…to ask if you decided to have HRT, & whether you’d recommend it?

[VenomHost]

I’m 52 & menopausal. Symptoms fairly mild but include weight gain, hot flushes & some insomnia & anxiety, although the last two likely to be partly due to a very stressful couple of years

Am considering HRT to hopefully ease these symptoms & also because I have read that HRT can be beneficial for bone & cardiovascular health & reduce risk of dementia.

If you decided to have HRT how easy was it to get, are you worried about any side effects or associated risks and have you benefitted / are you glad you’ve had it?

I think if we stopped calling it menopause and called it something like reproductive hormone deficiency, it would be taken more seriously with fewer taboos because it wouldn't sound like a middle aged woman thing.

That would make it sound like a disorder, which it is not. Any more than periods are.

HRT isn’t the be all and end all in preventing osteoporosis either - a healthy diet and strengthening exercise are just as important.

I've found it highly effective for sleep, hot flashes and skin. It also resulted in me being sent for a hysteroscopy due to post meno bleeding so there can be a downside.

If you currently think you "have to wake up in the night to pee" you probably don't. You probably just need HRT.

Took it for a month, some improvement in symptoms but gained half a stone so I stopped it. It wasn’t worth it. I just rode the storm - 5 years now and the flushes and night sweats only happen every couple of days.

For some bizarre reason the media have turned menopause and HRT into a feminist issue, as if we’re all desperate women being denied HRT by evil male doctors. And it’s being marketed as a magical cure-all, which has led to women in their 30s with PMT asking for HRT as they think they’re “peri”. The fact is, doctors are more than happy to prescribe HRT if it’s indicated. We also prescribe it for longer than is recommended, if women want to stay on it and are prepared to accept the risks. In fact only yesterday one of my late-50s patients who chose to accept the risks was diagnosed with breast cancer.

HRT is not magic.

HRT is not magic.

No, but the affects from taking it can be magical.

As you've seen on this thread, many of us were on utter despair, before starting HRT. Taking it has been life-changing.

That's a pretty powerful thing.

Regarding the 'feminist' point, it bloody is. Not because it's all male doctors holding it from us, but because so little was done in healthcare to understand perimenopause & menopause, to educate doctors, and to appropriately invest in services to care for women at this stage.

So many women in previous decades suffered hugely, with no support or recognition.

It's only now that we are informed & healthcare practitioners are catching up.

My own GP (who is wonderful) spent most of 2 years telling me my symptoms were linked to my lifestyle, that I was too young, that my periods were regular so I couldn't be perimenopausal, and that it was liked to my hypothyroidism. I accepted all of this as she was the expert.

A radio programme (in Ireland) about a year ago blew the lid on all this, with woman after woman calling in to discuss their problems, many terribly sad stories.

Queues of women went to their GPs, who were overwhelmed. GPs pushed for training. Having got it, my own GP changed tack completely, and has been so supportive.

The other reason it's a feminist issue is that many of the symptoms traditionally got tagged as 'hysterical women' style issues, and not taken seriously.

No bloody way men would be treated like this.

So not all women need HRT, and HRT won't address everything. But it really can feel like magic for those of us it does work for.

They will be prising my hrt from my cold dead hands!! I have never felt as crazy as I did before I got it . I really didn't recognise myself at all .

@CounsellorTroi

I think if we stopped calling it menopause and called it something like reproductive hormone deficiency, it would be taken more seriously with fewer taboos because it wouldn't sound like a middle aged woman thing.

That would make it sound like a disorder, which it is not. Any more than periods are.

HRT isn’t the be all and end all in preventing osteoporosis either - a healthy diet and strengthening exercise are just as important.

So what's your suggestion? We need something to change so that we're not all moaning middle-aged women who should just f off and hide away with our hot flushes.

Hospedia - that is interesting. I am 41 too and have many of the same symptoms - dry skin, poor sleep, periods only 2 days and more frequent, ovulation paid horrendous, period pain horrendous, anxiety through the roof , utis all the time, digestive disturbances, to name a few.
I always thought I was too young for peri - perhaps I need HRT?

@Sunnysideup999

Hospedia - that is interesting. I am 41 too and have many of the same symptoms - dry skin, poor sleep, periods only 2 days and more frequent, ovulation paid horrendous, period pain horrendous, anxiety through the roof , utis all the time, digestive disturbances, to name a few. I always thought I was too young for peri - perhaps I need HRT?

Get thee to your GP - it sounds absolutely like HRT would be recommended. It's also good to do a full check, bloods etc in case of any other causes, which your GP will most likely suggest.

Earrings and Lipstick - thank you. It’s only when writing that all down that I realise I do need to see my GP. I’ve always assumed they won’t consider it as I’m under 45 but I’d hate to feel like this for another 4 years

Spoke to my GP today and she wants to do the full range of blood tests and an up to date blood pressure just to rule out other causes (e.g., thyroid) but if they all come back normal then she's going to give me a prescription for patches to see how I get on. She agreed based on symptoms that it sounds very much like perimenopause.

Peri is to menopause as puberty is to physical maturity and it should be viewed as such.

Thank you for the advice

Can I please ask if anyone can suggest a good private hrt specialist? I know alot of things have been debunked but I have family history of breast cancer and I have problems with fibroids etc, so want to make sure I have the best advice. I am only 45 but I am definitely preimenapausal. Only had a child 3 years ago so my hormones are a roller coaster!

Oh absolutely. They'll be prying mine out of my cold dead hands.

It really did give me my life back and I'll take the risks for a life I can actually live now rather than an existence.

.

Echo others here. I'm 52, haven't had a period for years but no major menopause symptoms either....or so I'd thought. What I did have is a wide range of minor issues - trouble sleeping, irritability, restless legs, slight bladder weakness, brain fog, feeling somehow 'down' but not to the stage of needing antidepressants, constant tiredness, increased social anxiety etc. I didn't twig that all of these (relatively minor on their own but quite significant taken together) were possibly symptoms of menopause until friends mentioned how beneficial they had found HRT and I had a chat with my GP. She recommended HRT and I've got my life back :)

Like others said, life changing.
I was so depressed, not sleeping, hot flushes, felt scared of life.
I feel like me again.

Began to suffer perimenopause migraines from age of 45 and within a year was getting migraines pretty much every week, they would last for days. I was constantly phoning in sick for work. Started HRT 9 months ago and have only had 4 migraines since then.

I've been taking it for years. I had random panics, random furies, random hot and/or cold sweats, pounding heart, woolley headedness, anxiety, restless legs, urinary issues, endless thrush, dry, itchy skin, to name a few symptoms. I tried all the 'natural' remedies (menopause is natural, right?) and nothing worked.

A couple of weeks on HRT and everything subsided. I take tablets as I like to tweak the dose occasionally to keep it as low as possible without the horrible symptoms popping back up. My GP says there's no reason not to stay on it for the rest of my life if I wish.

It certainly feels like magic to me.

It's great that women are being offered HRT. 19 years ago I was peri (43 years old) and told I was too young it was stress (hot flushes, night sweats, wonky periods). At 47 one year after last period had to beg for it from 3 different doctors. Finally got livial which I now know was the wrong sort for me and made no difference (aches, brain fog, nil libido). On it for 7 years and every single time GP tried to make me come off it. 8 years later (aged 62) I have osteopenia and asked endocrinologist about HRT. So happy I've started it this week. Some bloating and tiredness but just getting used to it again. 😊

I went to see my new gp as new patient to discuss my medication etc.
I asked about HRT while i was there,,nothing to lose i thought,,
While chatting i had the mother of all hot flushes,,,gp said he could see how distressing it was for me and started me off on Kliovancw

Well my god,,,,i never knew how bad i felt until i got this into my system...marvelous stuff...

And my previous gp refused to prescribe it saying i was in the wrong age bracket,,

Just an update started taking my 200 progesterone at night time and for the first time in years I actually feel sleepy and have to go to bed. Have had delayed insomnia for years and really affected me, wish had started hrt years ago but doctor kept saying you are too young and would not discuss peri-menopause. Well Woman clinic have been fantastic but then again all women. As my sister said the male doctor who is older has testicles how would he even understand and seemed to be under the impression that I had to just get on with it. When you think about it we are just low in hormones so the simple thing is to replace them and we will feel better. Will see well woman clinic again in 3mths to see how I am getting on or if I need to tweak anything. Only thing is there is a shortage of gels/patches of estrogen here Ireland and u.k.

I'm 41 and started with the mini pill which seems to have stopped my worsening PMT (headaches, sore boobs).

Now I'm on 2 pumps per day of oestrogel and also take micronised progesterone for 12 days a month to keep womb lining thin (though I'm switching to Mirena which will hopefully do the same as the pills).

Sleep and anxiety much better than pre-HRT, though wondering if I need 3 pumps per day as things seem to be slipping back a bit, especially irritation, disturbed sleep and night sweats.

One GP wanted me to go on anti depressants but another was encouraging.

Hrt changed my life.

On oestridol gel, progesterone tablets & testosterone gel.
Within 3 weeks, my skin was better, no night sweats, no hot flush, slept through the night & felt Randy again.
Bloody life changing

Is the testosterone gel prescribed by an NHS doctor beachcitygirl?

@ThreeLittleDots

Is the testosterone gel prescribed by an NHS doctor beachcitygirl?

Yes. I'm in Scotland & was sent to menopause clinic & then GP prescribed

Thanks - that's good to know