Lakeview Compounding Pharmacy

Therapies

At Lakeview Compounding Pharmacy we take a wellness approach and help patients in 5 basic areas to optimize their health:

Diet

Exercise

Hormone Balance

Medication Management

Stress Management

How to get started with hormone balancing:

You begin the process by answering a few questions by filling out our evaluation forms and perform a saliva hormone test, which is done in the privacy of your own home and is painless. Hormone testing kits are available upon request so please call for pricing of lab fees.   Our phone numbers are: 757-934-0533, toll free 877-873-9564 and fax 757-228-3991. Our normal hours of opperation are Monday Through Friday 9am to 5:30pm.

To recieve a copy of our evaluation forms you may either print them from our "Forms" page (see tab at the top of this page) or we will gladly mail you a copy if requested. Please send us your completed forms either by mail or fax.

Once we recieve your evaluation forms and test results its' time to schedule a consultation appointment with our registered pharmacist Nat Jones. Test results and recommendations will be reviewed during the consultation. For appointment availability and fees please call during normal business hours. We consult with your practitioner to recommend bio-identical hormone replacement therapy (BHRT) if necessary.

New patient classes are available and recommended for all of our new patients. We want you to understand "why" you are using bio-identical hormones so that you will be compliant and have good results. If you live out of the area we can suggest resources that you can use to gain more information about BHRT.

Our wellness approach addresses more than just your saliva hormone levels.  We look at your diet including your nutritional supplements, your exercise activities (or lack of), your medicines (prescription and over the counter) and your stress and how you are managing it.  Then we take a comprehensive look at all of this information and propose a plan that addresses all of these areas of your life.

To learn more about Saliva Testing go to www.labrix.com

Some of the areas our consultants can help you with are:

Adrenal Fatigue (AF)

Stress-- everyone has it. If stress become severe enough it will affect your health. It can wear you down. Maybe it's the day-to-day occurrences like your job, relationships, money, a loss or illness, and even positive events like a wedding can be stressful. When the adrenal glands are overworked by too much stress, they get fatigued and this accelerates a decline in your health and vitality, which makes it more difficult for you to recover or handle additional stress. AF symptoms include:

     - Morning or evening fatigue          - Weight gain around the waist

     - Afternoon energy low                    - Sleep Difficulty

     - Intolerance to exercise                 - Rapid aging

Find out if you have adrenal fatigue and treat it. We offer patient educational seminars to help teach you more about this common problem. Saliva testing, consultation, and other evaluation tools are available to help you determine what treatments and nutritional supplements would be most appropriate for your needs.

Bio-identical Hormone Replacement Therapy (BHRT)

BHRT utilizes hormones synthesized from plant sterols (soy or wild yam) with the exact chemical structures as human hormones. This therapy is not over-the-counter herbal products being used to help with symptoms, but rather prescription therapy under the supervision of licensed practitioners monitoring both symptoms and laboratory testing.

Our most common dosage form for BHRT is a topical application containing one or more hormones, such as estrogen, progesterone, testosterone and DHEA. All of these ingredients are available from licensed FDA certified repackaging facilities. Since hormones are fat soluble, compounding pharmacies can formulate a prescription cream or gel to deliver these hormones through the skin. Compounded medications are not new drugs, simply reformulations of existing drugs already approved by the FDA for human use.

There are no large scale randomized clinical trials published for BHRT. However hundreds of research papers have been published on these human hormones for decades. Drug research money is generated by product development. Not much money is being spent on BHRT research at the present time, because bio-identical hormones are in "common domain," meaning that they can't be patented. A patent is usually necessary for an exclusive marketing arrangement creating a "brand name" drug. A manufacturer can, however, patent a delivery device such as a transdermal estradiol patch. The hormone is bio-identical and the device is patented creating a branded product.

The ovaries and the testes do not put hormone directly into the gastro-intestinal tract, but rather into small veins where it travels to, and then through, the heart then tiny blood vessels called capillaries. Hormones then pass into the tissues and passively diffuse into cells. Transdemal delivery is similar in that it bypasses the gastrointestinal tract. BHRT can be absorbed through the skin and into capillaries and into tissues just like natural distribution.

Due to this method of delivery, most of the transdermally administered hormone stays in the tissues and doesn't get to the central circulation. This means that if blood is measured you won't see much hormone in the blood at normal dosages. It's not until you use high doses that it measures "normal" in blood, but by then the tissue levels are too high. This is why we recommend saliva testing instead of blood testing. Saliva levels are tissue levels. Saliva testing is a quick and painless way to evaluate and monitor people on BHRT.

Progesterone is a hormone made primarily in the ovaries during the second half of a normal menstrual cycle. Progesterone is the progestational hormone, meaning that it promotes and maintains pregnancy. Progesterone also helps to regulate or control certain aspects of the functions of estrogen. Synthetic progestins, on the other hand, are structurally different from progesterone. If you alter the chemical structure of a hormone, you alter its function.

Functional Hypothyroidism

Do you have symptoms of low thyroid activity such as: cold hands or feet, cold intolerance, brittle or   cracking nails, dry skin and hair, low sex drive, depression, fatigue or poor memory and have been told that your thyroid test is normal? If so, you may have functional hypothyroidism.  Meaning that it behaves like hypothyroidism but does not meet the standard diagnostic criteria of overt hypothyroidism. We will work with you and your physician to help treat your symptoms in the most appropriate way.

Some patients need nutritional supplements to help, while others need replacement therapy.  Occasionally a patient may have a related problem that is influencing the availability of their thyroid hormone and they need treatment for that condition.  Whatever your circumstances, we will help you figure out the best treatment for your condition. Give us a call if you think you may have functional hypothyroidism.

Insulin Resistance (IR)

IR is one of the largest health problems our country faces today. IR can lead to obesity, metabolic syndrome, or diabetes. IR underlies health problems such as increased triglycerides and cholesterol leading to atherosclerosis (clogging of the arteries). This increases your risk of heart attach or stroke. IR also increases the risk of cancer. Some of the symptoms of IR are:

•Sudden drops in blood sugar making you feel sick, light headed and weak so that you "have   to eat right now" or else
• Weight gain
• High cholesterol or triglycerides
• Feel hungry 3 hours after eating a meal
• Abnormal lab test such as increased HbA1C, Glucose, Insulin or C Reactive protein

We will work with you and your practitioner to help improve your insulin resistance. It's never too late to make a positive change in your insulin sensitivity even if you are already a type II diabetic. Call for more information about our approach to wellness!