Common questions.

Many women do well with their OB/GYN or primary care clinician. An endocrinologist adds the most value when the picture is complicated: thyroid disease, diabetes or prediabetes, significant weight change, osteoporosis risk, premature or surgical menopause, prior treatment that hasn't worked, or a history that makes HRT decisions harder. If your menopause care keeps generating referrals to other specialists, it may be simpler to start where those threads come together.

For most healthy women who start within about ten years of menopause, current evidence and society guidelines support hormone therapy as safe and effective, with benefits that generally outweigh risks. Individual factors — age, time since menopause, personal and family history — change that balance, which is exactly what a specialist consultation is for. We'll give you numbers for your situation, not slogans.

We routinely prescribe FDA-approved, body-identical hormones — estradiol and micronized progesterone — which are what most people mean by the term. We do not recommend custom-compounded pellets or creams, which are less regulated and deliver less predictable dosing. The full explanation is here.

No. Hormonal, non-hormonal, or no treatment at all — the recommendation follows your situation and your preferences, and "not treating" is a recommendation we genuinely make when it's the right one. Declining HRT never means declining care here.

Yes. Hormone levels fluctuate widely during perimenopause, and a single normal lab value does not rule it out. Diagnosis rests primarily on your age, cycle pattern, and symptoms — which is why an unhurried clinical evaluation matters more than any single blood test. More here.

Usually, yes — well-controlled diabetes and well-controlled hypertension are not contraindications, and thyroid disease is managed alongside, often by the same physician. These situations change the route we choose (transdermal estrogen is generally preferred), not whether treatment is possible.

We work with most major insurance plans, including Medicare. Coverage depends on your specific plan, so the most reliable way to know your cost is to call the office — we'll review your coverage with you before anything is scheduled. Insurance & fees →

Long enough to do it properly. The initial consultation is unhurried by design — your history, your symptoms, and your questions are the visit, not an interruption to it. Plan for a comprehensive appointment rather than a fifteen-minute slot.

Not necessarily. For many women over 45 the diagnosis is clinical and extensive hormone panels add little. Bring any prior results you have; we order labs where they genuinely change the picture — thyroid, metabolic, lipid, or bone-related testing more often than hormone levels.

Your initial consultation is with a physician. Our experienced physician assistants participate in follow-up care with physician oversight, and your plan always has a physician's name on it.

Whichever is most convenient — La Jolla (Scripps Memorial campus), Poway, or La Mesa (Grossmont campus). Menopause patients are seen at all three. Locations and map →

Yes. Once you're scheduled, we can request records from your current clinicians — or you can upload them through the patient portal. Portal & forms →