In short
Overview
Hormone therapy is one of the cheaper treatments in this area. The consultation and the monitoring are where the cost sits, and both are worth paying for.
Direct Answer
Three parts: the consultation and risk assessment, the medication, and the yearly review.
The medication is usually the smallest part. Oestradiol patches, gels and micronised progesterone are ordinary prescription medicines bought at pharmacy prices.
The part worth paying for is the assessment. Cardiovascular and breast cancer risk decide the route and sometimes whether hormones are appropriate at all, and getting that wrong is more expensive than any prescription.
Who This Applies To
- Women budgeting for the first year
- Women currently paying for compounded hormones and saliva testing
- Women who have been quoted a package and want to know what is in it
Option Comparison / Decision Criteria
Typically more expensive than the regulated equivalent, and with potency that ranged from 67.5 to 268 per cent of label when tested
Recurring, and not used to guide treatment because levels do not predict symptom control
Hormone therapy is dosed by symptoms, not by levels
Not reliable enough to rule out hyperplasia in women on hormone therapy, so it is not used as surveillance
Why an In-Person Physician Review Matters
Why the assessment is the valuable part Because it changes the prescription.
Moderate cardiovascular risk means transdermal rather than oral, and micronised progesterone rather than a synthetic progestin. High cardiovascular risk, or moderate to high breast cancer risk, means non hormonal treatment instead. None of that comes out of a hormone panel. It comes out of blood pressure, lipids, family history and a calculator. Why the yearly review is not padding Because the balance changes with age and duration. The review re examines dose, route, endometrial protection, bleeding pattern and screening, and asks whether the benefit still outweighs the risk at your current age. Between 40 and 50 per cent of women who start hormone therapy stop within a year, and 65 to 75 per cent within two, very often with no medical input at all. The review is what turns that into a decision. The lowest cost option that actually works Where symptoms are genital only, dryness and painful sex, low dose vaginal oestrogen treats them locally. It is inexpensive, it does not need a progestogen, and it can be continued indefinitely. Many women are put on systemic therapy for a problem that local treatment would have solved.
Frequently Asked Questions
Because the plan depends on your risk assessment and on which route suits you, and because a figure without the review attached is misleading. Each step is quoted before it happens.
The regulated ones are usually cheaper than compounded equivalents, and they are what is prescribed here. 17-beta oestradiol and micronised progesterone are both bioidentical and both are ordinary prescriptions.
Rarely. Hormone therapy is dosed by symptoms rather than by levels. Levels are measured only where they genuinely help, such as adjusting between gel and spray preparations whose strengths are not directly comparable.
No, and this is the cheapest useful answer in the area. Where symptoms are genital only, low dose vaginal oestrogen treats them locally, needs no progestogen, and can be continued indefinitely.
Evidence
Where this information comes from
Every figure on this page is taken from the sources below. All of them are free to read, so you can check them yourself.
This page is general medical information and does not replace a personal consultation. Trial results are averages across large groups, not a prediction for any one person.