I was 60 when I began compounded hormones. I was experiencing many symptoms of aging and compounded hormones were recommended. One time I went off the compound and just forgot to start it back up. After about 5 days, I started to experience brain fog, terrible forgetfulness, and lethargy. I did realize it was the fact that I was off the hormones and my symptoms. I was beginning to worry I might have dementia. At some point, after about a month I realized I had not been using my estradiol cream. My pharmacist confirmed my symptoms were due to discontinued use of compound cream. I started back up and the symptoms went away. I sleep so much better due to my compounds. I pray you don't take this away from us. You will have some very upset women out there.

My T was low and my doctor said that the compounded drug was the best way to solve the issue. I took the compounded medication and it did resolve the problem. I continue to take it. If this capability is removed, I would suffer.

I have been taking bio-identical thyroid and progesterone for about 7 years! They have helped me immensely, and I would be extremely pissed off if I could not get them and was forced to take God knows what big pharma would produce! Bio-identical hormones are made specifically for each individual! We are people, not cattle!!!!

Take your hands off our choice of meds!!!

Do not outlaw them! I personally cannot take anything but compounded hormones! I have worked with an educated and informed specialist and BHRT has improved my life immensely.

I am concerned that the government wants to eliminate compounded hormones and compounding pharmacies. I am 76 years old, and I have been on compounded hormones since the beginning of menopause. I was prescribed hormones by my doctor that were synthetic. I had to have a breast biopsy which was precancerous, and it was suggested that I have a hysterectomy because of numerous vaginal cysts. I went to a doctor that prescribed compounded hormones and thank goodness I did. After a while on these hormones, the cysts decreased in size. As a result, no surgery was needed, and I have had no further complications. I have yearly mammograms and Pap tests with no negative results. I am only on one medication. When I am not taking the hormones, my husband says he notices by my behavior that I need them. Taking compounded hormones has made my quality of life much better. I urge you to do all you can to let compounding pharmacies continue to do as they have been doing. They are much needed!

I have had extreme weight gain, fatigue, brain fog, I struggled just to go to work, then struggled to stay at work, I had sleeping problems, low libido etc. Now after about a year I starting to feel more balanced. I can concentrate, but sleep better, I have energy to exercise and go to work.

I have a medical need for bio-identical hormones which the pharmaceutical industry does not provide a solution. I have vulva Dema and vestibulitis which is extremely painful both when wearing clothing and during sexual intercourse. I have tried conventional hormone replacement (i.e. birth control medications) but these medications severely affect my emotional health sending me into suicidal depression. My medical provider has explored other options, but bioidentical hormones are the only option that has worked.

I am very excited to start bio-identical hormones next week! I have gone through all the evaluations and will soon begin my first regimen. I’ve struggled with extremely heavy periods taking me to anemia and almost a blood transfusion for the last five years. I’ve tried surgery to remove polyps twice, birth-control pills and IUDs, and even consider a hysterectomy.

After undergoing surgery and being told that my only option was to have my uterus removed or go on long-term birth control I was discouraged. Both of those options can lead to complications from which I wasn’t willing to take the risk for the next 10 years before I go into menopause.

I am so grateful to have the safe alternative natural option. Please do not let the FDA take this option away from me. Because without this option, I will continue to suffer and be miserable each month!

I was thrown into early menopause for medical reasons. Compounded hormones have helped me feel “back to normal”. I never want to be without them again.

I’ve been using compound medication for 9 years. I started seeing a wellness MD who prescribed hormone creams; estrogen, testosterone, or progesterone. I’ve never felt better. Currently, I’m using a compounded thyroid hormone, especially for my serum thyroid levels. I’m not sure what or how I would feel if I couldn't have access to this.

I have been using compounded hormones for two months. I feel better now than I have in over a decade. The practitioner who prescribed these compounded hormones conducted very thorough tests to see what my current hormone levels were. They then prescribed the lowest possible dose. I will retake those hormone tests in 6 months and see where they are then and the prescription will be adjusted. This is how it should be! We are all different. There is not going to be a one size fits all solution. I should be able to have this choice! It is bad enough that insurance companies won't cover the compounded hormones (please fix that if you are going to make changes!). I have suffered from anxiety and depression for a decade. Those symptoms are gone due to these compounded hormones. I have more energy. I am calmer. I function better. They have had a profound positive ripple effect on my life. I am more hopeful. I take better care of myself. Please don't take away the most effective tool I have found to manage my health and wellbeing!

Throughout my life when I was prescribed medications for an illness, I'd get MANY adverse reactions. It wasn't until my late 30's I discovered acupuncture. From there, I always went with a natural approach and have been successful. When it came time to manage through menopause, I used BIEST and continue to do so, again with success.
Why would any government prevent a choice to use something natural to our body, other than MONEY & CONTROL!
I'm grateful for my integrative practitioner, acupuncturist, compounding pharmacy, and supplements.
Leave compounding pharmacies alone...
Beth 

I have been using compounded hormones for a number of years. I like them because they have fewer fillers than the "regular" prescription hormone formulas and they work for me!

I am a 66-year-old female. I have multiple food intolerances including corn, wheat, and dairy. I had a total hysterectomy 12 years ago and tried regular hormones I reacted to the fillers in traditional hormones and could never get the correct balance of hormones. It resulted in more physical problems for me including hair loss, hives, and a general feeling of depression and exhaustion. All of these issues were corrected once I was able to get the compounded hormones prescribed by a doctor proficient in this area. I also had to have compounded pain killer when I had rotor cuff surgery 2 years ago. Most painkillers contain corn or fillers which I am intolerant to. We pay for these things out of our own pocket. These compounding pharmacies are life-saving for people like me. Please continue to let them do their great work.

I have struggled for years with an autoimmune disease and nothing seemed to work to help me feel any sign of relief. Once I started regulating my T3 with the proper dosage needed, (since my body doesn’t convert from T4), I immediately started feeling a little better each day! Compounding has given me my life back in more ways than I could have ever thought possible! Everyone is different, no person is made up the same as someone else so what might work for one person could not work at all for another. I am so thankful that I have this option to better my overall health. When my kids started noticing the change I knew my decision was so worth it! They deserve 100% of me when before I was probably functioning at 25%.

In 2006 I had my regular gynecologist appointment and everything was normal, by February of 2007 I had a mass in one of my ovaries the size of a golf ball. During surgery, the doctors determined everything had to be removed (total hysterectomy) and they also scraped endometriosis out of a large part of my intestine. I was 42 years old and I became a woman whose body produced “0” hormones. I was put on synthetic hormones and my life became miserable (symptoms wise) and a roller coaster of depression and out of control moods to the point that I couldn’t even deal with myself. It was the most strange anger even towards everyone I love and everything that had always made me happy. I couldn’t understand why I was feeling crazy and I couldn’t deal with those out-of-control emotions. Doctors prescribed different synthetic hormones with zero changes on anything I was experiencing. I couldn’t even sleep because of hot flashes and cold and anger and depression ALL AT THE SAME TIME! I couldn’t believe my normal self had changed so drastically at once and I had no control. Why I was so depressed I would just cry for hours and then suddenly I would be so angry I couldn’t even look out of my window in peace and enjoy the beautiful views I have.
My lovely husband was so patient and we researched everything until we read about compounded hormones. We read from how they work all the way to side effects. We couldn’t believe the big range of studies and opinions. One day he found a doctor for me to try compounded hormones and in 2008 I started with my first compound. It took some time to adjust the formula according to my symptoms and test results but I finally got my own self back! I didn’t feel like a crazy woman anymore. That was such a relief it really brings tears to my eyes when I think about it. I really thought I was going crazy. My compounded hormones saved my life, my marriage, and my sanity. I have used them all these years with very few changes to the formula because my test shows everything is balanced and I CAN FEEL IT.
I keep reading studies about compounding hormones. I disagree with doctors that tell me my bioidentical compound that is giving me what my body needs is going to give me cancer. I am replacing what my body needs with the closest way to natural hormones I can. From everything I read I could say that I am MORE afraid of the side effects of synthetic hormones than compounded hormones.
I am a woman that had a total hysterectomy and synthetic hormones don’t help me. Synthetic hormones don’t give me what my body really needs because my body produces no hormones in a wide range of the spectrum. COMPOUNDING HORMONES HELPS ME WITH EVERYTHING MY BODY IS MISSING. To be honest, I am actually extremely afraid of my emotional self if I couldn’t get my compounding hormones. PLEASE, don’t take them away from so many women that really need them.

My Doctor and I were concerned with a low blood count primarily. I tried solutions that did not work and or had undesirable side effects. In studying the situation myself I noted anecdotal references in the footnotes of a few medical studies of a possible relationship between low testosterone and low blood count.
In studying the use of cBHT testosterone I saw health warnings associated with it. The curious thing was that before it became popular in the US it was popular in European countries, and those health warnings were not at the forefront in Europe. In fact, the European health community emphasized the health benefits some of which contradicted the US health warnings.
As a result of my investigation, I decided to try it. I've been on it since April 2019.
My blood count did go up to acceptable levels. Added benefits were the end of erectile dysfunction and an increase in muscle mass. I have more energy. I am 66 years old, I work out 6 days a week and was losing muscle mass. Now, I have lost fat tissue and have gained muscle tissue. A major health problem in older people is falling. Being clearly stronger lessens my exposure to that danger as well.
There is no doubt I have benefited from this therapy with no side effects. Taking this therapy away would be detrimental to my health.

Thank you for the opportunity to express my viewpoint,

Robert

Bioidentical hormones changed my life. I went for lots of years with nothing helping me feel better. I have had mini-strokes so I can’t take regular hormones. These compounded hormones in cream and capsule are safe for me to take and I feel so much better.

Hello, my name is Pat and I can't imagine what my health would be without compound hormones. I am a very active, healthy 73-year-old woman. I exercise 5-7days a week and am in excellent shape.
Back in my menopause years, some 25 or so years ago, I was grateful to my bi-estrogen/progesterone creams to help me through the headaches, dryness, and the usual menopause bodily reactions. I am one to investigate claims and not take anything at face value. So in the 80's I read the research that the estrogen pills many women were taking were causing breast cancer. That is why I took compounded hormone therapy which did NOT include the third estrogen that caused cancer. They worked well and I did not put myself at risk.
Fast forward (too fast), I am now a very healthy, active 73 year old with high cholesterol and osteopenia. I am taking a statin for high cholesterol and Alendronate for my osteopenia, both having potentially serious side effects; I plan on getting off of them. My fabulous Health and Wellness physician has prescribed these compounded hormones so I can stop taking these other harmful medications. These hormone compounds will also improve my nerve health from any damage caused by COVID. I have written to my senators and congressman to fight this battle with us.
With heartfelt thanks for fighting this absurd endeavor to rob Americans of a healthy, safe choice from harmful pharmaceuticals.