Bioidentical Hormone Replacement Therapy 

What is Bioidentical Hormone Replacement Therapy (BHRT)?

Hormones are chemicals made by your endocrine glands that deliver information to different parts of your body, telling those parts how and when to work. Because hormones affect many important systems and are responsible for various functions in your body, even a slight imbalance can cause symptoms like weight gain, low energy and low libido. Hormone replacement therapy is one method used to treat these symptoms.

Benefits for both women and men

The most commonly used bioidentical hormones are  estrogen, progesterone and testosterone.

For menopausal women, BHRT is used to replace the estrogen and progesterone that the body no longer produces. For women, BHRT can increase libido, reduce vaginal dryness, restore energy and improve sleep.

For men, BHRT restores testosterone to increase energy, decreased body fat, improve cognitive function and memory, increased libido, and increase in muscle strength are benefits of bioidentical hormone therapy for men.

For both genders, effective bioidentical hormone replacement therapy also provides protection against diseases like heart disease, breast cancer and osteoporosis.

Therapy comes in several forms, including pills, creams, gels, and patches.

Not all bioidentical hormones are created equally

Bioidentical hormone replacement therapy (BHRT) is a cutting-edge technique that uses natural hormones that are identical to those produced by your body organically. However, there are different types of bioidentical hormones. There are commercially available hormone products approved by the FDA, such as micronized progesterone, estradiol, and dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA), as well as compounded preparations. Then there are compounded hormones.

Not all Compounded bioidentical hormones are not FDA-approved. They are not tested for safety or effectiveness despite being advertised as a safer, more effective alternative to conventional hormone therapy. Although custom hormone combinations often include blends of the same ingredients found in FDA-approved bioidentical hormones, some include additional hormones that have not had adequate testing and are not FDA-approved. These hormones combinations also lack consistency in the specific amounts of each ingredient so there is no way to measure how much a client will receive of each component.

Don’t believe the marketing hype

Many compounding pharmacies use the phrase “bioidentical hormone” as a marketing term to imply that these preparations are natural and, thus, safer and more effective than U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)–approved menopausal medications that use bioidentical or synthetic hormones or both. However, evidence to support these claims of safety and effectiveness is lacking. (Source: https://www.acog.org/clinical/clinical-guidance/clinical-consensus/articles/2023/11/compounded-bioidentical-menopausal-hormone-therapy)

Trust the BHRT expert at Balanced Weight Loss & Wellness

At Balanced Weight Loss & Wellness, Kelly Cudd, FNP has specialized training and is certified in Bioidentical Hormone Replacement Therapy. She tailors your treatment to your specific needs by doing a thorough exam and lab work. She uses only compounding pharmacies that do third party testing. This ensures you receive the correct dosage and superior quality formulas that are more bioavailable.

Thyroid Optimization 

In functional and integrative medicine, thyroid optimization goes far beyond simply checking TSH and prescribing levothyroxine. Many patients continue to suffer from fatigue, weight gain, brain fog, depression, and cold intolerance—even when their TSH is “normal.” This is why a deeper dive into thyroid physiology is not only helpful, but essential.

Kelly understands the importances of not treating a number but treating the symptoms you as the patient are experiencing. Thyroid optimization isn’t just about achieving lab reference ranges—it’s about restoring physiological balance and relieving symptoms. Relying solely on TSH and T4 can lead to underdiagnosis or inadequate treatment. For many patients, proper assessment of T3 and reverse T3 is the key to identifying conversion issues, chronic inflammation, stress-related cortisol imbalances, and other hidden drivers of poor thyroid function.

Clinical Takeaway

For patients with persistent hypothyroid symptoms despite “normal labs,” consider running a full thyroid panel that includes:

• TSH
• Free T4
• Free T3
• Reverse T3

Only with this complete picture can we truly understand thyroid health and guide our patients toward optimal well-being.