Vaginal Estrogen Questions

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Jons_girl
Jons_girl Member Posts: 696
edited February 2022 in Sex & Relationship Matters

Hi Friends:

I know with that topic above there will be those who want to yell at me. But I'm asking anyway. I'm considering using estrogen vaginally. My MO and my GYN support me in this decision as there are studies they are fine with this decision. They will be checking my blood work and I also have diagnostics every 6 mo due to only having had surgery for treatment

My question is for those of you using vaginal estrogen cream, or any other form of it.

Why doesn't insurance pay for this? My insurance didn't pay much. It was going to be over 100.00 for 1 tube! Am I the only one having to pay these prices for this?

Is there other forms of vaginal estrogen that they will pay for?

Please let me know your experience with this. They have paid for testosterone cream in the past as I recall.

Thank you for your responses.

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  • KBL
    KBL Member Posts: 2,521
    edited February 2022

    Jons_girl, I’m not sure why they don’t, but that is the price here as well. I get the tube to last me a year. I don’t use much. When I was buying the other products that weren’t estrogen based, they were $45 a month. What we have to pay to have some relief is ridiculous.

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  • sbelizabeth
    sbelizabeth Member Posts: 2,889
    edited February 2022

    Check GoodRx, the website that provides coupons for major pharmacies. I just found estradiol cream for as low as $23.

    I had a prescription for an antibiotic that was going to cost close to $300, with insurance. I paid $17 with a GoodRx coupon.

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  • KBL
    KBL Member Posts: 2,521
    edited February 2022

    Great idea, sbelizabeth. I'll look.

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  • gb2115
    gb2115 Member Posts: 1,894
    edited February 2022

    I used it for a short while but had it compounded at a local pharmacy. I think it was around $60 because it wasn't covered at all, but it lasted awhile because you don't use it everyday after that first couple of loading weeks. They had me get it compounded to decrease the risk of irritation that I'm told is common with the pre-made ones. I don't know. It helped a ton and then I had a recurrence a short while later, so everyone agreed the less estrogen the better for now.

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  • Veeder14
    Veeder14 Member Posts: 880
    edited February 2022

    I have a Medicare Advantage Insurance Plan and it pays for Estrace and the other one (can't remember the name), $20/tube. My previous insurance also paid for it for only $10/tube. I only use it very infrequently just enough so I don't get itchy and irritated skin still worried it's estrogen that can travel systemically.

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  • Jons_girl
    Jons_girl Member Posts: 696
    edited February 2022

    Thank you all so much for commenting on this thread! I sure appreciate the info you shared.

    I did find out that goodrx.com has a great price! I found that out around the same time selibeliz posted above.

    But something else I found out I wanted you all to know too!! I was getting my prescription through Costco. So the prescription had been called in to Costco. They ran my insurance and it was going to cost me after insurance paid over $100! However my doctors office found out by talking to the pharmacy at Costco that if I just use the Costco discount a tube of estradiol would cost 26.99!!So I called Costco's pharmacy, and told the lady what my doctors office had said to me. Because when I had complained about the cost prior in talking to Costco earlier they told me that they aren't supposed to do that. If a person has insurance they are supposed to run it. The pharmacy told me it's probably more expensive because it goes towards my deductible. I told them I don't have a deductible!! Then she said well you must just have bad insurance then right? I said yes. So then she ran the prescription later with the Costco discount. And sure enough it's $26.99!


    Then she said well you must just have bad insurance then right? I said yes. So then she ran the prescription later with the Costco discount. And sure enough it's $26.99! So this would be a good option too!

    GB2115: I'm hoping it's ok for me to ask you questions about your second cancer dx. I'm so sorry to hear it's returned! 💐Can you tell me what stage your cancer was when it returned? You don't list that in your signature line. Also I was wondering if you have been tested for cancer genes? Do you have cancer in your family? I have cancer in my family but never had any cancer genes show up when I tested. I wondered how going on estrogen cream might affect me. But at this point I really do need it and my first cancer was stage one. So I am hoping that if it were to return I could catch it early. I amgoing to be very vigilant in testing my blood and I get diagnostics every six months anyway.So if cancer did return I'd hope to catch it early


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  • Jons_girl
    Jons_girl Member Posts: 696
    edited February 2022

    veeder:

    I am hoping it's OK to ask a couple questions. Are you using estrogen cream? How long have you used it? You and I both had different cancers but we had similar stage and grade.

    I have been through menopause. I'm not on hormone blocker. Didn't do rads. But I need this for quality of life.I am leery of using it. But probably will use it.

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  • gb2115
    gb2115 Member Posts: 1,894
    edited February 2022

    Jons_girl---I'm not entirely sure which stage the recurrence was, since they changed the staging criteria. It was a 1.6 or 1.7 cm tumor with two positive nodes. I did get the genetic testing back in 2016, there was an unusual variant on I think the CDH1 gene, but they said it wasn't linked to my particular type of cancer. My mother just passed from metastatic breast cancer this summer...her genetic testing was negative as well. I personally think I had environmental exposure. I worked for a long time in a town that had environmental issues, and then the previous office I worked at up until a few months before my diagnosis had 5 other cancer cases (4 were breast cancer), not too far off from my diagnosis. I believe they call that a cluster. I did some reading about such things and discovered that the health dept will not investigate unless it's an unusual cancer type for the demographic. I was the youngest at 38, the rest were middle-aged or older, so not unusual for breast cancer.

    I have since transferred to a different location, and get the willies anytime I have to go back into that building.

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  • Jons_girl
    Jons_girl Member Posts: 696
    edited February 2022

    Gb2115: thank you for sharing all this information. I'm so sorry for your loss!Wow that's awful with the environmental exposure you and the others had and you all got cancer. Wow.
    Sending a virtual hug to you. You've been through a lot. I hope your recovery goes well. Thank you for sharing.

    I was gene tested too and the gene I have a variant of unknown significance isn’t connected to breast cancer yet.

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  • Jons_girl
    Jons_girl Member Posts: 696
    edited February 2022

    So ijust started on testosterone cream. I'm going to try this for 3 mo. My gyn wants to not have me take more than one hormone to start with so we know if it's working, if there are any side affects etc.

    So if testosterone cream works then I won't need to go on estrodiol cream.

    This is what she says about testosterone cream:

    “I reviewed the research literature on vaginal testosterone and the recent lecture as I said I attended from a MD who is known internationally for her work in testosterone therapy in women.The dose I am using is higher than what you used previously, but not a dose that is unsafe with breast cancer . In an interesting study that used this dose, done on women on letrozole, they reported improvement in all sexual health categories that were studied--orgasm, desire, and sexual satisfaction, in addition to improved in vaginal mucosa health."

    So…..will see if this works! I'm hopeful it will work

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  • KBL
    KBL Member Posts: 2,521
    edited February 2022

    jons_girl, I will be checking in to see if it’s working for you. Maybe I could switch if you say it’s good. Good luck.

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  • Jons_girl
    Jons_girl Member Posts: 696
    edited February 2022

    KBL I will definitely post updates here.

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