Menopause without HRT?

[twoheaped]

Is it possible to go through the menopause without HRT?

I have never taken the contraceptive pill, or used a chemical device as I just didn't really fancy the idea of taking hormones.
Now I guess the menopause will be coming in the next few years and I have found little information on going it alone, as such.
Can it be done? I'm still not keen on the thought of taking hormones.

YY warick I ingest nothing! All gel etc
People and doctors are badly informed.

Warwick

Lots of women get on staying on a mini pill such as cerelle to deal with the menopause and seems to have less side effects than her

It's the fake hormones I'm scared of
.
THEY ARE NOT FAKE HORMONES.

(Not shouting!)

The clue is in the name Hormone Replacement Therapy.

Think of it llike this:

People with diabetes type 1 inject with insulin. It replaces what their pancreas cannot produce. Are you saying it's 'fake'?

People with low thyroid function use thyroxine. Is that 'fake'?

Women with estrogen-deficiency have symptoms, and can suffer long term life threatening diseases, so they use estradiol. Is that 'fake'? No, it's what they had in their bodies from puberty to menopause.

Up until around 200 years ago, women died before they reached the menopause. Now we live for 40 years after it in some instances. Evolution has not yet caught up with our longer lives which is why 1:2 women has osteoporosis (caused by loss of estrogen) and heart disease rates in women equal those of men, after the menopause (loss of estrogen.)

Warwick there is no evidence that transdermal oestrogen causes less breast cancer.

Research is being done on whether and which synthetic progestogens cause breast cancer. Women using synthetic progestogens are more likely to get BC compared to women (who have had a hysterectomy) and use only estrogen.

Can I ask, at what age did every start having symptoms? I'm 44 and often feel I'm experiencing some symptoms and like op I'd really like to avoid HRT if I can.

I had no symptoms until age 53. I managed to control peri with lifestyle and diet.

I started having symptoms at 40, like mum, hot flashes and migraines. Met my now DH at 42 and went on depo then the pill to be safe (completely messed me up both mentally and physically) been off both a year and waiting for peri to come back. Periods sporadic. No migraines or hot flushes now, blame the fake hormones.

I tried without HRT but the hot flushes and lack of sleep were really impacting on my life and my job. HRT made a huge difference with all of that. I have gained weight, but then I lead a very sedentary lifestyle which doesnt help. Im going to try coming off it again soon to see how things are. I am 53.

PollytheDolly You do understand don't you that the hormones in the things you used were synthetic and not the same as HRT? That they are totally different.

I had symptoms from 47, and through it at 52.

Symptoms included anxiety, night sweats, aching joints, sleeplessness. I think that was the worst of it

Late 50s here and don't recall any symptoms at all.

Yes yes yes pollyperky. I'm 42 and the symptoms were horrible. It's bit tricky holding down a full time quite senior job when you are sweating. HRT has meant I can get on with stuff.

Patch on my bum. I'll take that.

Great post @PollyPerky

HRT is good if you find the right one to combat your symptoms. There are so many types and will require you to balance the symptoms and reduction of symptoms with each HRT (a good app can track this).

No symptoms, in theory, means you don't need HRT. However, the unseen higher risks of low to no estrogen such as osteoporosis & heart disease are very real and I'd encourage you to read up on these (former HRT non believer).

I'm a slightly different case as I'm early menopause (extremely early) and therefore the risks of taking HRT (slight increase in breast / cervical cancer but only slight) far outweigh the risks of not taking it (e.g. Osteoporosis)

Remember symptoms will differ from person to person. My Consultant suggests that HRT tends to be prescribed by GP's and then several months later an anti depressant is then also prescribed to combat the low mood/depression type feelings that people expect HRT to combat. However, he has recently researched that "PMS" type symptoms, such as low mood / irritability etc are brought on by the progesterone that is in HRT (which is present to reduce the risk of too much estrogen causing womb lining thickening). The PMS isnt actual PMS as the body isn't ovulating, so he named it "progesterone induced PMS". To combat this, it is a balance of the right amount of estrogen and right amount of progesterone within the HRT. I'm now on my 3rd type of HRT and I'm monitoring the symptoms more closely using an app.

The best way to work out which symptoms are affecting you is to rate them (1 = no effect on day to day life; 5 = extreme effect on day to day life):

Low libido
Dryness
Hot flushes
Irritability
Low mood
Headaches
Sleep problems / insomnia
Bloating
Breast pain
Lack of concentration
Lathargic
Avoidance of hobbies / Lack of interest
Increased anger
Feeling of not coping
Affects relationships (family, partner, friends)
Increases appetite

Hope this helps

I have no choice, i had oestrogen positive breast cancer last year. I'm on Tamoxifen and I'm peri menopausal, the hot flushes, aches and anxiety are miserable, I just have to manage them the best I can.

I take levothyroxine & even though I need it I know it is still a drug but I have no choice & cannot manage it without medication. HRT is also a drug even though it is bio identical & it has to managed & thought of like that. I always find it strange that people think it is natural when it is manufactured & has side effects.

I'm sometimes accused here of being too pro HRT.

I'd like to say that I was adamant I was not going to use HRT (until symptoms hit me!)

I got to 53 with no symptoms other than bad moods (temper outbursts) now and then. But the minute my periods stopped, I had hourly hot flushes and insomnia.

I was also diagnosed previous to this with osteopenia in my late 40s( which develops into osteoporosis) if nothing is done.
I was not / am not using HRT for my bones. I got a good improvement with exercise and diet. But it made me realise how 1:2 women end up with osteoporosis (more women die annually from hip fracture complications than breast cancer) and the importance of looking after our health.

It's a personal choice over HRT. If you are in the 25% of women who have no symptoms, you are lucky, but that doesn't mean your heart and bones are ok.

Using HRT has risks, not using it has risks that can be just as great or greater.

Dignity why do you keep saying the same thing but not accepting that it's the same as our own? I'm not sure what point you are making.

Of course it is manufactured. So is wine, coffee, aspirin, cake!

The molecular structure is the same as our own.

Do you not take any other drug because it's manufactured? I think this argument only stands up if someone never ever touches anything- pain killers, antibiotics, antiseptics, vaccines, etc.

I don't understand this argument at all.

My post states I take levothyroxine which I know is a manufactured drug as is HRT. It isn't an argument. Why would you think it was. It's just a fact.

I'm 45 and no signs of menopause yet but I often think about how I'll go through it. I'm as sure as I can be right now that I won't take HRT. Like you OP, ive never taken hormone contraceptives etc. I just don't want to

However future me light feel differently

This is why :)

I always find it strange that people think it is natural when it is manufactured & has side effects.

It makes it sound as if you disapprove of it.

What side effects are you concerned about (either for other women or yourself?)

PollyPerky there is quite a lot of evidence out there that transdermal estrogen carries a lower risk of BC than oral estrogen, and they are now recommended by NICE for that reason in women at increased risk of BC (e.g. Overweight women, those with stroke risk, those with family history). The evidence is a bit muddier for combined estrogen and progestagen, or for progestagens alone. Women who have not had a hysterectomy generally only need to take estrogen alone to relieve their symptoms, although it depends on individual circumstances. Progestagens are necessary for women who have had a hysterectomy because they protect against ovarian cancer.

Thanks for all your replies, food for thought!

I am 57 and I still have periods. I'm a statistical outlier.

I have, however, peri-menopausal symptoms, all the life stresses to which PolkyPerky rightly alludes, a major gynaecological problem, an auto-immune issue, and a cautious GP.

I asserted my right to start transdermal HRT recently, thanks to reading these threads and the NICE guidelines.

Oh Lord the difference. Thank you.

I have my memory back. My sleep back. I'm exercising again and writing more (my job) and generally functioning better.

Ahh Warwick I think it's the other way round?

I'm 43 (June) and have been perimenopause since I was 41 just with periods 18 days then 30. Very heavy PMS and anxiety. Then this year I've had headaches, really bad aches especially my wrists and mood swings. I have young children so have not got time to be feeling like an old woman which is what I do. My periods are still very much here I just don't know when as each month is different so no signs of stopping but this will probably go on for years I'm guessing and I want to feel me again. At the moment I'm so tired and feel as though I've no energy.

Would I benefit from HRT at this early stage?