For women in perimenopause and menopause, and for men.
Hot flashes all day, awake half the night, and told it’s just stress or your age? In Upper Arlington, Dawn, a nurse practitioner and co-founder, hears what you’re living with and helps you find relief.
You might know these moments:
You’re not imagining it. In perimenopause and menopause, your body makes less estrogen and progesterone. Hormone therapy for women gives some of that estrogen back, and it’s the most effective treatment for hot flashes.
You can also read our page on hormonal imbalances.
“Bioidentical” describes the molecule: hormones with the same chemical structure as the ones your body makes. It doesn’t tell you where they came from, or whether they carry less risk.
BHRT comes two ways. Some bioidentical estradiol and progesterone medicines are FDA-approved and come from a regular pharmacy. Compounded hormones are mixed by a pharmacy and aren’t FDA-approved. You and Dawn choose between them together, and she explains which product you’re prescribed and why.
Hormone therapy comes as pills, patches, gels, sprays, vaginal products, and injections, and the form is chosen with you. Estrogen through the skin may carry a lower risk of blood clots than pills.
If you haven’t had a hysterectomy, you’ll also take a progestogen, such as progesterone, to protect the lining of your uterus.
Plenty of women hear that their labs look normal and still don’t feel like themselves. We believe them. So here, hormone therapy starts with how you feel, not a number on a page.
Labs still matter, just for a different job. Menopause is recognized from your symptoms and history, and blood work helps rule out other causes, such as your thyroid. Dawn reads your results alongside how you feel, never in place of it.
What labs won’t do is set your dose. There’s no perfect hormone level every woman should reach.
Plenty of men keep a drop in drive, sex life, or energy to themselves. You don’t have to.
Dr. Sanchez won’t start testosterone without labs. The guidelines call for symptoms plus low testosterone on at least two early-morning blood tests. It’s FDA-approved when low testosterone has a medical cause; when it comes with age, its use is off-label, which he explains.
With confirmed low testosterone, treatment may improve erections, low sex drive, anemia, and low mood, and may raise bone density and lean body mass. Evidence on energy and focus is inconclusive.
Testosterone can raise blood pressure, and the guidelines call for blood counts and, over age 40, a prostate (PSA) test before starting. Dr. Sanchez’s testing continues through treatment. It isn’t for men trying to have a child, and its effect on heart attack and stroke risk isn’t known for certain.
It starts when you book online or call our Upper Arlington office. Lab appointments can be booked online too, and Mondays run until 7 PM.
What hormone therapy costs comes down to your plan: which hormone, in which form, and the lab work it needs. Your own plan’s cost is set out and broken down for you at your consultation. Want to ask something before you book? You’re welcome to call us first.
You can also ask us about CareCredit financing options or Cherry payment plans.
They both have a great “bedside manner”……I felt like their only client for the day.
★★★★★
I have felt heard and cared for.
★★★★★
For someone who is completely uninitiated in the latest treatment options, they listened to my concerns and offered great advice.
For some women, yes. In November 2025, the FDA asked for changes to the boxed warning on FDA-approved hormone therapy only; heart disease and breast cancer are still listed in the labels’ warnings.
For most healthy women who start before 60 or within 10 years of menopause, the benefits usually outweigh the risks for bothersome hot flashes.
Your own balance is what Dawn weighs with you at your first visit. Here’s how small that first step is.
In general, hormone therapy isn’t for you if you:
Yes. Hormone therapy treats bothersome hot flashes and night sweats in perimenopause too, and you don’t need to put up with them. While your periods continue, it can cause breakthrough bleeding, and pregnancy is still possible until you’ve gone a full year without one, so birth control still matters. Dawn reviews which approach fits you.
Hormone therapy usually takes about 8 to 12 weeks for its full effect, which is why doses are adjusted slowly. Better sleep tends to follow as night sweats ease. Your own pace can’t be promised in advance, so your plan is checked against how you feel along the way.
How long you stay on hormone therapy is your decision with Dawn, reviewed from time to time, and there’s no set number of years. You can stop, though hot flashes and night sweats come back for about half of women who do. Talk with Dawn before stopping or changing anything.
No. Hormone therapy isn’t recommended to prevent aging, or for changes such as aging skin or hair loss. What it does do is ease hot flashes and night sweats, and it may lower the chance of bone thinning. If your skin is the goal, that’s a separate conversation at The Luxe MedSpa.
Hormone therapy isn’t a weight-loss treatment, and it isn’t linked to weight gain either. Its effect on midlife weight is small. If weight is your main concern, we offer our medical weight loss program separately, as its own treatment.
You know your body best, and here, that’s where hormone therapy begins. Your first step is simply a conversation with Dawn, or with Dr. Sanchez for men, about what you’re feeling.
Book online when you’re ready, call to set up your visit, or call first with any question. Patients come to our Upper Arlington office from across Columbus and nearby towns like Dublin, Hilliard, Grandview Heights, and Worthington.
