The Climara patch releases estradiol,
the same estrogen our ovaries make, slowly and steady so it needs to be changed once a week.  estrogen is blended into the patch's adhesive.  This way the entire "sticky side" contains the estrogen.   This allows for a constant release of estrogen.

Women who suffer from migraine headaches do better using an estrogen patch than estrogen products that are in pill form.

The patch is thin, lies flat and according to the manufacturer has superior adhesive.   It maintains a slightly steadier, but lower level of estrogen in our blood compared with some other estrogen patches ( like Estraderm).  The patch is applied to a hairless part of our body like the buttocks area.

Climara patch comes in different doses- 1.0 milligrams Climara patch and 0.05 milligram patch.

The upside to patches is that it helps women who find that other estrogen products cause other side effects like nausea.

As is true when taking any type of estrogen product (pill, patch, cream etc..)  you should also be taking a progesterone product to ensure the health of your uterine lining.

also see:

HotFlash! FAQ
HRT & Weight Gain
HRT (hormone replacement therapy) does not cause weight gain.Many women have heard that it does. This is a myth that has been around for a long time. Find out more about this and learn more from author Dr. Larrian Gillespie gives some tips and an exercise prescription for this problem.

HotFlash! FAQ: I can't sleep!!!!
Sleep disturbances and perimenopause
Sleeping disturbances are extraordinarily common during perimenopause. Studies have shown that women over the age of forty have more sleep troubles than their younger counterparts. Look at the television commercial for sleeping aides. They are geared towards women who are thirty five years old and beyond.

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Meet the author
"The Estrogen Answer Book"
by Ruth S. Jacobowitz
hosted by Sue Spataro, RN, BSN
She was vice president of Cleveland's Mt. Sinai Medical Center for 20 years and a medical journalist, as well as the author of many books covering menopause, estrogen therapy, osteoporosis and a practical guide to midlife sex, love and intimacy. See the cyber-interview where Ruth shares some of her views on women's health with host Sue Spataro

newly revised for 2000!
Could It Be...Perimenopause?
by Steven R. Goldstein, Laurie Ashner

see the interview with Dr Goldstein
In clear, supportive prose, Goldstein offers no-baloney advice. "Today's perimenopausal women has neither the time nor the patience to go through four to fifteen years of symptoms without relief," he says. He fully delineates the roles of various hormones, how to determine if you're in perimenopause or not, as well as how to treat the various symptoms to gain control over your life.