Dr. Joshua John-Ram SchacterDr. Joshua Schacter, DO FAAOS, is America’s Holistic Orthopedic Surgeon, with nearly two decades of surgical expertise.

Hormone Replacement Therapy: 6 Month Monitoring for Optimal Results

14 Jun 2023 · 1 min

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1:21

Dr. Joshua John-Ram Schacter (Pinnacle) explains the importance of monitoring patients on hormone replacement therapy (HRT) over a minimum period of six months. He recommends slow, incremental adjustments with labs taken at baseline and repeatedly—roughly every three to four months—to optimize hormone levels while avoiding excessive dosing, and emphasizes individualized comprehensive treatment plans.

Questions this video answers

At least six months.

About every three to four months.

Laboratory tests at treatment start and repeated throughout the process (every 3–4 months).

Chapters

What we have to do though, with hormone replacement therapy, with any type of treatment that we do at Pinnacle, is we have to monitor patients. One, we know that if we don't do something for at least six months, that we probably are not going to get great results. So our minimum for our patients, we want to work with patients for at least six months. If we do hormone replacement therapy and most patients sign up for yearly packages, we know that we have to go slowly. We don't want to go too quickly. We want to make small adjustments. We do these about every three to four months and we monitor you closely. So. So we make sure that we take labs when we start the treatment. We take labs throughout the entire process and every three to four months to make sure that your levels are optimized. And we've all been told by a primary care physician or local doctor. Oh, we tested your testosterone. It's low normal. But that's okay. Well, who wants to be low normal? Why can't we all just be in the normal range for what makes us feel good? We don't want to overdo things. We want to optimize you to the best that you can be. Now, if we do too high a level of hormones, that can be detrimental. So we want to be careful with this and we don't want to just be willy nilly making radical changes to your biochemistry without studying you carefully. And so that's what we really need to do. We need to sit down, we need to get labs, we need to study you carefully and then make a comprehensive plan for your therapy. And that's what we're best at at Pinnacle.