Compounding · BHRT
Bioidentical hormone compounding, matched to your prescription.
Murray Shore prepares compounded bioidentical hormone therapy (BHRT) in North York, Toronto, in close partnership with your prescriber: the exact strength and form they order, with the loop kept closed as the prescription evolves.
Form · Strength · Combination
What we can change
- Form Cream, capsule, or troche
Transdermal creams and gels, usually in a metered pump; capsules; or troches that dissolve in the mouth, as your prescriber orders.
- Strength The exact dose
Prepared at the strength written on the prescription, including strengths that sit between the manufactured doses.
- Combination One preparation, exact ratio
Where a prescriber orders more than one hormone in a single preparation, we compound to that exact ratio.
Real examples
From problem to preparation
This is not only about fixing what a manufactured product gets wrong. It is also about the strength and form that are right for you, prepared with your prescriber.
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The problem The strength your prescriber wants is not manufactured.
What we prepare A preparation made at exactly the strength written, without waiting for a manufacturer to offer that dose.
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The problem A cream dose that is hard to keep consistent by eye.
What we prepare A metered pump, so each press delivers the same measured amount your prescriber specified.
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The problem The regimen calls for a combination no factory produces.
What we prepare A single compound prepared to the exact ratio your prescriber ordered.
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The problem Your manufactured hormone product is discontinued or in shortage.
What we prepare Where the ingredient is available and your prescriber agrees, a compound at the same strength may be prepared.
Step by step
How the prescriber partnership works
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The prescription arrives
Your physician or nurse practitioner sends the prescription, or you bring it in. We review the formula line by line before anything is weighed.
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We confirm before we compound
If any strength, base, or instruction is unclear, we contact the prescriber’s office first. Nothing is assumed and nothing is substituted silently.
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The loop stays closed
Dose adjustments between refills happen on your prescriber’s updated instruction, and our records reflect every change so both sides of your care see the same picture.
Who we prepare hormone compounds for
Most of the people who bring us a hormone prescription are somewhere in midlife: navigating perimenopause or menopause, working through andropause, or following a prescriber’s plan for thyroid support. What they share is a prescriber who has decided a manufactured product is not the right fit.
Our part is deliberately narrow. The clinical decisions, which hormone, what dose, for how long, belong to your prescriber. The pharmaceutical execution, weighing, mixing, verifying, labelling, and documenting, belongs to us. We do not diagnose and we do not promise outcomes, and a pharmacy that does either should give you pause.
Straight answers about compounded hormones
Two facts we would rather you hear from us than discover later. First, manufactured drugs are reviewed and authorized by Health Canada for quality, safety, and efficacy before they can be sold; compounded preparations are not put through that pre-market review, because they are made individually for one patient under a prescriber’s order. Second, the compounding itself is regulated provincially: the Ontario College of Pharmacists adopted the NAPRA Model Standards for non-sterile compounding, with full implementation required by January 1, 2022, and our hormone work is done under that framework.
We put this in writing because trust in a hormone pharmacy is built on candour, not on claims. Both statements are linked in the sources note below.
Hormone compounding questions
What does "bioidentical" mean on my prescription?
It is wording many prescribers use for compounded hormone preparations. At the pharmacy bench, what matters is the exact ingredient, strength, and base your prescriber has specified, and that is precisely what we prepare and label.
Do I need a prescription for compounded hormone therapy?
Yes, always. Hormone compounds are prepared from a prescription written by your physician or nurse practitioner. The decision to start, adjust, or stop hormone therapy belongs to your prescriber; our role is to prepare their order accurately.
Can my strength be adjusted between refills?
Only on your prescriber’s updated instruction. When they do adjust it, compounding makes small changes practical: the next preparation is simply made to the new specification, without waiting for a manufacturer to offer that dose.
My manufactured hormone product is discontinued or in shortage. Can you match it?
If the active ingredient is available and your prescriber agrees, a compound at the same strength may be prepared where appropriate. Bring what you know about the original product and we will start the conversation with your prescriber.
Are compounded hormones the same as manufactured hormone products?
No, and we think you deserve the honest distinction. Manufactured drugs are reviewed and authorized by Health Canada before sale; a compound is instead prepared for you personally, under pharmacy practice standards, to your prescriber’s formula. The sources note on this page links to the policy that draws that line.
Will you communicate with my doctor or nurse practitioner?
Yes. We confirm unclear details before compounding, we document what was dispensed, and if you report a concern to us, we make sure your prescriber hears about it. You should never feel like the messenger between two offices.
How do I store a compounded hormone preparation, and how long does it keep?
Every preparation leaves with a beyond-use date and storage directions on the label, assigned when it is made. If a label is worn or you are unsure, call us at 416-789-1800 and read us the prescription number.
New to compounding? Start with our compounding overview.
Sources
- Policy on Manufacturing and Compounding Drug Products in Canada (POL-0051) (opens in a new tab) · Health Canada
- Compounding, Non-Sterile Practice Topic (opens in a new tab) · Ontario College of Pharmacists
Your pharmacist is one call away.
416-789-1800 Call nowPrefer not to call? Email info@murrayshore.com or visit us at Bathurst & Baycrest.