A gender reassignment program for male to female transsexuals normally includes the prescription of feminising hormones, oestrogen and progesterone which develop female secondary sexual characteristics. In addition this may be accompanied before surgery by anti-androgen treatment to reduce the effect of the patients own male sex hormones. There can be risks attached to hormone therapy in both men and women and therefore it is definitely inadvisable to take any form of hormone product unless it is medically prescribed.

CLIMARA-50: 12.5 cm² patch containing 3.8 mg of oestradiol (equivalent to 3.9 mg oestradiol hemihydrate)

CLIMARA-100: 25.0 cm² patch containing 7.6 mg of oestradiol (equivalent to 7.8 mg oestradiol hemihydrate)

Transdermal patches uniformly contain estradiol as the active medication, produced in 0.05mg (50 micrograms, 50 mcg) and 0.1 mg (100 mcg) concentrations, and are branded under a variety of names such as Climara and Alora.

Different Forms of HRT

Climara, Vivelle, Fempatch, Alora (matrix estradiol patch)

These are all the newer improved estrogen patches. Like the reservoir patches that were first designed, thest patches continuously release natural, bio-identical estrogen into your system, but they tend to cause less skin irritation. According to one manufacturer, only about 9 percent of users developed significant skin irritation -- about half that of Estraderm reservoir patch users. The matrix patch was first introduced in 1995, when the Climara patch came out. A year later, the makers of the Estraderm patch came out with their version of a matrix patch, Vivelle. Next came Fempatch, a lower dose estrogen patch. And most recently Vivelle came out with a new super-tiny patch -- the Vivelle dot, about the size of a nickel or postage stamp.

In all cases, the patch doesn't have the bubble that the Estraderm TTS patch does. Instead, it's a flat, translucent patch that lies flat under your clothes and sticks better -- even when you shower or swim. In addition, the matrix delivery system appears to deliver estrogen more steadily, maintaining more stable blood levels of estrogen. But you get a slightly lower level of estrogen in your blood from the matrix patch than you do with the reservoir patch Estraderm TTS -- about 70 picograms of estradiol from the .1 mg matrix patch as compared to 100 picograms from the corresponding Estraderm patch.

Standard dosage

Climara: 0.025; 0.05; 0.075; 0.1 mg; Vivelle: 0.0375, 0.05, 0.075; 0.1; Fempatch: .025 mg; Alora: 0.05, 0.075 and 0.1

Pros

• Easy to use;
• source of continuous estrogen (estradiol -- bioidentical to human estradiol)
• less obvious and better adhesion than the Estraderm patch
• Vivelle and Alora's wide range of available dosages allows for more flexibility than other patches. The Vivelle dot's size is so small -- the smallest available -- that it's nearly undectectable, a real plus for people who are active and who don't want the hassle of the larger patches
• patches, in general, are a good choice for smokers -- as studies have indicated that oral estrogen may not deliver the same amount of estrogen to smokers as non-smokers, while patches don't appear to have this same problem

Cons

• Can cause irritation