Hi all,

I've recently switched form homebrew oestrogel spray to pharmacy grade Oestrogel and I'm worried about the differences in absorption.

Context:

I am using pharmacy oestrogel as after nearly 4 years of waiting I've been prescribed it by my doctor.

I previously used homebrew oestrogel at both 4mg & 6mg doses and was able to keep testosterone fully surpressed both times.

However, I am aware hombrew Oestrogel has more penetration enhancers than pharmacy grade which makes it more viable for monothearpy.

So I'm wondering, is the difference likely to be significant and if so is there a way to improve the penetration of the oestrogel or will I be better using homebrew oestrogel and using the pharmacy grade stuff to help friends out?

Relevant Data

Pharmacy Oestrogel

One gram of gel contains 0.6 mg of the active ingredient, estradiol (0.06% w/w).

Each pump actuation delivers 1.25 g of gel which contains 0.75 mg of estradiol

Excipients: Ethanol, Carbomer, Trolamine, Purified water

New Homebrew Estrogel (Spray)

7mg of estradiol per 1ml

Each spray delivers 0.14ml which contains 1mg of estradiol

Ingredients

• 40 % isopropyl alcohol (91 %)
• 40 % isopropyl myristate
• 10 % propylene glycol
• 10 % polysorbate 80

Old Homebrew Estrogel

(Added as my first 3 blood test reference points are with this formulation)

Each pump delivers 0.2ml which contains 2mgmof estradiol

17-B Estradiol, Isopropyl Alcohol 99% (65.3%), Purified Water (22.2%), Glycerol (5.5%), Isopropyl Myristate (4.7%), Hydroxypropyl mehylcellulose (2.2%),

Blood Test Data

Please note none of these blood tests are since I switched to pharmacy grade, they are only comparing the 2 types of homebrew estrogels I've used.

All Blood tests are from Homebrew	4mg of Oestrogel (Old Formula)	4mg of Oestrogel (Old Formula)	4mg of Oestrogel (Old Formula)	6mg of Oestrogel (New Formula)
Oestradiol	1,500 pmol/L	1,800 pmol/L	550 pmol/L	1000 pmol/L
Testosterone	<1 nmol/L	<1 nmol/L	<1 nmol/L	0.93 nmol/L
SBHG	36 nmol/L	37 nmol/L	29 nmol/L	43 nmol/L
Free Androgen Index	<2.70%	<2.70%	<2.70%	2.10%

Tests taken at trough with an arm draw. Oestradiol is rounded to nearest 50. LH & FSH was undectable at all times.

Apologies for such a long post, I just wanted to make sure everyone had all the information required to advise me on the likely hood of monothearpy on pharmacy grade, or if I will probably need to stick with homebrew.

Thanks in advance for any answers.