When my doctor was unable to fill my bio identical hormone therapy, she was left no choice but to put me on synthetic as a stop gap while she determined a better course of action. Within weeks, my health began to deteriorate. From body pain, extreme fatigue, weight gain, depression, listlessness and anxiety- the vitality that I experience on bioidentical therapy slipped away. I am grateful for compounding pharmacies to be fighting this very important fight. Thank you.

I began experiencing loss of libido and sexual sensation when I was 48 years old, long before I began menopause. It was very upsetting and difficult for my marriage. I had thought I might lose interest in sex in my 70’s but not in my 40’s!

I sought help from multiple doctors. Finally, I found a doctor who diagnosed my problem as a low testosterone level. She prescribed a testosterone troche (lozenge) from a compounding pharmacy. We adjusted the level of testosterone several times until I found a dose that worked. It restored my interest in sex and my ability to enjoy it again. It has been wonderful!

I understand that the FDA is reviewing a report from the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine on the clinical utility of compounded Bioidentical Hormone. The troche that I use is created by my compounding pharmacy specifically for me. There are no pre-made medications like it. When my first doctor retired, I began seeing a new one. She asked me to try a pre-made testosterone cream. It did not work for me, and I went back to using the troches. If that medication is no longer available, I will return to a life without the joy of sex – something no one should have to give up for many years.

I encourage the FDA to allow doctors to continue to prescribe compounded BH’s for their patients.

Sincerely,
Julie Reis

Ever since I started using bio identical hormones I finally feel normal again. I tried many other medications but nothing worked until I found compounded bio identical hormones. Fast forward 15 years and I’m in menopause, bio Identical hormones have save my life, my marriage, and my relationship with my children.

After months of trying to relieve my menopause symptoms, my doctor recommended a bioidentical hormone cream and that led to being balanced and symptom free. I know that the treatment works, because the few times that I have run out and skipped doses, the symptoms return! One less thing to stress about in my life.

Hello,

After a rocky perimenopause and an even worst first year of menopause, I was prescribed compounded bio-identical hormone cream (E2/Progest Lipoderm 1/200mg/ml cream, 0.5 ml topically before bedtime). It very quickly made a huge difference: my sleep improved, my skin regained its moisture and thickness, my hot flashes went away, and my mood vastly improved. I overall felt much better and intend to continue taking it for the foreseeable.

In addition, I was not a candidate for pharmaceutical synthetic oral hormone replacement therapies, as my mother had a stroke after being prescribed Premarin. So the idea that I could just switch to a regular synthetic hormone pill, no, that I cannot.

Please do whatever is necessary for patients like me to continue this compounded cream therapy that is working so well for us.

Thank you for your time and attention,

Susan Blatt

My body cannot process synthetic hormones but I was born with low amounts of certain hormones. If I do not supplement them, I am miserable, depressed and become very unstable. My family suffers, my ability to do anything does too. The imbalance in hormones also caused me to have a lifetime of serious reproductive issues (pros, endometriosis, bleeding disorder). I have been taking them fir about 10 years, 4 years prior to my complete hysterectomy (age 36) & for the past 6 years since the surgery. A hysterectomy at 36 REQUIRES HRT afterwards, but I can’t handle synthetic hormones & have proved it with several drs. I NEED THIS! Don’t take away the only medication that has ever worked!

Where do I start, absolutely could not function, couldn't sleep, couldn't regulate my body temperature, went to my primary, couldn't help me....found BNT therapy and with in 2 weeks was feeling better, after a full month was back to myself, sleeping all night long, felt like I was 30 again.....could NOT imagine life without my hormones, NEVER had one side effect, just felt normal again!.....any questions please feel free to contact me.....

After a hysterectomy at age 47 I began with estrogen patches then switched to oral estrogen for the next 17 years, reducing the dose over time. I found that I couldn't go below .5 mg because I developed uncomfortable bladder symptoms - irritation with feeling I had to urinate constantly. Higher oral dose had negative side effects - sore breasts and frequent ocular migraines. I supplemented .5 mg oral dose with Vagifem vaginal tablets for the bladder symptoms. Those tablets became quite expensive over time as my health insurance considered them to be in their most expensive category. I decided to stop oral estrogen at age 65 and considered my options for vaginal cream estrogen. I was lucky to have a female gynecologist (in Arizona at that time) who suggested I try a compounding pharmacy for the cream as it was 1/3 the cost of prescription estrogen, Estrace vaginal cream. She gave me a prescription that I then continued when I moved to South Dakota. Each prescription would last from 3-5 months. As so often happens, Fed regulation came in to attempt to further regulate estrogen and no longer allowed a prescriptive dose to last longer than a month with a substantial price increase. Insurance plans by the way do not cover compounded medications, even when prescribed by my doctor, so all of the vaginal cream has been an out-of-pocket expense. My South Dakota compounding pharmacy said that I could switch from estradiol cream to an estriol cream which is a weak form of estrogen and many women find equal symptom alleviation. I opted to try that - over a year ago now - and have been very pleasantly surprised that I have the same vaginal tissue and bladder symptom relief as I did with estradiol cream.

As I said in my short statement, "my quality of life has been greatly improved" using first vaginal estradiol then estriol cream. Since stopping oral estrogen all of my breast pain and ocular migraines have disappeared. I've been on vaginal cream for the past 6 years with high satisfaction. The cost of the compounded medication is very affordable which is an added bonus.

I have been using BHT for about 5 years. Before that, my vagina was dry and intercourse was painful. I didn't want to use regular hormones because of the health risks, and I didn't want to just address the symptoms with lube. I talked to my doctor and she suggested BHT. It has worked extremely well. I would hate to have to rely on less natural methods.

I had a complete hysterectomy at age 34 and was unable to use synthetic HRT. My hormone levels were never sustainable on them. With Bio HRT my levels are consistently tested and my dosage is adjusted so I can feel normal and healthy. No hot flashes, hair loss, itchy, dry skin. Please don’t take away this beneficial, life giving therapy!

Only bioidentical compounded hormones keep me healthy and happy. My body doesn’t respond to patches, the pill, or other forms of HRT. My endocrine, who started me on bio-identical, said my labs looked like a very old sick woman before C-HRT.

My name is Karen and I have been using compounded progesterone cream and tablets for about 5 years now. When I stopped having periods in July 2014 I was 58 years old, far past the age when many women I know entered their journey through menopause. Almost immediately I started having hot flashes that would drench me in sweat and discomfort several times every day. My left breast also developed a cyst that grew so large it would need to be drained by a surgeon. He removed 30cc of fluid from my relatively small breast, but the cyst soon filled up again. In November of that year I had surgery to remove three cysts from that breast and estrogen positive LCIS was also discovered. Due to reoccurring problems with both breasts I eventually had a bilateral mastectomy in December 2015.
During the course of problems with my breasts the hot flashes continued. I was a teacher at that time and it was very difficult to stand in front of my classes of fifth graders, not knowing when I was going to have a hot flash. They were terrible! My face would be bright red and my sweat would soak my clothing. Due to the estrogen positive LCIS I could not use estrogen supplements; my family physician referred me to a physicist who recommended compounded progesterone cream, along with other supplements and compounded magnesium. Over these past few years we have tweaked the strength of the cream and added progesterone capsules and these compounded hormones have made a huge difference in my life.
Indu, the compounding pharmacist I use is a trusted professional. Her advice and her compounds have helped me tremendously and I am truly grateful for this help. Until I began experiencing the hot flashes, insomnia, and other symptoms of my experience with menopause, I did not know how negatively it would affect my life. Thanks to the help I receive from my compounded progesterone products these negative effects are now manageable, improving my quality of life by helping to balance my hormones. I’m certain that without these products my life would become more difficult once again. I am asking that you carefully consider my story, and the stories of others whose lives are greatly improved through the use of compounded hormones.
There are many safe, knowledgeable, professional compounding pharmacists who we can turn to for prescriptions that help us find more balance, more health, more vitality in our lives. Please continue to allow these pharmacists to do their job, helping people regain and retain a healthier, happier life. Compounded hormones are an essential part of our lives, and are often the only option that works for so many of us.
Thank you for reading my story, and for preserving my access to this therapy that makes all the difference in my life.

Compounding has changed my life. I have been taking compounding cream for five years now. After my second child my hormones became a great source of trouble for my body. Anxiety, horrible periods, disrupted sleep and mental fog ruled my weeks and days. Once I began taking hormone replacement therapy I got my life back. I can concentrate, enjoy life, no more massive mood swings, consistent (healthy) periods, deep resting sleep and no more brain fog. Please continue to allow the use of compounded hormones, I want to continue to live my best life.

I started experiencing gritty feeling dry eyes in the late 1980’s. My ophthalmologist said I was starting to develop sores on my eyes from the friction, and he prescribed allergy eyedrops. The gritty, dry feeling continued to get worse over time causing my eyedrop usage to increase from multiple times a day to multiple times an hour. My ophthalmologist then prescribed eyedrops for dry eyes. Those drops did not provide any additional relief.

By the late 1990s I would have to flood my eyes with water in the morning to allow me to open them.

I found reading and doing computer work very difficult. I was constantly squinting, rubbing my eyes, and using eyedrops. It very negatively impacted my quality of life, made working difficult, and day-to-day activities miserable.

By 2004, I was using eyedrops every 15 minutes and would get up multiple times during the night due to the intense burning sensation in my eyes. My eyes were so dry that my eyelids were sticking to my eyeballs. I had to flood my eyes with water so I could open them enough to get eyedrops in. I would do this three or four times a night because the burning would wake me up.

I was finally able to get into the Duke Eye Clinic in early 2005. I worked with their dry eye specialist, Dr. William Rafferty, the head of the center. We started with traditional treatments; Restasis, eye gels and Tear duct plugs. None of those treatments provided any relief.

At that time he was doing work with a few other ophthalmologist researching dry eye and possible treatments utilizing hormone therapy. He did a complete hormone study on me, and determined my testosterone levels were very low and out of proportion to my other hormones. He prescribed a 1 mg/1ML testosterone cream to be applied topically on my body (not in my eyes) at a rate of 1/2ml per day.

Within three days of starting this treatment my eyedrop usage dropped to twice a day. I no longer had to flood my eyes to open them in the morning. The feeling of grittiness was gone.

I have been using this testosterone cream for 17 years and it is as effective today as it was in 2005. For me, this was a miracle treatment. My quality of life improved exponentially, since I was no longer miserable putting up with burning, gritty eyes and getting up multiple times a night to use drops.

I have no idea what I would do if I could no longer get my testosterone compound. I am sure I would develop ulcers on my eyes and lose my vision.

This is a game changer. I need this to be available to whoever seeks this treatment. I don't want to go back to where I was physically before starting therapy

I am a 67 year old woman, mother of 9 grandmother of 29. My life just wouldn’t be the same and I wouldn’t be able to function without my compounded products! I have tried you FDA approved prescriptions! They don’t work for me! And they are made with products I don’t really want in my body!
You are taking away my free rights if you shut down these pharmacies! Please please, do not do this!

I have been using compounded HRT for several years after using conventional pharmacy HRT. None of the bad side effects from compounded HRT that I experienced with pharmacy HRT, like weight gain, nausea, headaches, and mood swings.

I struggled for years trying to find some relief from menopause symptoms I was suffering from after I had my first baby at 43. I was finally prescribed compounded hormones that worked and helped me. Please do not do away with the ability to access compounded medication.

I have been doing compound therapy for the last year and it has helped tremendously with my hot flashes which nothing over the counter has been ever worked & without taking certain medications that could possibly cause cancer in the future. Please do not take these away from us!!!! I cannot sleep or live without these so long as I am in menopause!!

I appreciate you taking our successes & not making any changes.

Thank you!!