Hormone Replacement Therapy
Request the prescription, consent form and follow-up plan
Ask whether hormone replacement therapy at your provider comes with a prescription, a consent form and a follow-up plan. Have each one handed to you on paper, and read them at home.
Get these answers from the hormone prescriber
Bring these questions to the prescriber.
- What is being measured, and why? Ask for the test names and what each one is meant to show.
- Who writes the prescription, and who follows your care afterward? Ask by name and title.
- What will you agree to by signing the consent form? Mark each line you cannot explain in your own words.
- On what basis is the therapy continued? Get the review items and dates.
- Which products are approved, and which are compounded? Ask, and ask where the label can be read.
Four question pages take one hormone question each. Start with What is hormone therapy?, then read When should I start hormone replacement therapy?. Read Why would a care plan recommend hormone replacement therapy if some say it is not safe? and Can I take hormone replacement therapy after a hysterectomy? with your prescriber's answers beside you.
Annotate three menopausal hormone therapy sources
Read three published sources on menopausal hormone therapy as background, and note what you would ask a clinician about each.
Open the Cleveland Clinic page on hormone replacement therapy for menopause. Then read the NYU Langone news article on menopause hormone therapy facts. Finish with the MedlinePlus health topic on hormone therapy for menopause, and note which of its points you want your prescriber to explain.
Hand your notes to the prescriber who would follow your care.