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Storing and disposing of your Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) products

We're often asked whether HRT (Hormone Replacement Therapy) needs to be stored in a particular way - especially when travelling to a warmer or cooler climates- or what's the best way to dispose of it. This information leaflet gives you a handy overview of the storage requirements for the different types of HRT and recommendations on how to dispose of them.

The information we’re sharing here has been sourced from the pharmaceutical companies that manufacture the products. Where there are no specific instructions for a product, it seems sensible to follow the advice for similar products. The general rule is to store products at room temperature and keep them in their original packaging. For example:

for a gel, store below 25°C
for tablets and capsules, keep them in their original blister pack and outer carton as this will protect them from moisture
don’t open individual patches till you are ready to use them. Testogel sachets can be fiddly. Try making a very small opening in the sachet – for example, cut off a corner and then fold over the top and secure with a bag clip/bulldog clip/hair clip. Testim tubes are slightly easier to use in that you can squeeze out your fraction of the tube (usually one-tenth a day) and then screw the lid back on again.
keep lids on bottles of gel and screw tops on a tube.

We haven’t listed every type of HRT tablet, and if you are uncertain about storage conditions for the particular HRT that you are taking, check out the Electronic Medicines Compendium website here and search for your product.

Storing your HRT

Type of HRT	Storage requirements
Androfeme	Store it in a cool dry place where the temperature stays below 25°C Store away from moisture, heat or sunlight; for example, do not store it in the bathroom or near a sink, in the car, or on window sills. Do not freeze.
Bijuve capsules	This medicinal product does not require any special temperature storage conditions. Keep the blister in the outer carton in order to protect it from light.
Blissel gel	Do not store above 25°C
Elleste Duet Elleste Duet Conti	Do not store above 25°C Store in the original package.
Estraderm patches	Recommended that it is stored below 25°C
Estradot patches	Store in original packaging in a cool dry place. Do not refrigerate or freeze.
Estring	Do not store above 25°C
Evorel patches	Recommended that it is stored at room temperature (at or below 25°C).
Femoston tablets (all doses, Femoston and Femoston Conti)	This medicine does not require any special storage conditions.
Femseven patches	Do not store above 30°C
Imvaggis pessaries	Do not store above 25°C
Lenzetto	Recommended that it is not stored above 25°C Do not refrigerate or freeze.
Livial tablets	Store below 25°C Do not refrigerate. Store in the original package. Keep the blister in the outer carton in order to protect it from light and moisture.
Lutigest vaginal pessaries	Store in the original container in order to protect it from light. This medicinal product does not require any special temperature storage conditions.
Oestrogel®	There are no specific storage instructions for Oestrogel®. We would therefore advise it is stored at room temperature and not above 25°C as per other gels.
Ovestin cream	Do not store above 25°C Do not freeze.
Provera	Store below 25°C
Sandrena	Recommended that it is stored below 25°C
Testim tubes	Do not store above 25°C This product is flammable and should be protected from direct sunlight.
Testogel® sachets	There are no special storage conditions for Testogel®.
Tostran gel	Do not store above 25°C Do not refrigerate or freeze.
Utrogestan oral capsules	No special storage requirements. Store in the original blister pack and in the original outer carton.
Utrogestan vaginal pessaries	This medicinal product does not require any special storage conditions.
Vagifem®	Store at 25°C It’s okay for Vagifem® to get as cool as 15°C or as warm as 30°C Do not refrigerate.
Vagirux	This medicine does not require any special storage considerations.

Disposing of HRT

It is important to consider how we dispose of HRT to minimise the environmental impact. Greenerpractice have been in touch to remind us that oestrogens from HRT can interfere with plant growth, cause feminisation of fish, thus inhibiting their reproduction and disrupting aquatic ecosystems, and get back into the human food chain.

With this in mind, one simple thing we can do is fold HRT patches in half so that the sticky side sticks together and then check if your local pharmacy will accept them for disposal – or if you have one, put them into a sharps bin for disposal. Sharp objects may pierce patches placed into household waste and the hormones may leach out. The same applies to empty bottles of gel and spray – it is better to dispose of them through your local pharmacy rather than putting them in household waste.

Authored by:

Dr Clare Spencer
Registered menopause specialist, GP and co-founder; see Dr Clare in person at The Spire Hospital, Leeds or online

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