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[Penguin]

Is it compounded just so they can adjust doses? If the active ingredient is the same (yam), then surely the only difference is how it is put together and dosage. Or am I missing something? And the NHS doesn't approve because it hasn't gone through the proper regulatory process/ quality control?

[dangermouse]

Yes, that I believe is correct. Compounded is the old fashioned traditional pestle and mortar technique, made in the back of the pharmacy in bespoke quantities to suit the individual.

Due to the nature of this, it cannot go through a regulation process as off the shelf products made in mass in a factory can.

Same active ingredient. As far as I remember, all types were known as bio-identical until NICE (perhaps?) renamed the regulated as body identical to differentiate.

As usual, assuming women do not have brain cells and need to have a more obvious name such as body. It goes along with the infantilisation of doctors now using the work poo instead of faeces, as this obviously confused us. 🙄

[Mary G]

Is it compounded just so they can adjust doses? If the active ingredient is the same (yam), then surely the only difference is how it is put together and dosage. Or am I missing something? And the NHS doesn't approve because it hasn't gone through the proper regulatory process/ quality control?

I can only speak for compounded progesterone but yes, more or less although a lot of the benefit with compounded hormones is the variety and flexibility of delivery methods.  The magical 50mg dose of progesterone doesn't exist with branded NHS approved progesterone products (hence 100mg Utrogestan every other day) but with compounded progesterone there are lozenges, drops and
transdermal products that can be administered at this tolerable dose.

I found the quality of compounded progesterone very good but the NHS won't have any of it because they are not fully regulated so the fact that they work brilliantly for women like me and make HRT viable is completely disregarded despite the fact I have cast iron proof of their efficacy with TVS scans.

dangermouse, I can't stand the "poo" word either!

[Penguin]

Thanks both! Where can you buy compounded in the UK tho, do only private meno specialists prescribe it?

[AngelaH]

Same active ingredient. As far as I remember, all types were known as bio-identical until NICE (perhaps?) renamed the regulated as body identical to differentiate.

What I have personally learned, thanks to this forum, Tibolone which has the same active ingredient as body and bio products is classified as a synthetic product. So we need to be very careful when making ours own conclusions, there’s clear classification made by professionals for some reason, the reason may be not so obvious to us, but it does exist.

[AngelaH]

How rude....
Hurdity x

Sorry for being so rude 
This forum is great, with a lot of useful information, but also with different understanding of medical terminology.

[AngelaH]

Angela you are right, body identical HRT is branded but bio identical HRT is bespoke hormones that are compounded in a laboratory and I have to say they are brilliant.  I used compounded progesterone for several years and it was the only way I could tolerate progesterone and get a steady dose of 50mg into my system every day.  It worked brilliantly and it very definitely did protect my womb lining 100%.

Unfortunately due to Brexit, I could no longer receive medication from the UK so now I'm using branded progesterone gel which I buy from a pharmacy in Spain and that is also very good and providing good endometrial protection even though it is not supposed to.

Sorry to hear you had to stop using bespoke. I personally don’t have any experience in using compounded progesterone, I glad that you managed to find replacement for it in Spain, as you know there are no gels or creams available from pharmacies in UK.

[Mary G]

Thanks both! Where can you buy compounded in the UK tho, do only private meno specialists prescribe it?

It's prescription only I'm afraid and it's quite expensive.  If you contact the Specialist Pharmacy in London they can send you a list of all the doctors and clinics who can prescribe compounded hormones.

I've just noticed they have won an award!  I'm not surprised, their products really are excellent.

[Mary G]

Angela you are right, body identical HRT is branded but bio identical HRT is bespoke hormones that are compounded in a laboratory and I have to say they are brilliant.  I used compounded progesterone for several years and it was the only way I could tolerate progesterone and get a steady dose of 50mg into my system every day.  It worked brilliantly and it very definitely did protect my womb lining 100%.

Unfortunately due to Brexit, I could no longer receive medication from the UK so now I'm using branded progesterone gel which I buy from a pharmacy in Spain and that is also very good and providing good endometrial protection even though it is not supposed to.

Sorry to hear you had to stop using bespoke. I personally don’t have any experience in using compounded progesterone, I glad that you managed to find replacement for it in Spain, as you know there are no gels or creams available from pharmacies in UK.

Thanks, it could have been a very serious problem for me if I had not been lucky enough to find a good replacement off the shelf in Spain.

It's happened since you left the customs union and non EU goods are checked but I am still able to post medication to the UK from here.  I sent some progesterone that is not available in the UK to a friend last week and it arrived within a few days but that could change in April.

[sheila99]

It doesn't help that there doesn't seem to be an agreed definition. The bHRT industry  use bio as they like to imply there's is better than body so they can make a bigger profit. I'm not sure why we use the term body identical at all. There have to be many people like me who understand bio identical but not body identical. If it's identical to what your body produces then it's bio identical so why call it something different?