Hormone Therapy (BHRT)

Hormone levels shift with age, and the symptoms rarely announce themselves as hormonal. Fatigue that sleep doesn't fix. A short fuse. Weight that moves differently than it used to. Bioidentical hormone replacement therapy (BHRT) uses hormones structurally identical to the ones your body makes, prescribed from your own lab work, to bring those levels back into a range where you feel like yourself. At Vue Medical Spa in Salt Lake City, hormone therapy is led by Laura Eccles, PA-C, whose practice centers on hormonal health, body composition, and helping women navigate perimenopause and menopause.

What bioidentical actually means

Bioidentical hormones — estradiol, progesterone, testosterone — have the same molecular structure as the hormones your body produces. That is a statement about chemistry, not about safety. It is worth being clear on this, because the word gets used loosely: the FDA has stated it does not have evidence that compounded bioidentical hormones are safer or more effective than FDA-approved hormone therapy. What makes hormone therapy safe is not the word on the label. It is the lab work behind the prescription and the provider watching the numbers.

Symptoms it is prescribed for

Patients most often come to us for persistent fatigue, disrupted sleep, low libido, mood changes and irritability, brain fog, loss of muscle tone, or changes in body composition that diet and training aren't touching. In women, these frequently cluster around perimenopause and menopause. In men, they tend to arrive gradually enough to be mistaken for ordinary aging. Hormone therapy is not a treatment for every version of feeling tired — part of the consultation is establishing whether your symptoms actually track with your labs.

How Vue prescribes it

You start with a consultation and a full hormone panel. Nothing is prescribed before those results are back. Once Laura has them, she builds a plan around your numbers and your symptoms together, starting conservatively. You return for follow-up labs so she can see how your body responded and adjust — this is the part that makes the difference, and it's the part that gets skipped in programs designed to be sold rather than managed.

How it is delivered — and why we don't use pellets

Vue does not use hormone pellets. Laura prescribes a mix of forms — injections, topical creams or gels, and oral capsules — chosen around your labs, your symptoms, and what you will realistically keep up with. The reason is adjustability: a pellet's dose cannot be reduced once it is placed under the skin, so an unhelpful dose has to run its course over months. Every form we use can be changed at your next visit.

Two things about the prescriptions themselves. Where an FDA-approved product fits your plan, Laura uses one — there is no reason to compound something that already exists in an approved form. Most prescriptions are compounded, because compounding is what allows the dose to be tailored to your labs rather than to the strengths a manufacturer happens to make. Compounded preparations are not FDA-approved, which means the FDA has not reviewed them for quality, safety, or effectiveness. Laura will tell you which category your prescription falls into, and why she chose it.

What to expect

Most patients notice changes over weeks rather than days — sleep and energy often shift first, with body composition following over months. Hormone therapy is an ongoing treatment, not a course you finish: levels return toward where they started if you stop. It is not right for everyone, and there are histories that rule it out. Laura will go through yours before prescribing, and will tell you if the honest answer is no.

Pricing

Hormone therapy is priced at consultation, because the cost depends on your labs, your dosing, and your treatment plan. You'll have real numbers before you commit to anything. Vue is a cash-pay practice.