FAQ

Dr. Dach, the author of Bioidentical Hormones 101, has written a great piece entitled “7 Bioidentical Hormone Myths.” You can find a link to his book on our Reading & Resources page.

Start by educating yourself. There is a wealth of information on this website. Then, when you are ready, call us at 513-444-6343 or email [email protected] for more information or to ask a question.

Hormone levels need to be measured; Cortisol, Adrenal glands and the Thyroid if indicated. Required tests are determined during a consultation.

You can get a test kit on this website or by visiting one of The Happy Hormone Cottage locations. You can also purchase a testing kit on our online store if you are a current client and you are retesting.

You do the test yourself at home. Then you mail the testing kit to PAL in the envelope provided.

Testing typically costs $399 depending on tests required. We do provide the 2 insurance forms that the client can submit to their insurance company for reimbursement. The reimbursement has been high because urine testing is an accepted means of checking hormone levels in standard of care.

You can go to our online store and order the supplement, Saw Palmetto  – https://happyhormonecottage.com/product/saw-palmetto-berries/

 – https://happyhormonecottage.com/product/saw-palmetto-berries/

This supplement helps stop the conversion of testosterone to dht, which is promoting your hair loss. Stop this conversion and stop the hair loss. Hair should regrow over time. Discontinuing pellets would be an option to consider if you are experiencing this hair loss. See our pellet page for much more detailed information.

Please read our blog about pellets here: https://happyhormonecottage.com/recreate-hormone-pellets/

We recommend checking hormone levels annually with our urine strip testing kit. We don’t like using blood serum because the hormones have already been depleted by the heart, so the readings are low and the ranges are broad, so most women’s hormone levels show to be within the “normal” range. We don’t find this valid or practical. Just another reason to question current standard of care in our country.

We now have our own nurse practitioners who are bhrt experts. We strongly encourage our local clients to see them. You can keep your current ob gyn for your gyn needs and see our NP, Dr Kathy Nelson for your personalized bhrt needs.For clients living outside our geographic area, a phone consultation can be scheduled for your step one consultation ($25) and a trip in to see one of our nurse practitioners is strongly advised. Women are coming in from all over the country to see us because they can find no one else who does what we do in this field of optimal hormone balance.

Natural hormone replacement therapy is a process, so it depends on the individual. Some people experience a quicker effect than others, but the general timeframe tends to be anywhere from 3 weeks to 3-6 months. The beauty of customized hormone replacement therapy is that it is totally individualized, so it does depend on the individual. 

Yes, we can help you. Call for your consultation. You will need to do our urine strip testing so we can see how your body is methylating and metabolizing your hormones. Then we can customize a treatment strategy specifically for you. You will see our nurse practitioner, Dr Kathy Nelson.

Compounded natural hormones are better because they are made specifically for you. That is why the testing is so important. BHRT, or manufactured natural hormones, are ”one size fits most”.

How long do you want to live a life full of joy and energy?!

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Our Happy Hormone Cottage is a women helping women facility that educates and empowers women to take charge of their journey to hormone balance…….journey to hormone balance in 3 key areas: sex hormones, adrenal glands and thyroid. We believe education is key and gives the women confidence to dialogue with their doctor and educate them on the benefits of customized bhrt. Women know their own bodies better than anyone, so we validate their journey, and provide the necessary educational piece for them to pursue our more natural hormone balance approach. We have a great website and mobile app at happyhormonecottage.com with lots of readings and resources, a great blog and educational videos to positively impact women’s journeys. Consultations are by appointment. Our passion is helping women achieve their best health naturally.

HRT stands for Hormone Replacement Therapy and this is an umbrella term for everything from synthetic drugs masking as hormones (premarin-synthetic conjugated estrogens made from pregnant mare’s urine; provera-synthetic progestin; prempro-combination premarin and provera) to BHRT (bio-identical hormone replacement therapy) that includes what is manufactured by drug companies (the estrogen patch like Vivelle Dot to estrogen spray and estrogen gels and prometrium-a progesterone capsule that comes in 2 strengths) to what we do at our Happy Hormone Cottage, which is to create customized compounded bhrt for each individual woman after checking her existing hormone levels. By the way, bio-identical means that the hormones are created to mimic the hormones made in the body.
Who HRT is for depends on the view of the prescribing doctor. Current medical practice prescribes HRT typically for women with menopause type symptoms like hot flashes. WE at the HHC believe in directing customized bhrt as a means of restoring hormone balance for women typically over the age of 35, but sometimes younger. What WE know is the our hormones deplete with age (this is called the aging process) so we check existing hormone levels and then customize hormone therapy to fix the cause of the hormone imbalance, that is causing the symptoms. We believe in refilling our hormone receptors for life.

At the Happy Hormone Cottage, we bring hormone levels back to normal physiological levels through physiological dosing, by customizing hormone therapy for the individual.
So in our view, no one is exempt from customized BHRT. (we never ever recommend synthetic hrt) The difference between drug company BHRT (like the estrogen patch etc) and customized BHRT that is made for the individual based on her specific existing hormone levels is that drug company BHRT is one-size-fits-most and therapy can’t be adjusted to meet the needs of the individual.
This is in contrast to current standard of care that is resistant to using estrogen therapy because of the WHI study which linked synthetic estrogen and progestin to negative outcomes.
Since we at the HHC don’t use synthetic estrogens or progestin, we don’t share this concern.
When dealing with estrogen, it is the physiological dosing that is important, as it performs over 300 functions in the body. It also protects against cardiovascular risk, osteoporosis, and positively impacts brain health. The dangers of estrogens lie in the overuse of estrogen alone, without the balancing effects of progesterone, and ignoring the proper metabolism of estrogen from the body.

As long as we are talking about BHRT, and preferably BHRT that is customized for each individual woman AFTER checking her existing hormone levels and providing a balanced approach with physiological dosing, and using progesterone, estrogen and testosterone if needed, the benefits are far reaching. Hormone balance is the first step to over-all wellness in our minds. This is a life long approach that treats the body holistically (as a whole) and then allows us to look at other strategies like weight loss and proper nutrition.

If we are discussing what WE do at our HHC, which is customized BHRT for each individual, we don’t believe there are risks because we are replacing depleted hormone levels to physiological levels through customized dosing for that individual, to promote overall health and wellness.
If you are wanting to know about the risks of synthetic HRT, you can read the Women’s Health Initiative (WHI) for more information.

What we know is that progesterone levels begin to deplete around the age of 35 for most women. This is part of the aging process, and this depletion of our hormone levels causes hormone imbalance. Once we have less progesterone than estrogen, we are estrogen dominant and it is this estrogen dominance that causes the typical weight gain around our mid sections, brain fog, and increased risk of breast cancer. So our first line of defense for a hormone imbalance is progesterone that is customized for each individual woman, based on her existing hormone levels and dosed physiologically for her. We then add estrogen and testosterone as needed, based on checking hormone levels annually. This is a life long strategy as our first step to wellness.