Arcadia Women’s Wellness

04/25/2026

04/22/2026

How much did you pay for your initial menopause consult? DM me, I’m collecting data.

There are a variety of options out there and if you can obtain your MHT RX through an insurance- covered provider, that is the best case scenario.

But for those who would like or need more time for complicated issues or require more time, you may be searching for a menopause specialist outside of insurance.

Many menopause specialists with websites are not transparent about fees, especially if they require a membership or provide “concierge” services.

Others are transparent, but their fees are ridiculously high. For example, let’s look at 2 well known physician influencers:
1) Dr. A - initial consult $2000, does not offer med management appts, but you can see her colleague for $650 thereafter.
2) Dr. B - membership plan starts at $2000

I cannot think of any other specialty where this happens and wonder why this is acceptable. Yes, providers need to be paid for their knowledge, experience, and time, but at a certain point one must wonder why some think their services are so much more valuable than others who are doing the same thing. And with such exorbitant pricing, many seeking care are priced out right from the get go. Talk about a pink tax.

04/17/2026

Part 2 of yesterday’s post with tips on how to deal with the estradiol patch shortage:

As I shared yesterday, I too am having issues getting my patches consistently so I investigated another option: the estradiol vaginal ring.

Femring is inserted vaginally and provides local and systemic estradiol for 3 months! Don’t confuse this with the Estring which provides local vaginal estradiol only (like the vaginal cream or tablet) for 3 months. Unlike the Femring, Estring does nothing for systemic symptoms like hot flashes, mood issues, fatigue.

The Femring typically costs $1000, yep, you read that right. Through my insurance, the price dropped to $440…not great. BUT I was able to find a manufacturer coupon on the Femring website which dropped the price to a $25 co-pay!

So for $25 I have my estradiol covered for the next 90d and I don’t even have to think about it.

Let me know if you have questions about Femring or the co-pay coupon.

04/15/2026

MORE estrogen tips here 👇🏻

Hi! Today I am officially menopausal!

And I too am having difficulty getting my estrogen patches.

Here are some tips:
1) try mail order pharmacies through your insurance, or Amazon.
2) ask if your pharmacy has other doses available like the 0.025mg. 0.05mg is very popular so you may be able to double up on the lower dose.
3) the estradiol daily gel divigel is now generic and covered by insurance and
4) ask the pharmacy if your insurance will allow substitutes like minivelle, dotti or lyllana in same dose. These are exactly the same estradiol.
5) while transdermal estradiol is safer for the cardiovascular system, many who are low risk can still use oral estradiol as a stopgap measure during shortages. There’s also the combipatch estradiol + synthetic progestin which though rarely used works great!

If none of these work DM me and I’ll try to help you out

04/11/2026

This is 56. In 5 days if I don’t have any spotting, I will be in menopause! One full year after my last period. My final period. If I make it 5 more days.
My perimenopause transition wasn’t necessarily easy or fast.
💜In 2018 had my Mirena pulled too soon at 48, followed by a uterine ablation.
💜Took tens of Covid tests and walked around with a thermometer in my pocket in 2020 suffering from hot flashes.
💜Started MHT in 2023 when I finally saw the preponderance of evidence showed I could use transdermal estrogen with migraines with aura.
And now 5 days from one year since my hopefully last period never have I ever taken a hormone test.
Not to diagnose perimenopause.
Not to confirm my symptoms were related to hormone fluctuations.
Not to start hormones or determine dose needed.
No. Nope. Never.
Zero dollars spent of hormone testing.
Zero dollars spent on compounded hormones or pellets.
I have been a menopause provider since 2003 and an certified specialist since 2011 and I have never done any of those things in my menopause transition.
Menopause care doesn’t need to be expensive.

04/10/2026

Please save your money and skip the DUTCH hormone test. Results from these tests do not help menopause specialists determine whether hormones will help your symptoms, what doses to use, or whether to change doses. IF we needed hormone levels (most of the time we don’t) you would get blood/serum levels, not urine.
Save the $600 and do something fun or eat something great.

03/28/2026

02/07/2026

As of today at least, TrumpRX is not a place to go to get your estrogen & progesterone for menopause symptoms. Why is there no information on testosterone, you might ask? Simple,they don’t have any. No estradiol patches, no bioidentical progesterone, no vaginal estradiol creams or tabs. So no, Mr Trump, you have NOT “ensured every American gets the lowest prices on prescription medications in the developed world” as the website says. And you have not helped the 75million women in perimenopause/menopause get the care they need at an affordable price.

12/18/2025

As a I am learning all the time to help women in menopause.

Right around the corner, after the many women will vow to just like they did last year and the year before. In this goal can become more difficult to achieve, not due to lack of willpower, but due largely to impact of changes. There is no one-size-fits-all solution: not a specific diet, restricted eating, complicated exercise regimens, or even or . For most, & alone are not enough. These are not new ideas: Most of my patients have been doing these things for years.

Do not believe the hype and savvy marketing of so-called that say they have the secret pill because there is none.

Focusing on improving health and decreasing risk of chronic disease may be a better focus and for those who are struggling with are overweight and have risk factors + in combination with all the nutrition and lifestyle things you have already been doing for years may be the answer. Especially for women with history of

There are many ways to access safe & effective treatments without resorting to and these options will become more affordable in 2026

12/16/2025

My new post demonstrates the huge differences in price in menopausal hormone therapy and how you can get your hormones without spending $1000s a year.

12/16/2025

Clearly, I am not a reels or video maven, but I wanted to share the facts on pricing for symptoms.

I spend a lot of time sharing patient experiences of being overcharged for compounded hormones & as well as FDA- approved from online companies like on stories, but I wanted this information to live somewhere accessible and easily shared.

I am also not a SM guru with skills to make fancy graphics, but I did manage to make a chart comparing cash pay prices between savings programs like & vs those from the above online companies and for

I posted screen shots from the respective companies as evidence of the prices shown on the chart.

All hormones shared are
I started with pills even though we know they may not be the safest option for women with various cardiovascular risks, they are the most affordable and are fine for many.

The most common option is patches are twice weekly options and while one weekly options are less expensive, they may not work for everyone. Patches do not have risks of pills

pills are a must for anyone with a uterus using systemic estrogen, but not necessary after hysterectomy

Final word on compounded hormones and pellets. These options vary widely in effectiveness & price: compounded hormones can be as much as $100-300/90d and pellets anywhere from $350-600 every 3-4m
Progesterone creams and troches have not been found effective for uterine protection

COMPOUNDED HORMONES & PELLETS DO NOT HAVE THE SAFETY OR EFFICACY DATA OF FDA-APPROVED HORMONES AND ALL PROFESSIONAL SOCIETIES RECOMMEND AGAINST THEM: