I am not a doctor, just someone who has been on Bioidentical hormones since 2000 after my Hysterectomy (radical). I, too, started that very day on an estrogen
patch. I use Vivelle Estradiol... climara is good, too. Newer research indicates that Estradiol (the kind of estrogen we had pumping through us in our 20's) is the only way to go.
The book I mentioned a thousand times has been the most helpful to me. "Screaming to be Heard" by Dr.