(WHAS11) - Velma Givan and Diane Ormerod say they had some classic symptoms of menopause.
Velma says her symptoms began while she was in her early forties with the feeling that she wanted to hibernate. Velma says the hot flashes were overwhelming.
"It's just like some body's putting you in an oven," she told me.
"I would change maybe twice in the night. It would get so bad."
Diane says she suffered from insomnia.
"This feeling would come over me and it would be from the inside out. It's like you want to take your skin off," she says.
But Velma and Diane have put those menopause moments behind them. They even laugh about it all now.
Velma and Diane say they found relief for the maddening symptoms of menopause in powders, pills and creams mixed at the Louisville Pharmacy.
It's a compounding pharmacy where hormones are mixed to match exactly what a woman needs. They're called bioidentical hormones.
Judy Minogue is a registered pharmacist who works with menopausal women in their quest to find relief from the hot flashes and insomnia. She says, "The chemical structure is the same chemical structure as what's in our body. (It's what) our body is producing."
Or not producing as the case may be with menopausal women.
A saliva test at Louisville Pharmacy or a blood test at your doctor's office is used to determine what needs to be replaced.
Bio-identical hormones are the latest and most talked about way to manage menopause. But there are a few misconceptions that have managed to mingle in with the facts about bioidenticals. Those misconceptions are that bioidenticals are natural and safer than the pharmaceutical type.
"It's natural to your body but it’s still a chemical. a lot of people get confused when you talk about natural. We try to stay away from the word natural," says Minogue.
Doctor Nancy Newman, a Louisville OBGYN who prescribes both pharmaceutical hormones and those compounded in a pharmacy says, "I think the misconception is that bioidentical is natural and natural is safe and we just don't have any data to show that right now.
In fact, you'll find respected medical authorities that refuse to recommend bio-identical hormones. They are not FDA approved.
According to Minogue, "Compounded hormones don't have to go through the same FDA approval process but they're actually compounded from the very same active ingredient that you manufactured hormones are manufactured from."
Some women, like Velma and Diane say bioidenticals beat the pharmaceuticals.
In fact, Velma says, "I was really totally amazed at the difference."
Minogue says the difference comes because bio-identicals are tailor made.
She says, "They were getting part of what they needed but didn't get everything. They weren't balanced."
Minogue says the results of the saliva and blood tests pinpoint what the individual woman needs. She says, "We're going to look at their estrogen, progesterone, testosterone and other parts of the endocrine system because thyroid plays a huge part."
All four of the women I interviewed for this report say hormone replacement can play a role in managing menopause.
Dr. Newman says, "The recommendation is to use the smallest amount of hormones that's necessary for the shortest period of time."
"If there's something they can do, yeah I think they should do it," says Minogue.
Diane and Velma agree. Diane says, "As long as I took them on a regular basis I never had a hot flash."
" I was really quite amazed that I was back to normal," says Velma.
Keep in mind, for bioidentical hormones you may have to pay upfront. Many compounding pharmacies are not in the insurance network.
Dr. Newman, who does recommend bioidentical and pharmaceutical hormones has this advice. She says research the compounding pharmacy you go to.
They're regulated by the state they're in. You'll find links with this article that will tell you more about the pharmacies and the hormones.
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