I maintained my youthful look and get a lot of compliments about how young I looked when I told them my real age.

My Primary Care Doctor in San Francisco prescribed light dose of birth control pills when during menopause period but later she told me that could induce cancer so she did not prescribe that anymore.

Since I moved to Seattle in January 2012, a lot of MDs and NDs suggesting the anti-aging treatment is to draw your blood and and compounded pharmacy to produce the bio-identical Hormones cream and apply daily to your body after shower. I have been using it almost 10 years.

I do not suffer any after menopause symptoms and feel energetic by bring in healthy diet, exercise moderately almost every day, drinking a lot of water, and sleep at least eight hours per day. Of course applying bio-identical Hormones daily.

My physical examinations in the past 10 years has been very good and I do not suffer any side effect. Here is a picture of me having a Yoga pose.

Around ten years ago, I finally spoke to my obstetrics-gynecology Dr. about the hot flashes I experienced day and night. I kept a set of clothes at my work desk in case I soaked with perspiration what I was already wearing. Any type of embarrassment, no matter how small, would set off the flash. This Dr. prescribed low-dose Birth Control (BC) pills to help control it. Please note, I was no longer ovulating, simply just experiencing menopausal symptoms.
A co-worker told me about a naturopathic Dr. here in Salem. This naturopathic Dr. prescribed a topical creme to replace BC pills, with the same desired results and saving my liver the extra work of processing a pharmaceutical. Since then, the prescription has been changed a few times because my body has changed. Naturopathic Dr. determines how to regulate the hormones compounded in topical creme by way of my blood panels. Without this compound, I continue to have night sweats. With this compound, I feel much better in the morning, and my bedsheets are dry. Well worth the cost of medicine, I hope the FDA considers all testimonies, especially the positive ones, while accessing the need to restrict our access to bio-identical hormones.

Dear Congress,

I tried to avoid taking hormone therapy but after not being able to function properly at my job and in life in general, I decided to try hormone therapy and it was a game-changer for me. I was under the close supervision of my gynecologist as we worked to figure out the right dosage amounts of estrogen and progesterone. Because my body didn't react well to the amounts of progesterone available by the drug companies through the drug store pharmacy, I needed to have it compounded. I need to take LESS than what was available through the standard pharmacy /drug RX doses. So I am so grateful that having compounded hormones is an option even if it means I have to pay more money to have them compounded.

I agree there need to be strict regulations on compounding pharmacies as all are not as reputable as the one I use - The Compounding Pharmacy of Beverly Hills.

Thank you for your time, Lynne Bierut

A few years ago I had some blood work done and found out why I hadn't been feeling well. My female hormone production was almost non-existent and I was only 39. My doctor prescribed hormones through a regular pharmacy. After taking them for just 2 months, I had gained over 20 pounds. Not wanting to jeopardize my health with excessive weight gain, I asked my doctor for another option. That's when he suggested bio-identical hormones. Since taking them, my life has improved immensely! My moods are stable, I have a normal sex-drive again, I'm not depressed and I'm able to think more clearly. Rather than restricting access to these hormones, the FDA should consider promoting them for more women like me who struggle with depression, mood swings and no sex-drive. Thank you for allowing me to share my story.

Needed hormone therapy after having a complete hysterectomy. Could only get testosterone from a compound pharmacy which has helped with libido and irritability. Has made me a happier and healthier!!!

I have a long list of allergies which makes taking some medicines either a challenge or not possible. HRT has been difficult partly because of this. Being able to have hormones compounded at specific levels without peanut oil or dyes has been great. If Congress had more women this wouldn't even be a discussion.

I've been taking compounded hormones for at least 15 years. Not only have they stabilized my moods, but they've increased my energy levels and helped control my high cholesterol and blood sugar.

I began having problems with incontinence about 8 years ago when I was in my early 60's. My doctor prescribed a compounded vaginal cream, which was not as strong as the commercially available choices and could be tailored to the strength I needed. This has worked SO well for me! If it were not for the help from the hormones, I would need to wear diapers. I saw my mother go through this, and am SO grateful to be able to have this option.  Now, WHO do you think has a vested interest in making it more difficult to receive compounded hormones??

I have been taking compounded progesterone for 5 years along with getting the BioTe pellets every 4 months. 5 years ago, I had osteopenia in my back and both my hips as shown on a bone scan. % years later, my back is normal density and my hips have improved greatly in density. I am now 69 years old, a slender tall white woman whose mother has broken her hip, her pelvis and had 2 compression fractures in her back. I have participated in heavy weight lifting classes for 30 years now, but even that di not help my bones, only the hormone therapy helped me. If this goes away, I don't know how I will keep improving my bone density. Thank you, Sherry Carr

Before HRT since I went into menopause I slowly became someone I no longer recognized. I became extremely impatient, had serious depression (sleeping most of the day only up less than a third of a day) I was in pain. ( my bones, my vaginal area ) I was getting severely boneless to the point of breaking my back and my relationship was dying.
After HRT, I get up every morning I work outside my hone cone home cook dinner, and work from home. I care for my mother which I was being horrible before no patience now I’m calm and there for her. My relationship has improved tremendously.
The mood swings, the pain, and the depression I never want to experience again. My family sees the difference and hopes I never go off hrt. Please consider us women depending on living normal lives cause of these wonderful ways Drs can now help us. Don’t. Make us suffer and our families.

I am a distinguished professor at UNC School of Medicine and an MS patient. My disease began when I was only 20 and I suffered for many years until I discovered that my pregnant hormones and Vitamin D were severely deficient. Compounded hormone therapy has dramatically improved my health and allowed me to live a productive life, doing my research and teaching at UNC. In recent years, my group discovered that certain natural endogenous steroids have anti-inflammatory properties that target serious diseases of the brain caused by cytokines and chemokines. Our new work is leading to new treatments for long Covid, pain, depression, alcohol use disorders, and other inflammatory conditions. Natural steroids hold great promise in modern medicine and making them unavailable is akin to denying insulin to patients with diabetes. Stop special interests from usurping science to prop up pharmaceutical industry interests above service to humankind.

I was struggling to keep myself from all the swelling I was having. Right side of my face, then add left ankle, hands would become huge, the belly would swell to a mid-term pregnancy look... God knows what was going on internally! It all got much worse too, sometimes it was hard to work!
I'll note, I'm a healthy, active, in good shape, commercial photographer, always on the go, never a couch potato! I eat mostly whole & healthy food, NEVER fast food, and do most of my own cooking! I do have a sweet tooth, but don't overdo it, and don't deny it either!
It took YEARS!!! lots of stress, pain, and frustration, days when I couldn't get outta bed! FINALLY, a Dr. Kristen Price did bloodwork on me that showed high markers in the reaction/defense zone, not just allergy testing, which lead to a Tryptase test which was off the charts...
I've been married to a man with Aspergers and the stress level of that, add a few environmental reactions, and 'BAM' I wasn't doing well. She suggested a compounded drug call Ketotifen and my body started, and has since gotten much better on the swelling front! Every now & then I test the waters of not taking the Ketotifen... and it's NOT GOOD!!! I am ever grateful I found Dr. Price and she prescribed Ketotifen... It's the only thing that ever worked, and trusts me, among several docs that had no clue what to even look for... Tried a whole bunch of meds, teas, needles, and such, that DID NOT work.
I finally am living my normal life with only extreme situations bringing on any major flare-ups! And that only happens now a couple of times a year instead of weekly or daily!!!

Signed Doreen Wynja

As I was approaching menopause I became more and more emotional and was having trouble functioning at work. I heard about compounded hormones and I found a provider and the hormones I was supplied with by a compounding pharmacy saved my sanity and my job by balancing my hormones. I also had other hormonal issues regarding female problems which traditional doctors didn’t want to address except with surgery. I finally convinced one doctor to allow me to add progesterone to my compounded hormones to see if my problem would resolve and it did , thus sparing me a surgery and thousands of dollars in medical bills.

Compounded medication solved the problem with severe side effects plus compounded medication fixed the problems with hormone levels. I have had severe reactions taking regular pharma drugs. it doesnt matter which brand i use it has the same severe side effects. my doctor wrote our a prescription for a compounded hormones and it worked for me for many years, but the company furnishing the product merge with another company, and I can no longer get the medication. I cannot take the regular pharma meds because of the severe side effects, so I quit taking it.

My physician wanted me to receive the smallest dose of hormone therapy that would alleviate dryness during intercourse. That meant vaginal treatments as opposed to drugs ingested. She felt hormone pills would be more harmful to my health overall, because of the greater chances of cancer. But when I switched to Medicare, the topical treatments, while safer, were not available through my prescription drug plan. At that point she recommended a pharmacy which compounded what I need. This has been a very satisfactory solution. While I have to pay for it myself, it is worth it to maintain a healthy sex life with my husband, with all the benefits that entails. I would be very concerned to have to switch to ingested hormones, or drop the therapy completely. Please don't allow that to happen. Thank you.

Before compounded hormones were prescribed for me by my gynecologist as I was going through menopause. I was feeling less and less myself, and consequently less functional. I was depressed and wondering what I could do to feel better? The bio-identical hormones helped literally immediately. I was so grateful that I had such a helpful gynecologist, and a compounding pharmacy nearby. I am still on them years later in a very small amount daily, and rely on them for my well being. Since I use a very small amount, I found I could use an over the counter brand later that worked about as well and saved me a lot of money. As insurance doesn't cover compounded bio-identical hormones , I found out, and they were expensive. But sometimes things like that are necessary, and in this case they absolutely were. These are hormones that should stay available for the women who need them, both compounded and over the counter. This shouldn't even be questioned. Some women are lucky and breeze through that time of life, and some aren't. The ones that aren't that lucky really NEED those hormones. There is no reason to take them away. Please stop with this issue, this isn't the first time I've heard of this coming up. And there are so many other things that are truly important and needed, that Congress could be addressing right now. The decision whether or not to use bio-identical hormones should be left up to the women who make that choice. They need to stay available so that women have that choice, as they are the only ones affected by it. Thank you.

Compounded hormone therapy has given me my life back. I had hot flashes for 15 years -- I repeat 15 years -- and nothing would make them stop until I started on compounded hormone therapy. Now I have no hot flashes.

These laws and restrictions are made by men who don't have to go through this. They shouldn't be allowed to decide this issue.

If there truly are more women in the population than men, they really should rethink their position.

I have been taking BHT for years. Prior to BHT, I was having hot flashes every 20 minutes (this is NOT an exaggeration). The doctor I go to is continually reading the most current literature and keeps well informed on the various treatments available to women and men. I have had NO side effects - only relief!!! Please do not take away this valuable therapy from millions of women who suffer from hot flashes, brain fog, etc.

I’ve have no menstrual cycle for 10 years. It just stopped one day. No conventional doctor has been able to help me. All they’ve wanted to do was put me on birth control and synthetic HRT. As I got older and more concerned about the mental and physical risks of low hormone production, I tried synthetic hrt. It was an awful experience. It was worse than the side effects of having no hormones to be honest, Fast forward to 2019, after a particularly stressful two years. My hormones tanked. I was suffering with intense fatigue, weight gain, brain fog, no libido, bad sleep, constipation, dry skin and nails, and on. I later found my way to BHRT and a practitioner who prescribed them. I promptly felt better and I continue to feel better. I’m sleeping better. I have more energy. I lost the weight. I’m clearer headed. My sex drive is improving. BHRT has helped so, so many people including me. The data is there to prove it. There is no refuting it. The claims that BHRT is dangerous are wrong and unfounded and frankly driven by the mutual interests of the major healthcare industry players. Doing away with BHRT is all about money and power and it’s infuriating.