Blog & guides
Notes from the bench.
Written by the pharmacists: what we compound, how it is made, what the evidence says, and what it costs.
Compounded Peptides in 2026: What the FDA Panel Changed, and What a Non-Sterile Pharmacy Can Make Today
In July 2026 an FDA advisory committee recommended six peptides for the 503A list. None of them is legal to compound yet. Here is where each one stands, which peptides are components of approved drugs, and the non-peptide formulas prescribers are asking for most.
Compounded Testosterone: How Prescribing Works in California
Testosterone is a Schedule III controlled substance. Here is how a compounded testosterone prescription reaches a California pharmacy: who can write it, how it has to be sent, and why the pharmacy needs a DEA registration. Rx-only, prescriber-directed.
Understanding Hyperpigmentation and the Ingredients that Target it
Learn about the science behind hyperpigmentation and the ingredients prescribers use for different types of skin discoloration.
Comparing ED Medications: Questions for Your Prescriber
How erectile dysfunction medications differ, and questions to ask your prescriber, including when a compounded form may be prescribed.
Understanding Thyroid Imbalance: Beyond Standard Treatments
An overview of thyroid disorders, standard treatments, and when a prescriber may order a compounded thyroid preparation.
Different Types of Hair Loss and Treatment Solutions
An overview of the common types of hair loss and the ingredients prescribers may use, including in compounded formulas.
Different Agents Used in Anti-Aging Skin Care
An overview of ingredients used in prescription and cosmetic skin care for aging skin, including tretinoin, niacinamide, topical estriol and peptides.
Compounding for Pets: How It Works With Your Veterinarian
When a commercial product doesn't fit an animal, your veterinarian can prescribe a compounded medication. Here is what compounding for pets involves and how the prescription reaches us.
Travel Health at Generation Pharmacy: Prescriptions and Pharmacist Consultations
We fill travel-medicine prescriptions from your prescriber, and we offer cash-pay travel health consultations with a pharmacist. Here is what to expect and how to plan.
What Is a Compounding Pharmacy? A Complete Guide for Patients and Providers
Compounding pharmacies create customized medications made for individual patients. Learn how 503A compounding works, what USP 795 and USP 800 standards mean, and when a compounded medication might be right for you.
Compounded Tretinoin: When a Custom Strength or Base Helps
Commercial tretinoin comes in a handful of fixed strengths. Compounded tretinoin lets your prescriber dial in the exact concentration, combine it with barrier-supporting ingredients, and choose a base that works with your skin, not against it.
Bioidentical Hormone Therapy (BHRT): What Patients Should Know Before Starting
Bioidentical hormones are structurally identical to the hormones your body produces. Here's what BHRT is, how compounded hormones differ from commercial options, and what to discuss with your provider.
How to Choose a Compounding Pharmacy in Los Angeles (2026 Guide)
Not all compounding pharmacies are alike. Here's exactly what to check, licensing, USP standards, turnaround, and pricing, before trusting one with your prescription in LA.
Low-Dose Naltrexone (LDN): Uses, Dosing, and Why It Must Be Compounded
LDN is one of the most widely requested compounded medications. Here's what the research says, how dosing works, and why you can't get it at a chain pharmacy.
Topical Finasteride vs. Oral: Which Is Right for Your Hair Loss?
Topical finasteride delivers the same DHT-blocking power with dramatically lower systemic exposure. Here's the head-to-head comparison your prescriber considers.
Melasma Treatment: Why Compounded Triple Creams Are Still Widely Used
The modified Kligman formula, hydroquinone, tretinoin, and a corticosteroid in one cream, is still a standard melasma protocol in dermatology. Here's how it works and how it's personalized.
What Affects the Cost of a Compounded Medication?
How compounded prescriptions are priced, why insurance rarely covers them, how HSA/FSA funds apply, and what to ask before your prescription is filled.
USP 795 and USP 800 Explained: The Standards That Protect Compounding Patients
These two USP chapters govern how your compounded medication is made, from ingredient sourcing to beyond-use dating. Here's what they require and why it matters to you.
Bioidentical Hormone Replacement Therapy (BHRT) in Los Angeles: What Patients Need to Know
Considering BHRT? This guide explains what bioidentical hormones are, how they differ from synthetic options, which delivery forms a compounding pharmacy can prepare, and what to discuss with your provider before starting therapy.
Compounded Weight-Management Medications: Metabolic Support Compounds for Providers and Patients
An overview of compounded metabolic-support medications: including metformin ER, low-dose naltrexone, berberine, and lipotropic formulations. that prescribers may order as part of a weight-management plan.
Compounded Thyroid Medication: When Prescribers Consider It
Many thyroid patients still feel symptomatic on standard levothyroxine. This guide explains T3/T4 compounding, sustained-release formulations, and when your provider might consider a compounded thyroid medication.
Custom Dermatology Compounds: Acne, Anti-Aging, and Hyperpigmentation Solutions
Commercial skincare products come in fixed strengths and formulas. Compounded dermatology preparations let your provider customize every ingredient, concentration, and base for your specific skin condition.
Pet Compounding Pharmacy in Los Angeles: What to Know
How veterinary compounding works at Generation Pharmacy: your veterinarian prescribes, we prepare the medication for one animal, and you get clear directions for giving and storing it.
Compounded vs. Commercial Medications: When Does a Compounded Prescription Make Sense?
Not every prescription needs to be compounded. But sometimes commercial medications fall short. This guide explains when compounding is the better option and when a standard pharmacy fill makes more sense.
Estradiol Patch Shortage 2025–2026: Compounded Alternatives & Dose Conversion Guide
With major estradiol patches on backorder, many women on HRT are left scrambling. Here's how compounded estradiol creams, gels, and troches can fill the gap, with a clinician-ready dose conversion table.
Oral vs. Topical Minoxidil: Which Is Right for You? (2026 Guide)
Dermatologists increasingly prescribe low-dose oral minoxidil for hair loss. But commercial tablets only come in 2.5 mg and 10 mg. Here's how the oral and topical routes compare, and why precise low doses require compounding.
Topical Dutasteride for Hair Loss: How It Differs from Finasteride and Who Asks for It
Dutasteride blocks both forms of the DHT-producing enzyme. And a topical version exists only through compounding. Here's how it compares to topical finasteride and where the evidence currently stands.
Which Hydroquinone Strength Is Right for Your Melasma? 2%, 4%, 6%, and 8% Compared
Hydroquinone is now prescription-only at every strength. And the right concentration depends on your skin, your history, and your prescriber's plan. Here's how 2% through 8% compare, plus the HQ-free alternatives.
NP Thyroid and Armour Shortages (2026): Compounded Alternatives to Desiccated Thyroid
Recalls and recurring backorders keep disrupting desiccated thyroid supply. Here's how prescribers use compounded T4/T3 capsules and sustained-release T3 as personalized fallbacks. And how transitions are managed.
Compounded Bi-Est Explained: What It Is, and Why It's Not a Patch Conversion
Bi-Est combines estriol and estradiol in one prescriber-set ratio, one of the most-prescribed compounded hormone formulas. Here's how it differs from estradiol-only therapy, and the conversion rule every patient should understand.
Prometrium Contains Peanut Oil: Compounded Progesterone Alternatives for Peanut Allergies
Prometrium and most generic micronized progesterone capsules suspend the hormone in peanut oil, a hard stop for peanut-allergic patients. Compounded progesterone in alternative bases solves it, at any strength your prescriber needs.
Non-Opioid Topical Pain Creams: What Compounded Diclofenac, Baclofen, and Lidocaine Combos Can (and Can't) Do
Compounded pain creams put NSAIDs, muscle relaxants, anesthetics, and nerve-pain agents directly on the painful area, no opioids involved. An honest look at the evidence, the candidates, and the limits.
Methylene Blue: What It Is, Why It's Trending, and What Patients Should Actually Know
Methylene blue is everywhere in longevity podcasts. And the hype is outrunning the evidence. A conservative guide to what it actually is, the serious SSRI interaction, and why pharmaceutical grade matters.
Oral and Sublingual NAD+ Supplementation: An Honest Look at the Longevity Trend
NAD+ levels decline with age, and restoring them is one of longevity medicine's biggest bets. Here's what oral and sublingual NAD+ and precursor capsules can realistically offer. And where the evidence still runs thin.
How Topi-CLICK Dispensers Work: Clicks, mL, and Why Your Dose Stays Consistent
Your hormone cream comes in a Topi-CLICK for a reason: it meters exact volumes, 0.25 mL per click on the 35, 0.5 mL on the 140, so your dose is identical every day. Here's how the math works.
How to Get a Prescription for Topical Finasteride (2026 Guide)
No FDA-approved topical finasteride product exists in the United States, every legitimate bottle is prepared by a compounding pharmacy from a prescriber's order. Here's how the process actually works, what to expect on cost, and the sellers to avoid.
How to Get a Prescription for Low-Dose Naltrexone (LDN) (2026 Guide)
Commercial naltrexone comes only as a 50 mg tablet. But LDN protocols use 0.5–4.5 mg. That gap is why every legitimate LDN prescription runs through a compounding pharmacy. Here's how to get it and what to avoid.
How to Get a Prescription for Low-Dose Oral Minoxidil (2026 Guide)
Commercial minoxidil tablets come only in 2.5 mg and 10 mg, blood-pressure strengths. The 0.625–1.25 mg doses dermatologists actually prescribe for hair loss exist only through compounding. Here's how to get them.
How to Get a Prescription for Topical Dutasteride (2026 Guide)
No drug company anywhere makes a topical dutasteride product. It is purely a compounded medication. Here's how prescriptions for it work, what a compounded solution includes, and how to avoid gray-market sellers.
How to Get a Prescription for Kligman's Formula (Triple Cream) for Melasma
Tri-Luma is the only commercial Kligman-style cream, one fixed strength, frequently expensive, and prone to supply gaps. Every other strength combination is compounded. Here's how to get a triple cream prescribed and filled.
Compounded Female Arousal Cream: What Prescribers Write (2026)
The sildenafil-based topical known as 'scream cream' has no commercial equivalent. It has always been a compounded, prescription-only formulation. Here's what it is, how prescriptions work, and what to steer clear of.
How to Get a Prescription for Sustained-Release T3 (Liothyronine) (2026 Guide)
Cytomel and generic liothyronine are immediate-release only, sustained-release T3 exists solely as a compounded medication. Here's how prescriptions work, who writes them, and what a careful transition looks like.