Would you take HRT?

[LardLizard]

If yes or no what’s your reason ?

I’m 57 and have taken
It for 5 years now. I didn’t intend to
but was getting dozens of flushes a day - literally any slight movement seemed to cause one. I had dreadful hip and back pain that went within days of starting on hrt too. I had no idea that was linked to my menopause till it went away so quickly. I’m dreading coming off them as am worried all the flushes and sweats will return. I haven’t put on weight from them and they’ve been a total lifesaver as I had no idea hot flushes could be so debilitating.

Not everyone needs HRT.

Eating well and exercising, keeping weight down etc can be all that is needed.

Went through menopause at 45, way, way to early to lose my hormones!!
HRT does NOT make you fat, getting older does
HRT has risks but these are outweighed by the risks of osteoporosis and outweighed by the loss of quality of life.
A lot of guff talked about HRT in general and I am a big fan of it, but it is an individual's choice at the end of the day.
Those who are against it will never be persuaded and some Health Care professionals are not keen BUT it is a worthwhile drug IMO and VITAL for those going through early menopause

I am trying to do without it, I have just ordered this book to help me naturally. I am against taking drugs really as I can’t be sure about how the research has been done and I am very anti animal testing. I do appreciate there may be times when there is no alternative to tested drugs but when there are natural alternatives I will do my best to try them first.

Some of these posts are actually swaying me more towards the side of taking it! There's a part of me reading all this that's saying "why on earth are you suffering when there's a solution".

I'd say the things I am struggling with the most are brain fog and tiredness. Maybe I will speak to my GP and see what he thinks.

They can wrest the patches out of my cold dead hands.

Can this be moved to the Menopause boards please?

framey I wouldn't have looked on the menopause board. This is helpful. I'm not going through menopause yet (I don't think) but my body is changing. Its nice to have it in the open.

Thanks for all the info. I'm only early 40s but very perimenopausal (mad cycles, anxiety, hotness) and only have 1 ovary, and my lovely doc suggested hrt. Think I might take her up on it.

HRT does NOT make you fat, getting older does

Not necessarily! Menopause can cause weight gain regardless of how old you are. Not every is late 40's early 50's when it starts. Some women endure surgery induced menopause at a young age.

Been on it about 9 years and it has kept me sane.

At the moment I’m not planning too as Mum died of breast cancer and I think she probably had cancer of the womb which was never diagnosed.

If things get horrendous I guess I’ll think again but weight loss and exercise have pretty much sorted night sweats and reduced daytime ones. I’ve coped really well in the heat which was a plus. Struggling with early waking but can cope with that and joint pain can be a bit shit but does go after a bit. I’m definitely better if I keep sugar and gluten levels low.

I didn’t realise that anxiety, depression, the Rage, aching joints, insomnia, waking up soaking wet in sweat every night, can all be symptoms caused by falling oestrogen in pert menopause. Replace the oestrogen, symptoms relieved. I thought it was ‘just’ hot flushes. Should be more talked about.

I take it and plan to keep on taking it indefinitely.

I never needed to, I didn’t have severe symptoms, but even if I had it would probably not have been a good idea as I’m hypothyroid and apparently it can interfere with thyroid medication and make it less effective.

After endometriosis had injections which put me straight into a temporary menopause. The gap between the injection and the HRT kicking in was terrible - I either wanted to cry or punch someone, my sleeping was off, had hot flushes etc. HRT improved the physical symptoms and got rid of the rage completely.

I took it for 5 years post-menopause. I could put up with the hot flushes, but my brain turned to fog; and that's not good when you're dispensing medicines all day! Worked like magic.

Interesting. I am through it now, but found all the other effects worse than hot flushes. As others have deceived, the emotional effects were awful. The flight or fight response, insomnia, depression, anxiety and nameless terror. The feeling that I couldn’t cope, had no resilience and felt tired, confused and debilitated. Aching joints, indigestion, so many things.
My doctor tried very hard to get me to take HRT but I have not responded well to hormones in the past and wanted to let my body deal with a normal transition with being medicated.
I do feel marginally better a few years on, but I mourn the loss of my old self.

Without medication
Not deceived, mentioned!!

Before Christmas last year I started to suffer with hot flushes, I've always been a cold person but suddenly I was dripping in sweat every hour on the hour or so it seemed. I also had permanent sweat patches under my arms. I started to take some menopace vitamin tablets and made an appointment with my dr because I really wasn't coping with the hot flushes. By the time my appointment came through my hot flushes had almost stopped and even now I very very rarely get them any more.
I'm not actually sure if the tablets work or if it's just fluke that they stopped but I still take the tablets religiously.

I also have the information from my dr to start hrt when and if I need them.

No, I've been advised to avoid if I can by my breast cancer clinic (family history). I had terrible flushes, tried natural treatments and nothing worked, went to my gp and was prescribed a very low dose of anti drepressant and they are almost non existent. I wouldn't risk it.

I think the lack of sleep,having to getup to dry yourself/change sheets makes the rest harder to bear.This ,for me,was the thing that drove me to HRT.That and doing cardiac massage,had a hot flush and found the sweat dripping into my eyes and being able to do nothing about it.
I found that being very frank about what was happening better than suffering in silence and colleagues would hand over a chilled wet wipe if they noticed me having a power surge.
I had tried diet, herbal remedies(expensive with some very dodgy side effects) etc but they didn't work for me .
I have been on her for almost a year,my brain us relatively clear,I sleep well,my hair has grown back,my chin whiskers remain and I have still have a lot of joint pain when it is cold.
But my mood is up and I have a great GP.

I've been taking hrt for almost 2 years. Commenced post hysterectomy and removal of ovaries. No weight gain. Happy to take as no family history of breast cancer. Taking it to help protect my bones, in conjunction with exercise and healthy(ish) eating. Plan to stay on it until age 50.