Susan's Place Transgender Resources

I use Vivelle Dot patches and have been on them for 8 months.  In the last couple of months several of them have rolled up when I removed my panties.  I have had one or two come off before and I reapplied them somewhere else but these have balled up into such a mess as to be unusable.  I am going to try to get the doctor to give me one or 2 extra a month to make up for this and also to make up for the fact that each box is designed to last for 28 days of treatment and there are 30-31 days a month usually.  Does anyone else experience this probelm and what is the best way to avoid it?

My new endo is against the idea of using patches because of things like this (among other reasons). Why are you on the patch?

I am on them because my doctor really prefers them and they are recomended for people over 40.  I initally wanted to try pills but he felt strongly about them and (at first at least) they did not have a problem sticking and worked fine so I have been otherwise happy with them.

The Vivelle instructions say not to put it somewhere where it might be rubbed/chafed by clothing, so maybe a few of them are getting scraped off by your underpants waistband or something?  Vivelle's adhesive formulation *supposedly* hasn't changed... although we never know, with pharmaceutical companies.

You can also try very carefully cleaning the area with soap and water and then a second time with rubbing alcohol before applying the patch, in case it just isn't grabbing the skin very well.

Yep I have the same problem as you do.


And I hate not being able to take a shower or bath without worrying about the patch.


Its a pain in the a** and I want to have shots instead. But my doctor wants me to stay on the patches for a little longer *sigh*.

I love my implant.. No need to remember to take pills.. No issues with patches not sticking. No peaks and troughs from shots.. Just a nice consistent dose delivered in a convenient manner..

Just occurred to me that it's almost as good as an ovary.. Delivers a more consistent dose though..

Tammy,

If you are having problems with the patches remaining for the duration, try covering them with a large band aid type bandage. Helps keep dust and water out and ensures it stays the duration. Awkward but effective.

Plus you don't want pills. You lose more than 50% dosage first pass through the liver. And they may overload the liver with unnecessary processing.

Hope you are getting good results

Huggs
Catherine

Catherine - Oh! Good suggestion, and you reminded me, surgical tape also works really well. Especially with Vivelle-Dot, which is very tiny, so it only takes a little strip of tape.

I have no problem with the patches, and place them below the belly button on right and left side. Ensure they are low enough to avoid the belt area. I use baby oil to clean the residue from old patches and alcohol wipes to the area before adding the patches.

I will say that I have had very few problems with patches sticking and most of them have been recent.  I also posted this message in another forum and one person said they had the same problem with certain batches of patches.  I can say that all of these were placed around the panty band area so I will try to avoid that area from now on.  I am having good results so far so this is a minor complaint...

I found a product at the drug store called shower shields. They are actually made for covering wound dressing when you shower but I have found it will also keep your panties waist band from rubbing off your patch as well. They have adhesive around the edges & a non sticky space in the center so if you need to take it off you can without pulling off your patch.