The general recommendation is for estradiol delivered through a transdermal patch along with oral micronized progesterone. The conventional estradiol patches that you can get with prescription through your regular pharmacy are bioidentical. You can also get the oral progesterone there but since it has peanut oil and artificial colorings, I prefer to get that through a compounding pharmacy. It is not necessary to get your estradiol through a compounding pharmacy and it is less expensive through a conventional pharmacy. I would recommend looking up Dr Felice Gersh. She has been prescribing HRT for decades and really knows her stuff. She does not recommend pellets. Over the years, she has seen levels that climbed way too high with pellets and it is more difficult to control since it's inserted into your body. Much easier to manage levels with a transdermal patch and safer too. The lowest dose of transdermal patch estrogen is .025 and at that level, there have been positive bone effects demonstrated. Many integrative practitioners will prescribe in the .025-.05 range taking into account your comfort level and risk factors.