Should women start HRT earlier in the UK?

[1ladybird]

I’d love to hear people’s experiences of HRT.

I’m 40. I have got a prescription for HRT soon to be ready to collect and try! What can I expect?!

Should HRT be something women are offered late 30s/ early 40s before menopause hits?

If you take it, how beneficial have you found it to be?

Main reasons for asking for it from my GP is huge dip in energy levels coupled with not sleeping well. Bloods all came back ok for other things.

Would love to hear other people’s experiences of pros, cons and if you wish you’d done it sooner!

3 years post meno and I have no symptoms of VA and (touch wood) have never had a UTI.
I know it has very, very few risks, nonetheless it would seem unnecessary to take it.

Some HRT you can't start until your periods have stopped. Until I was 49 or so, contraception was the priority. Then I didn't take anything for a while to see if my periods had naturally stopped, which they had.

Your symptoms sound just like me! I was offered it but refused it to see if anything else was the issue as I had a lot of work stress at the same time. I will go back to the GP now and hope they offer it again!

For the general population of women though there would be huge benefits. I’m sure there was a study done about vaginal oestrogen in care homes. Basically preventing UTIS prevents the delirium preventing falls and therefore hip fractures
some women don’t even know they have atrophy until they realise their labia is vanishing and smear tests are incredibly painful

So maybe it’s beneficial for the very elderly in care homes. That’s not the general female population. I don’t think introducing hormones when there is no indication is wise.

It's not 'introducing hormones' in the sense it's HRT.
It's a minute dose of estrogen which stays where it's put. It's not absorbed anywhere else.
It's like putting on hand cream, or face cream to stop your skin drying and cracking.

It’s not akin to hand cream.
Prescribing a medication when there is no clinical need violates medical principals. I doubt there are enough studies that support your claim.

It’s 1 in 2 women it affects and around 70% of women in their 70s
i don’t have atrophy yet but I don’t want to get to the point I look down and realise I can’t have sex, smears hurt and I can’t orgasm. It’s such a gradual creep and many threads on here say how life changing it is
even if you don’t need it, it’s worth keeping a very close eye on

I think topical oestrogen should be suggested to every woman for sure

What claim? Put it this way- there are more women who need it and don't realise than women who use it unnecessarily.

I used the analogy of handcream to counter your 'introducing hormones' as if it was systemic ( and hormones were something 'bad'.)

Using vaginal estrogen for one YEAR is the same dose of estrogen as women on HRT use in one DAY. It's 100 times weaker and it stays in the vagina.

If you want 'studies' there are plenty on the benefits and how it's not systemic.