Women resort to extreme measures as estrogen patch shortage persists

The removal of a black-box warning on estrogen hormone therapy in November 2025 triggered a sharp rise in prescriptions, quickly leading to a shortage of estrogen patches that has spread to Canada and Australia. Women such as Elizabeth Borsting have mailed prescriptions 400 miles away, and many are making repeated long drives or planning flights to border towns like Tijuana to secure a supply. Online communities reveal a range of coping strategies, including sharing unused patches, rationing usage, and purchasing alternative forms of HRT like gels, which many find unsatisfactory.

A subset of patients is experimenting with peptide injectables like NAD+ and GHK-Cu, paying hundreds of dollars monthly, though menopause-specialist Dr. Sindhu Koshy cautions they are untested and ineffective for key symptoms. Advocacy group Angels for Change attributes the shortage to the sudden demand spike and the long production lead time for generic drugs, predicting that reliable availability may not return for another six months or more.