What are the benefits of transdermal bioidentical hormone replacement therapy?
Let’s talk about it.
While bioidentical hormone replacement therapy can be delivered orally, sublingually, or via pellet, I use more transdermal hormones in my patients than any other delivery mechanism.
I prefer transdermal hormones because they’re easy to use. My patient can apply them herself and isn’t dependent upon me. I like to teach my patients how to use a little more or a little less according to their symptoms. Transdermal hormones are very adjustable. With guidance, you’re able to use more when you need more, and less when you need less.
Take a Break from Transdermal Bioidentical Hormone Replacement Therapy
Unlike pellets, you’re able to take a break from hormones once a month. I recommend that my menopausal patients take a break from estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone three days out of every calendar month.
The reason I do that is because it takes 72 hours to clear your receptor sites of the hormones, so that on the fourth day, when you restart your hormones, it’s fresh again. Otherwise, after about nine to ten months, you will become desensitized to hormone replacement therapy. It’s not going to feel the same anymore. That’s because your hypothalamus thinks you’ve been pregnant this whole time since you haven’t taken breaks like a period to actually clear your receptor sites.
Not all women tolerate stopping their hormones for three days.
It matters how much reserve hormones you have in your fat cells to carry you through the break. But taking a break does help to make the hormones feel fresh in your body, so that you don’t have to keep using more and more hormones to control your symptoms.
Transdermal hormones can be compounded into creams, gels, and lotions.
If the cream, gel, or lotion is a water or alcohol base, it is not going to deliver the hormone as effectively through the skin and into the subcutaneous tissue. A true transdermal delivers hormones all the way through the skin and into the subcutaneous fat to be absorbed into the bloodstream. Steroid hormones are best delivered in a liposomal, or fat-based, carrier.
Most compounding pharmacies are not proficient at making liposomal bases. Because of this, we get very different results with transdermal hormone replacement therapy. It’s why a lot of healthcare providers won’t prescribe BHRT, because they don’t get effective results with it. They’re using the wrong base.
Liposomal bases are more expensive to make, but they deliver the hormones more effectively. With alcohol bases, the hormone doses have to be much higher. You need to use a lot more cream to get adequate absorption. Studies show that these alcohol-based creams just sit in your skin, and often do not even reach your subcutaneous fat, which means not all the hormone is getting into your bloodstream.
Gen-Pro™
That’s why my compounding pharmacist and I started manufacturing our best liposomal-based transdermal progesterone – Gen-Pro™ – so more women could benefit from its high absorption and great efficacy.
Transdermal patches are FDA-approved to deliver hormones, yet they only deliver estradiol, not bioidentical progesterone. The combo patch contains progestin, not progesterone. Some women love the convenience of patches. I found that the patch did not stick properly and was constantly falling off, leaving a circular irritation on my skin. I personally use liposomal BHRT.
If you have any questions regarding types of hormone replacement therapy, check out my Menopause Action Plan™ book!
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