Hello collective wisdom, and many thanks in advance for reading a very long post (which is probably a question lots of people have already asked). I'm seeking some AIBU and WWYD advice because I don't feel that my doctor is taking my concerns seriously. This could mean of course that my concerns aren't serious - thus the reality check!
I'm 58 and have been post-menopausal for quite some time, I think around four years. My menopause, as I perceived it, started around 52 and lasted for around two years with mild symptoms, mostly hot flushes and brain fog. I was happy to endure these, as I'd always had painful periods and was looking forward to leaving them behind. When it all seemed to stop I thought I'd got off lightly, without needing to resort to HRT.
I was prescribed it though, by a young doctor who, to me, seemed oddly cavalier about the risks. At the time my genetic makeup and family history were completely unknown (my mother was adopted and I never knew my father); for all this doctor knew, every female relative on both sides of my family could have died of breast or ovarian cancer, and yet she didn't seem to think caution was called for, which I found odd.
I'm part of the lost generation in relation to HRT, due to the Million Woman Study and its fallout where the medical establishment was completely freaked out about hormones and basically stopped prescribing them. They seem to have started up again with a vengeance though, and to me it looks like they're now pushing HRT for everyone under a blanket notion that the benefits always outweigh the risks.
Having just turned 58 I'm suddenly experiencing more symptoms, and they're much worse than the previous ones: copious night sweats where you wake up in a horrible chilly puddle, complete body temperature dysregulation (so I'll be boiling when it's freezing in a room, or freezing when it's 21 degrees), and extremely painful musculoskeletal issues - my right hip, for example, hurts so much that when I get up from a chair I can't stand, and would fall over if I didn't hold on to something. But even worse is the rage. About stupid, small things. I've always been very even-tempered - I told a friend the other day that I'd been ranting and cursing and throwing things around in fits of pique, and she didn't believe it - so this is making me feel like I'm losing myself. Back to the doctor, who - no surprises - has prescribed HRT.
This time I'd had a DNA test. I don't have either of the BRCA genes or any other cancer genes, but apparently I have an 'increased risk' (16%) of breast cancer, although the reasons why are somewhat opaque. In her 80s, my mother said she had a breast lump which her doctors were 'watching' rather than doing anything about; I never really knew much about it, but it added to my general paranoia!
Part of the background is that I had a friend who died of breast cancer several years ago, at around my age, after enduring several years of really horrible chemo. Coupled with the bad publicity HRT has received during most of my adult life, and with whatever was going on with my mum, I feel like my own judgment is very coloured, but then again my paranoia may be justified. So, AIBU? And WWYD? Even if you just have a minute to vote YABU or YANBU, it would be extremely helpful in the reality-check department and I'd be very grateful. And I promise not to throw anything or curse (much)...