Winona Products Explained: Estradiol, Progesterone & Creams

Prices are Winona's listed starting prices at our last check; the full cost breakdown is in our Winona cost guide.

Both deliver estradiol, the main estrogen the ovaries make, and both are FDA-approved products, the same class of medication you could fill at a high-street pharmacy.

Estradiol tablets (pills) are taken by mouth once a day. They are simple and the cheapest estrogen on Winona's list (from about $54/month). Because oral estrogen passes through the liver first, it is associated with a higher risk of blood clots than estrogen through the skin, so it may not suit women with clot risk factors, a history of migraine with aura, or other reasons a clinician prefers a transdermal route.

The estrogen patch is stuck on the skin and changed once or twice a week, depending on the brand. It bypasses the liver, which is why transdermal estrogen is thought to carry a lower clot risk, and it suits women who forget daily pills. It is Winona's most expensive estrogen (about $149/month), it can irritate skin or loosen with heat and sweat, and some patch brands have been intermittently hard to find in 2026. Our estrogen patch vs pill guide compares the two in detail.

Winona's Estrogen Body Cream contains two bioidentical estrogens, estradiol and estriol (a combination often called "bi-est"), rubbed into the skin daily for whole-body symptoms. A second version, the Estrogen Body Cream with Progesterone, adds progesterone to the same cream. Both start at about $89/month.

These creams are compounded: Winona says it prepares them in its own 503A-regulated compounding pharmacies from FDA-approved ingredients, and that the finished creams are not FDA-approved. That is not unusual, but it matters. Compounded hormones have not been through the FDA's review of safety, effectiveness and batch consistency, and The Menopause Society and ACOG generally recommend FDA-approved products for most women (see bioidentical hormones explained). "Bioidentical" does not make estrogen safer; the same class risks - blood clots, stroke, breast-cancer considerations - apply.

The progesterone question. If you have a uterus, the progestogen in your plan is there to protect the uterine lining from estrogen. The evidence for that comes mainly from oral micronized progesterone; major menopause guidance does not consider progesterone absorbed from a skin cream reliable endometrial protection. If you are prescribed the combined cream, ask your physician directly how your uterine lining is being protected and what bleeding should prompt a check.

Winona's progesterone capsules (from about $39/month) are oral micronized progesterone, an FDA-approved form chemically identical to the body's own progesterone and the standard choice for protecting the uterine lining in women with a uterus who take estrogen. Women who have had a hysterectomy usually do not need it.

They are usually taken at bedtime because drowsiness and dizziness are common; breast tenderness, bloating, mood changes and spotting are other frequent side effects, especially early on. The FDA-approved brand, Prometrium, contains peanut oil and should not be used by anyone with a peanut allergy, so mention food allergies in your intake. Your physician chooses the dose and whether it is taken every day or for part of each month. More in progesterone side effects.

Winona's vaginal estrogen cream (from about $89/month) delivers a low dose of estradiol directly to vaginal and urinary tissue. It is used for vaginal dryness, irritation, painful sex and urinary urgency, symptoms that tend to persist or worsen after menopause rather than fade. It is applied inside the vagina, usually more often at the start and then a couple of times a week, on a schedule your physician sets, and it can take several weeks to work fully. Because little is absorbed into the bloodstream, clinicians sometimes consider it for women who are not candidates for systemic HRT, but that is an individual decision, especially after breast cancer.

Winona describes the cream's active ingredient as FDA-approved estradiol, which is the same wording it uses for its compounded creams, so we could not confirm whether it is compounded or a manufactured product. If that matters to you, ask your physician.

Estriol is a weaker estrogen. No FDA-approved US product contains it, so any estriol you get in the US is compounded. At Winona it appears in the estrogen body cream and in an Estriol Cream with Tretinoin for facial skin. Tretinoin can irritate skin and increases sun sensitivity, and it should not be used in pregnancy.

Blossom is Winona's prescription arousal cream (about $79 per order). It combines sildenafil (the active ingredient in Viagra) and pentoxifylline, both of which widen blood vessels, and is applied to the clitoral and vulvar area before intimacy to increase blood flow and sensitivity. There is no FDA-approved sildenafil cream for women; Blossom is a pharmacy-prepared prescription, and the evidence for it is far thinner than for HRT. Winona says not to use it if you are allergic to sildenafil, pentoxifylline or caffeine-containing products. If your main problem is dryness or pain, vaginal estrogen addresses that; Blossom does not.

Current HRT patients can also add a 7% minoxidil hair serum for thinning hair, a non-hormonal treatment. Winona does not prescribe testosterone; if low libido is your main concern and you want that discussed, an insurance-based clinic such as Midi Health prescribes it in selected cases.

Whatever you are prescribed, HRT carries real risks and is not right for everyone - see is HRT safe? - and a Winona physician decides what fits your history.

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Product details and prices are from Winona's product and help pages as surfaced in search at our last check and can change; confirm on Winona's site. This article is general information, not medical advice.