Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) for Women

Annalisa Eschmann

Confused about dryer sheets
Joined
Jan 19, 2025
Messages
2
Location
Fayetteville
I live in Fayetteville TN. There is no help here for Hormone therapy. I am suffering a great deal with menopause. I was on Veozah which helped all my symptoms. Through insurance It no longer covered my cost. I take a product called Hott Mama over the counter ( 2 weeks in). There is no relief. I am on estradiol cream and that is it. I have hot flashes, night sweats, my nerves are shot, I used to be patient. I am not the same and want to feel normal again. I heard the Huntsville area is where to go or Doctor's in Nashville or the virtual way. Small Town physician's are afraid to try the new way of medicine when it comes to hormones. Can anyone help me?
 
Whoa...any reason they won't prescribe estradiol and micronized progesterone? Those are very far from being a "new way of medicine," and the estradiol works great. 1 mg, don't let them give you the 0.5 mg pills.

I take 1 mg estradiol and 100 mg micronized progesterone each day. I pay $16.13 for 90 estradiol pills and $28.43 for 90 micronized progesterone capsules. The need for the progesterone is arguable; it's intended to reduce uterine-cancer risk.

I tried to tough it out at first, but then I read that the average duration of hot flashes is 7 years! It's 10 years for Black women!

And that stupid study (Women's Health Initiative, or WHI) that scared so many women and their doctors about traditional HRT should not have scared off any women who actually need it. Maybe not even any women at all.
 
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Did you stop HRT because your insurance won't cover it or because your PCP will not longer prescribe it? I am not clear from your post.
It is unusual for a medical provider to not RX HRT for menopausal women if they request it.
Are you using the max amount of the estradiol cream or can your dr up the dose?
If your dr will not prescribe, I would call your insurance to ask for a new GYN.
 
I live in Fayetteville TN. There is no help here for Hormone therapy. I am suffering a great deal with menopause. I was on Veozah which helped all my symptoms. Through insurance It no longer covered my cost.
I looked up Veozah and it’s an expensive drug for sure. The site I looked at had the following recommendations to reduce the cost:
  • Check if your insurance plan covers Veozah
  • Use a manufacturer discount card
  • Check if you qualify for a patient assistance program
  • Use a pharmacy coupon
I’m on a very expensive drug and can tell you that the above steps are a good start. First, appeal to your insurance plan. My drug had to be authorized and with some help from your doctor, it’s possible that you can get it approved. Second, using a manufacturer discount card or patient assistance is another good step. When I was on commercial insurance, the manufacturer gave me a discount card and that eliminated my co-pay (they’re not allowed to offer that for Medicare patients, only commercial insurance). When I moved to Medicare, I went on patient assistance for one month last year because based on my income and the very high Medicare out of pocket amount, I qualified. On patient assistance, they gave me the prescription. Now that the Medicare out of pocket is “only” $2K, I don’t qualify for patient assistance. Hence, I paid the $2K max out of pocket and will have no further co-pays for my meds this year. As for the pharmacy coupon (like GoodRx), they would help, if available, but likely it will still be very expensive going that route.

I assume you’re on a commercial plan (not Medicare Part D). Try the appeal process and if you get the approval, combine that with the manufacturer assistance.
 
Link to a helpful overview of the history of HRT:


Unless I'm missing something, there is no need to use expensive new drugs, with all the unknowns they bring to the table. Pay more and be a guinea pig, or pay a lot less to get drugs that have been successfully used by millions of women, with an overall minor effect on their general health outside of the symptom relief.
 
As I recall when DW was on HRT, it was cheap and effective. She and her Dr. were aware of the literature suggesting cancer risks. The relief was worth the risk. She eventually went off the drugs and transitioned almost instantly without many side effects.

I hope you find what you are looking for. DW suffered greatly until she found HRT with her Dr. Blessings.
 
Have you tried Estradiol 1mg? I was on it the moment my ovaries were removed, although I really did not need it for menopausal symptoms. I went on it for protection of the brain. I have since dropped to .5mg.

$0 copay.
 
I live in Fayetteville TN. There is no help here for Hormone therapy. I am suffering a great deal with menopause. I was on Veozah which helped all my symptoms. Through insurance It no longer covered my cost. I take a product called Hott Mama over the counter ( 2 weeks in). There is no relief. I am on estradiol cream and that is it. I have hot flashes, night sweats, my nerves are shot, I used to be patient. I am not the same and want to feel normal again. I heard the Huntsville area is where to go or Doctor's in Nashville or the virtual way. Small Town physician's are afraid to try the new way of medicine when it comes to hormones. Can anyone help me?
I would look to online providers for HRT if you don't want to keep going to different doctors trying to find one that will prescribe what you want. Try looking through the Menopause subreddit on Reddit for others experiences with different online providers. I've seen many posts about this and I think you'll find good information there.

My gyn wouldn't prescribe HRT (just kept saying that this is part of life and eventually I would be out of it). So I asked friends going through the same thing if they had a doctor who would prescribe HRT. That's how I found my current gyn who is much better versed in menopause treatment, took my symptoms seriously, and got me to a much better place. HRT has been life changing for me in all the best ways.
 

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