Hormone therapy at GIOSTAR starts with your own numbers. A nurse practitioner reads a lab panel with you, prescribes only when your history and results point to a fit, and checks in on a set schedule as the plan moves. The whole process has a clear order, and knowing it before you call makes the first visit easier.
This article walks through that order: what hormone therapy is, what happens at each step, how labs and rechecks work, and what a membership looks like. It covers men's and women's care, and the steps are the same for both.
What hormone therapy is
Hormones are chemical messengers that your glands release into the blood. They carry signals between organs and tissues. Hormone therapy is a prescribed program that provides specific hormones as medication, under the supervision of a licensed provider, and tracks your levels with blood work.
Two features set a prescribed program apart from a supplement. A provider has to decide it is medically appropriate before anything is prescribed, and blood work guides the plan before and after you start.
GIOSTAR builds hormone therapy for men and women. The men's program is testosterone replacement planned around your labs, your schedule and your goals. The women's program is bioidentical hormone plans matched to your history and your labs, and adjusted with you over time.
How hormone therapy works at GIOSTAR, step by step
Every plan follows the same sequence.
- Free consultation. You talk with our patient team, online, by phone or in person, free and with no obligation. We explain how hormone therapy works at GIOSTAR, ask what you would like to keep doing, and book your visit with a nurse practitioner.
- Meet your nurse practitioner. An in-person visit at our Henderson wellness center. Your nurse practitioner reviews your history, your medications and your goals, and gives you the full monthly total before you book.
- Lab panel. GIOSTAR orders a 100+ biomarker panel. You book a morning draw at a Quest location near you, and results come back in about a week.
- Results review. Your nurse practitioner goes through each marker with you and explains what it means for your plan.
- Your prescription. If your history and results point to a fit, your nurse practitioner prescribes. If they do not, nothing is prescribed.
- Follow-up. Recheck labs arrive on a schedule, and your nurse practitioner adjusts your plan with you.
Why labs come first
A plan built from your labs starts from where you are, not from a template. Your nurse practitioner reads each marker next to your history and your other markers. One result is not a full picture. If a number comes back outside the typical range, your nurse practitioner may repeat the test before changing your plan.
You book the draw yourself at a Quest location, and there are many across the Las Vegas valley. Giving blood takes a few minutes. For the panel, you fast for 8 to 12 hours with plain water only, and if you use testosterone or another hormone, ask us when to take your dose, because timing changes the reading. Biotin, which is common in hair, skin and nail supplements, can skew some lab readings, so pause it for 72 hours before your draw unless your provider tells you otherwise. You can read more in what a full-body blood panel measures.
Thyroid care
Thyroid care is part of a hormone plan at GIOSTAR. Your plan starts with baseline thyroid labs and a review of your medications and supplements. If your nurse practitioner prescribes thyroid medication, it is usually a daily tablet taken at home, and your nurse practitioner adjusts the dose with your labs.
The recheck schedule
Rechecks give hormone therapy its shape. Typically, your nurse practitioner rechecks labs 6 to 8 weeks after you start and after each dose change, then about once a year once your dose is steady. At each recheck, your nurse practitioner reads the new numbers beside the old ones and decides with you whether to hold, adjust or pause.
This is why the answer to "how long until it works" is a schedule of visits. The plan moves in steps, and each step ends with a lab review and a conversation.
Who gives hormone therapy and who oversees it
Your visits are with a nurse practitioner at our Henderson wellness center. Dr. Ryan Peterson, our Medical Director, oversees care. Our patient experience coordinator looks after your scheduling.
Membership, cost and insurance
Hormone therapy at GIOSTAR is a membership. Memberships run a 3-month minimum, then month to month, and cancelling takes 30 days' notice by phone.
The monthly total depends on the hormone, your dose, how often you take it and your lab monitoring. You get the full monthly total at your free consultation, before you book. Hormone memberships are self-pay and are not billed to insurance. Cherry offers monthly payment plans for qualified applicants.
If you would like a single plan that bundles labs, IV visits and other tracks, see what longevity medicine is.
Hormone therapy at GIOSTAR in Henderson
GIOSTAR stands for Global Institute of Stem Cell Therapy and Research. Founded by Dr. Anand Srivastava, GIOSTAR International is part of a network across three countries, built on research at Salk, UC San Diego, UC Irvine and UCLA. Our Henderson wellness center is at 2482 W. Horizon Ridge Pkwy, Ste 100, Henderson, NV 89052, with free parking at the door.
Your first step is a free consultation with our patient team. Call 702.703.5393 or read more about hormone therapy at GIOSTAR.
