HRT: Debunking the Myths, Discovering the Benefits
I understand that hormone replacement therapy (HRT) can be a confusing and sometimes scary topic for women approaching or navigating
October 17, 2025
If you’re feeling off, your energy, your mood, your body composition, your sleep, your sex drive, and the provider across from you keeps telling you everything looks fine, you’re not crazy. And you’re not alone. Most of the women and men who come to me for hormones have already been somewhere else and left feeling dismissed, rushed, or handed an antidepressant instead of a real answer.
Hormones shift for all of us, but when they are replaced correctly and tailored to your body, it’s safe, protective, and often life-changing. This is healthcare 2.0 at its best. You get listened to, you get treated, and you don’t get run through the same cookie-cutter program as everyone else.
We start with a consultation and labs, only if they’ll actually change something. From there, we can often start you on HRT the same day, unless we’re waiting on a specific lab result. We’ll talk through delivery options together and pick what fits your body and lifestyle, whether that’s a topical cream, sublingual tab (dissolves under your tongue), oral capsule, injection (for testosterone replacement), or herbal supplement. Note: We don’t use pellets. They push hormones to unnaturally high levels and can’t be removed once they’re in.
You’ll follow up with me after a month so we can tweak the prescription if needed (most adjustments don’t even require an in-office visit), and after that, you just need to see me once a year to keep your prescription going. No hundreds of dollars in unnecessary hormone testing every few months. No racket. If questions come up between visits, message me through the patient portal. The goal here is to get you feeling like yourself again, not to keep you on a treadmill of appointments you don’t need.
These are the most common signs of perimenopause, menopause, and low testosterone we see in our Bend patients, and the ones HRT can help relieve.
Hot flashes
Night sweats
Insomnia
Mood swings
Anxiety
Depression
Fatigue
Stubborn Weight Gain
Low Libido
Painful Sex
Joint Pain
Heart Palpitations
Hair Thinning
Low Motivation
Difficulty Gaining Muscle
Loss Of Muscle Mass
Hormonal Headaches
Brain Fog
Irritable, weight gain, and night sweats….sound familiar?
As your fertile window starts to close, symptoms of perimenopause can begin. This might occur in your early or mid-40s. Without a strong ovulation, we become more estrogen dominant, which can lead to symptoms of feeling “blah” and irritable. It becomes harder to lose weight as our metabolisms slow down. You might find yourself soaking the sheets at night and not at all interested in sex.
In the office, we’ll talk about your symptoms, run labs, and make a plan. Treatment for perimenopause often includes progesterone and/or testosterone replacement to help offset the symptoms. There are a variety of replacement options, including herbal supplements, topical hormone creams, sublingual tabs or oral capsules to help fix the problem.
No sex drive, belly fat, and hot flashes. Is this really happening?
Menopause is when your ovaries shut down for good, leaving you deficient in all hormones: progesterone, estrogen, and testosterone. Women often complain of the classic hot flashes and night sweats, sleeping issues, lack of libido, and weight gain. Vaginal dryness, heart palpitations, anxiety, and depression might also occur.
During our office visit, we will determine if you are an appropriate candidate for hormone replacement, as well as the risks/benefits of taking them. For most women, hormone replacement is an excellent idea not only to address their symptoms, but also to help maintain bone density, decrease the risk of dementia, and protect their heart!
Hey guys, I’m talking to you!
Testosterone naturally declines in men starting in their 30s–40s. Depending on other factors, including percent body fat and muscle mass, baseline metabolic rate, stress, and genetics, the rate of decline can vary. Symptoms of low T include erectile dysfunction, low libido, fatigue, difficulty gaining muscle, and losing fat.
Testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) may be a great option for some men and can be administered in a variety of ways. The most common treatment is weekly home testosterone injections. Testosterone levels are monitored regularly, and other therapies may be combined with TRT to address all of the symptoms.
The answer is sometimes. If you are in menopause, hormone testing is not clinically helpful, as your labs are going to be low. This does not guide treatment. The one exception is testosterone, which can vary person to person, although it is also low in menopause. We will discuss in the office what tests will be helpful to have before starting treatment. We also don’t need to be testing hormones every 3 months like some other providers do. We are looking to use an effective dose to manage your symptoms and not necessarily to put your hormones into a particular range.
There are a variety of options depending on patient preference and insurance coverage. Capsules, patches, troches, creams, and injections are all available. Some hormones are available through your conventional pharmacy, while some come from reputable 503A compounding pharmacies in Oregon.
Yes, Dr. Cooper opts to use bioidentical hormones, which are chemically equivalent to what your body makes.
No, Dr. Cooper does not use pellets because this puts your hormones at supraphysiological levels that come with negative side effects, and pellets are irreversible: once they are in, you have to wait until the hormone levels drop on their own, which takes 3–4 months.
That depends on you! Some patients notice such beneficial effects from hormones that they will stay on them for decades. Others may choose to use them for protective/anti-aging benefits even beyond menopause. Some patients try them and opt to stop once they are through menopause and no longer experiencing any symptoms.
I understand that hormone replacement therapy (HRT) can be a confusing and sometimes scary topic for women approaching or navigating