Anon, your friend might be able to get some help at a clinic that serves everyone, regardless of their ability to pay.
The Valley Community Clinic is in North Hollywood on Coldwater Canyon Avenue. They are the family doctor for tens of thousands of people each year, and therefore they handle everything from vaccinations to family planning to diabetes management. They are a major training and education facility for medical residents from Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, and nurse practitioners from Harbor UCLA and Cal State Long Beach.
You definitely are going to get a generalist doctor here, but if you do some research ahead of time on your particular symptoms and different kinds of HRT and go with specific questions in hand, you will probably get some help and come away with a prescription for synthetic or bioidentical HRT that will get you started down the path, if that's what you and the doctor agree will help. Here's their page on women's health:
HRT does not tend to be a really expensive prescription, and if you go to a regular doctor, tell her or him that cost is a consideration. They can counsel you on the different formulas and on their costs; and most doctors will give a patient samples to get them started.
I am interested in how your friend knows her hormones are not in balance; is she having other symptoms of perimenopause or menopause? Hot flashes, insomnia, mood swings, a feeling of "fogginess?" While she is working on getting some medical help, there are also some natural ways to cope with the symptoms:
My sister and her family were without health insurance for quite a few years. She found most doctors very willing to work with her regarding their rates if she paid cash. I know that might be hard for your friend to do right now, but perhaps just knowing that she can call and negotiate a lower rate will motivate her to try and see what happens.
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Anon, your friend might be able to get some help at a clinic that serves everyone, regardless of their ability to pay.
The Valley Community Clinic is in North Hollywood on Coldwater Canyon Avenue. They are the family doctor for tens of thousands of people each year, and therefore they handle everything from vaccinations to family planning to diabetes management. They are a major training and education facility for medical residents from Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, and nurse practitioners from Harbor UCLA and Cal State Long Beach.
You definitely are going to get a generalist doctor here, but if you do some research ahead of time on your particular symptoms and different kinds of HRT and go with specific questions in hand, you will probably get some help and come away with a prescription for synthetic or bioidentical HRT that will get you started down the path, if that's what you and the doctor agree will help. Here's their page on women's health:
http://www.valleycommunityclinic.org/default.asp?PID=20
HRT does not tend to be a really expensive prescription, and if you go to a regular doctor, tell her or him that cost is a consideration. They can counsel you on the different formulas and on their costs; and most doctors will give a patient samples to get them started.
I am interested in how your friend knows her hormones are not in balance; is she having other symptoms of perimenopause or menopause? Hot flashes, insomnia, mood swings, a feeling of "fogginess?" While she is working on getting some medical help, there are also some natural ways to cope with the symptoms:
http://womenshealth.about.com/cs/menopaus1/a/naturalmenopaus.htm
My sister and her family were without health insurance for quite a few years. She found most doctors very willing to work with her regarding their rates if she paid cash. I know that might be hard for your friend to do right now, but perhaps just knowing that she can call and negotiate a lower rate will motivate her to try and see what happens.
February 2, 2009 - 10:10amThis Comment
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