Estradiol valerate
In addition to single-drug formulations, oral estradiol valerate is available in combination with the progestin dienogest as a combined oral contraceptive and intramuscular estradiol valerate is marketed in combination with the progestins hydroxyprogesterone caproate and norethisterone enantate as combined injectable contraceptives. Intramuscular estradiol valerate has also been marketed in combination with testosterone enantate, but this formulation has been discontinued. The availability of estradiol valerate-containing products varies throughout the world.
Esterified estrogens
Esterified estrogens (EEs), sold under the brand names Estratab and Menest among others, is an estrogen medication which is used hormone therapy for menopausal symptoms and low sex hormone levels in women, to treat breast cancer in both women and men, and to treat prostate cancer in men. It is formulated alone or in combination with methyltestosterone. It is taken by mouth.
Side effects of EEs include nausea, breast tension, edema, and breakthrough bleeding among others. It is an estrogen, or an agonist of the estrogen receptors, the biological target of estrogens like estradiol. EEs are a prodrug mainly of estradiol and to a lesser extent of equilin.
EEs were introduced for medical use by 1970. They are available in only a few countries, such as Chile and the United States. They have also been marketed in Argentina and Switzerland in the past.