prescribing patches is something they nowadays only do if the patient insists.
Also, something I learned about transdermal gels: they're great for giving you a good baseline level of oestrogens all day and all night, contrary to all other methods, but the current products on the market (the most popular probably being Estrogel 0.06 % [mods: this is the product's name, and I didn't say how much of it you use]) being aimed at post-menopausal women, according to a credible-looking website with information for self-medication (which I won't name, of course), using a gel or patch still requires you to get additional estradiol from elsewhere, because your blood levels don't go high enough from them alone; for pills, it cuts the required dose by about half depending on the case, but it doesn't eliminate the need for them.
Unless that website isn't as complete as it feels and there's some way doctors know of for making the dose higher with only transdermals, like applying it multiple times a day or over a larger area, or that there are higher dose products available, even though the Internet remained mute on them.
Rest assured, I'm not thinking of self-medicating; I was just hungry for information in the wait before my endo appointment and feeling a bit betrayed because my E levels at 4 months were still in the male range.I can testify for this, since I was on a low dose of Estrace for a few months, and seeing the still mostly absent development after changing that for Estrogel, I still don't think my levels are sufficient.
But despite all that, I'm still 100 % for transdermal, even if it requires something else on top. It has a lot of benefits, that I've been noticing even though my dose is still way too low:
-The random slight horniness/frustration/aggressivity I used to get around 21:00 if I'd forgotten my Estrace at supper, an indication that my levels were fluctuating if you ask me, is gone. So my levels are more stable.
-With a gel, you can actually target areas and it seems to work. You have some variety as to where to put the gel, and you can alternate, or not. Especially in the beginning, I was mainly putting it on the hips, and surprise, hip growth came faster than it used to, and body hair got reduced faster in the area. I guess it's because since the oestrogen was stored in the skin close to them and released right next to them, they got some sort of "priority" for "feeding on it". Listen to the package though: never put it on your breasts or face.
I'm not a fan of injections at all, with the huge roller coaster of levels they represent (+ I'm scared of needles), with possibly suboptimal results (genetic girls start with low levels and the increase is very gradual*, so it makes sense to me, even though I know of no study on this), but I can't deny them that advantage: they're much cheaper than transdermals, and also cheaper than pills, probably.
*Evolution of estradiol levels in girls along puberty, according to
http://www.allinahealth.org/CCS/doc/Consumer_Lab/49/150066.htmQuoteFemale Tanner Stages [3]
Tanner stage 1: 5-10 pg/mL (18-37 pmol/L)
Tanner stage 2: 5-115 pg/mL (18-422 pmol/L)
Tanner stage 3: 5-180 pg/mL (18-661 pmol/L)
Tanner stage 4: 25-345 pg/mL (92-1,266 pmol/L)
Tanner stage 5: 25-410 pg/mL (92-1,505 pmol/L)
