What happens if I am having trouble getting a script from my doctor?

From experience in Australia, we’ve found that doctors are very reluctant to prescribe natural progesterone to their patients. They err on the side of caution, very fearful because it is not in their drug manual, and there is no supportive evidence or proof of its performance, function and outcome. They are uneasy about prescribing anything that could perhaps bring about some form of litigation or imply irresponsibility on their part.

They actually make unfounded statements such as, “it is only one man’s point of view”, “it’s not trialled yet”, “it isn’t proven”, “it’s a placebo”, “Dr John Lee is just a GP”, “it’s marketing hype”, “it’s a money-making racket”, “John Lee owns all the wild yam plantations”, “Dr Lee is attached to cream sales”, “cream manufacturers are acting irresponsibly”, and so it goes on. Women actually find that they come out of their doctor’s surgery feeling quite intimidated and deflated.

Here’s an actual letter from a women who wrote of her last experience with her GP. She approached him for a prescription for natural progesterone and natural estrogen. She was advised by an interstate compounding pharmacist that she would be better off taking natural estrogen in a balanced combination (estradiol, estrone, estriol) rather than the stronger estradiol on its own. Compounding pharmacists in Australia refer to this combination of estrogen as ‘Triest’.

“… today I got around to getting my new script for NHRT. Dr gave me the script but there was so much questioning. I guess I am getting a ‘bad name’ amongst the doctors at the clinic where I go, for changing my HRT to NHRT and always asking for all these unusual hormones. Now I hope this is the last time I have to go through this squirming experience. I couldn’t stand it again. So I guess I have to stay with the Triest for the rest of my days. I still had the horrible feeling when I got home. Dr wouldn’t give me the extra script for the cream for my vagina. He said there was enough hormone in the Triest, because I’d had a thyroid test last May and everything was normal according to the notes, although T3 and T4 was not done, and it was not necessary according to the Dr. So that’s it. I’ve had it. He did give me 5 repeats though so that should do me for a while. Now that I have said it all, I feel better. It’s good to put things on paper…”