The Brief An ongoing backorder of estrogen patches is leaving many women struggling to find relief for menopause symptoms. Doctors and pharmacists are encouraging patients to seek alternative treatments, such as hormone replacement creams or adjusting patch schedules. Like many women across the country, Kris Dunlap found estrogen patches were a game changer for her menopause symptoms. Sometimes it's simply switching from a twice a week patch to once a week patch," Kling said. The FDA has yet to declare an official shortage of the patch, but experts say it’s been happening for months.