X2.

In month 1, I used the Climara patches exhibited in the link. However, one of the $24 patches fell off and others left gummy residue on my skin. This month, I'm trying less-well absorbed pills (low-dose birth-cntrol pills). They're almost 1/2 the price of the patches, but my sleep isn't quite as good as last month. The hair loss has stopped though and I'm not as dried out as before.

Either way, I'm out the door to train again, so it's still a net win. This is definitely a work in progress.

---

DFL > DNF > DNS

Thanks for posting. I've been watching the KEEPS study for a long time and waiting for results. I just googled last week to see if anything was out yet. I'm anxiously waiting for the full results, as there were more detailed measures involved than what the article discusses.

I never jumped in on the prior menopause thread because my feeling is that, in general, the medical community just does not know enough about menopause overall....the lack of knowledge is not limited to menopause in female athletes. There is a horrible scarcity of good data by which women can make informed choices. The WHI was a not a good study....mostly older women using one form of estrogen (the production of which, by the way, involves horrible cruelty to horses). KEEPS also has its limitations. Hopefully there will more research available soon for all women.

The NY Times magazine ran a good article about the current status of knowledge about HRT a couple of years ago. You can read it here. There's also a Medscape review available here; you have to sign up to access it, but it's free and available to all.

I am on Vivelle. Never had a prob with the patches staying on. I put mine on below my belly button and covered by underwear. Any where else where clothes can rub it, it seems to come off.