Women who have been through meno without HRT

[Sarcelle]

I am on my "journey" without HRT. Symptoms fairly mild/manageable.

I was surprised to read somewhere that only 20% of women take HRT. So lots who don't. My question is about the effects of getting through it without HRT - what happens to you after meno?

I have read loads about the meno (it's confusing!) but there seems to be a suggestion that you should be on HRT, not necessarily to ease horrendous symptoms, but to maintain good health afterwards - because of hardening of the arteries, osteoporosis etc.

So are lots of women post meno who did not/are not on HRT ill and feeling crap all the time with a myriad of complaints?

I think I am looking for evidence that you can thrive, age well, feel great after meno without having taken HRT.

Well I'm period free for over a year now, I don't feel any different to before. I had one single night sweat and that was it.

I had a horrendous time when my periods started so I figure it is some kind of Karma that I have no symptoms now.

I'm planning on no HRT. I'm 50 next year, still have periods but longer gap between, so I reckon i'm in perimenopause. I drink soya milk in tea (I heard soya was good). Anyway, I will wait to see how I fare. I have had no night sweats as yet, but i'm very achy and stiff, and my mind seems to be in a fog.

I’ve been period free for about three years. I had a few hot flushes - 3 minutes of feeling very warm - a couple at night. Running & losing weight made the hot flushes go away - I run twice a week. And I’d started to feel bloated & generally poorly whenever I ate bread or pasta so I cut them down to the minimum and eat a lot more veg.
Now I’m back to normal.....So far.

I think - and perhaps I’m wrong- that it depends when you start the menopause re the risks of it on your overall health. For example, I am going through early menopause which started age 36. I decided to take HRT because after speaking to my consultant the risks of going without oestrogen etc for 20 years (maybe) more than I should have been is a big risk to my bones and heart (esp as I take daily steriods for Addison’s disease which can weaken bones anyway). I think if you start age 50 then your arteries and heart etc already has some ageing / hardening etc but has had the benefit of oestrogen etc for the best part of your whole life so HRT may not make a huge difference in that regard - except to the way people feel / night sweats etc.

As I say, maybe I’m wrong. But I do think age comes into it with regard to long term effects of menopause and whether to take HRT.

I am period free for 18 months and have not taken any form of HRT or any other tablets. I have drastically changed my diet and my exercise routine to manage any symptoms. I think if you exercise your chances of osteoporosis is greatly reduced, if you lose weight so you are not obese your cancer risk is reduced and if you take on a diet of Soya and oily fish you should eliminate your hot flushes and night sweats. I am working on the weight bit but the other two are working well. (Apart from the fish as I am Vegan 🌱 !!!)

My periods stopped over 10 years ago at 47. I had hot flushes and other mild symptoms but never sought help. I avoid medication when I can and (after a life of hormonal contraception) am lucky not to need any.

I feel absolutely fine, exercise lots, normal weight and skin, sex is as normal. Just beginning to see the effects of aging (less flexible, less energy) but that's the reality of approaching 60, not the menopause.

Love no periods and no pregnancy worries!

These posts are heartening. I think we need to hear more of these experiences because all you hear is how grim it is.

As I said, my symptoms are mildish so plan on doing without HRT (if I can) but all the negativity I have read is making me feel decrepit, even though my physical symptoms are not bad. I don’t look any different or feel different apart from mentally. I have lost a couple if stone in the last few years, I am active, no grey hair and all my own teeth(!) but the majority of the stuff I read is downbeat and that is affecting my mood.

Couldn't have HRT because I get migraines. Read the NICE guidelines on alternative medicines which said they were placebos and if you know that obviously there's no point taking them. Some were also shown to do actual damage to your liver.

I went through it on dixarit which sorted the hot flushes and also had a positive effect on my migraines. It wasn't as bad as some people had said although most women I know experienced symptoms to some degree for 10 years plus.

@Sarcelle
No doctor (especially a GP with limited training in menopause) is going to give you HRT as a prophylactic (ie to prevent possible diseases later) UNLESS you are having an early or premature menopause. You can't just rock up and ask for it 'to prevent possible heart disease and osteoporosis'.

There are even GPs who refuse HRT for women suffering with mood swings, anxiety etc but don't have flushes.

I was one of those women who got to 53 ish, still having more or less regular periods, a few mood swings (mainly a short fuse but then I did have 2 teens at home) and was absolutely sure I'd never need or touch HRT.

But, once my periods started to stop over the next 6 months, I had hourly flushes, insomnia and also found out (through a private bone scan) that I had osteopenia.

I couldn't cope with lack of sleep and the flushes at work. I am still working now.

I saw a menopause specialist and decided to try HRT. I've now been on it for around 10 years. I feel fine, I'm on the safest sort. I feel great most of the time and a lot younger than my age compared to other women of the same age.

I don't regard it as 'medication' because it's completely natural hormones I'm using so I think of it as supplementation.

I am the only one of all my close girlfriends who use HRT. They didn't have many meno symptoms. However, many of then have aches and pains, some can't shift the weight, sleep badly, have low mood etc.

I don't know of anyone who uses HRT if they don't really 'need it'. There are small risks, but there are also risks of not using it, for some women. For me, it was a no-brainer.

But it all comes down to your personal medical history and lifestyle, like whether you work or not into your 50s and 60s.

@dulcefarniente

You can use HRT with migraine. The Migraine Trust has very clear advice on this. I have had migraines all my life and it's never been an issue or reason not to use HRT.

YOu've been badly advised.

NotyourMummynotyourmilk

I think everyone would like to get by on a diet of fish and soya (mind you, soya can have just a s much an effect on breasts as HRT) but it doesn't work like that!

I had the healthiest diet , exercised, 'perfect' lifestyle (my dr said) and I still have bloody flushes every hour and was awake a lot of the night.

Lifestyle can really help but for some of us it is NOT ENOUGH.

I had a couple of hot flushes and that was it. Dwindling sporadic periods, a few (less than 10 over a couple of months) hot flushes, barely noticed menopause.

Never discussed HRT or menopause with any HCP.

Yes for me and many others like me lifestyle changes etc isn’t enough. I am really envious of women who are able to sail through the menopause. How amazing, and I wish that was me!

For me I suffered such severe night sweats I was changing my pjs 3 times a night as they were soaking wet and waking me up, thus impacting on my sleep. (My teen dd actually picked up a pair of my pjs and asked why they were soaking wet they were that bad!)

Low oestrogen caused me such severe vaginal dryness that sex was becoming impossible and I was having recurrent severe urinary infections and thrush - and the thrush pessaries and treatments weren’t working because my vagina was too dry to absorb them! (Sorry for too much information but we need to be talking openly about these things)! I would insert a pessary and would be so dry I’d tear myself and cause myself to bleed!

I would have these intense hot flushes during the day that would accumulate in a sharp anxiety type chest pain that would stop me in my tracks. Awful. (I had lots of heart checks etc all ok).

So for me I consider HRT an essential medication. For others, their experiences are very different.

My mum made a huge fuss about her menopause. So I read Germaine Greer's book The Change written in the '90's. It struck me that busy ( in her book she refers to high powered working women) don't have time for it so seem to have fewer symptons. Her book also exposes the sham that men labelled this and profited from exploiting women into make it a big deal.

My sahm mum who loves to wallow and be ill made a it big deal for 10 years.
When mine started I was working with 8 other women,all my age, we all went through it at roughly the same time.
Two of these women were quite dramatic and self obsessed and had endless problems needing antidepressants and sick days.
The rest of us just got hot and stuck the fan on. No one went on hrt.
I am not saying it is all psychological, or that some women don't suffer. I am only sharing my experience which is really that your state of mind and expectations do have an effect to some degree.
The problem with taking hrt is you can't take it for life and as soon as you stop you have to go through it anyway.

I’m definitely well on my way to menopause. Apart from gradual spacing of my periods I have no other symptoms at all!

I'm 46, had a hysterectomy (but kept my ovaries!) so have absolutely no idea where I am as I no longer have periods but do have a 'cycle'
My big problem is low mood, I'm very down and tearful for what seems like half the month. It feels similar to pms but worse. I also feel so so tired.
I'm now considering hrt, although as I have never used hormonal contraception I feel apprehensive about it

I would love to sail through. I stopped HRT for a while because I was advised to by a GP because of unexplained bleeding but once I stopped I was having 40-50 hot flushes a day, it got to the point where I no longer wanted to live like it and was thinking I would be better off dead. I have never had an easy time with periods and I was hoping the menopause would be kind to me but...hey ho. I tried every alternative because I think people view those of us who rely on HRT as somehow weaker but for me it was HRT or die.

i haven’t taken HRT, I went through menopause at 46/47. Haven’t seen a doctor about this as there didn’t seem to be anything wrong, feel hot sometimes and periods stopped yay!

Very little is taught at medical school about menopause, and it’s been mentioned to me gp learn more from drug reps about HRT

i am through it. no big issues, no big issues. i have put on weight and get a lot of aches and pains. but think that is more due to lifestyle and being a carer for years, than anything else.

I have never been keen on HRT, but that is just for me. I think if women need it they shouldn't feel less for taking it. I might have felt different if I had had a hard time (or suffered from dryness )

I am only sharing my experience which is really that your state of mind and expectations do have an effect to some degree.

Stop trying to shame women in agony into not getting treatment for their menopausal issues. It is comments like this that cause women to put up and shut up about it.

I had the menopause at 40 and was refused HRT or even any tests even when I was in agony every day...and now have osteoporosis. So fuck off with your 'its all in the mind' bollocks.

sackrifice. As usual on MN someone has misunderstood a comment and come back with an aggressive, rude and downright offensive reply. The PP simply said in her experience she did state before in the comment that she is not saying is all in your head. And if we are being rude I think ‘agony’ is really pushing the boundaries here. We all experience the menopause differently and some may have lesser symptoms than others but the OP was asking how women who have NOT had HRT managed and how they are on the other side of it now.

No need to be so rude sackrifice, especially on a thread about not using HRT!

I've not used any HRT, nor seen the doctor about anything. I do have hot flushes, my face doesn't get too red although I can sweat a bit - it's mainly my neck and chest. Less sleep, lots more weight! For a couple of years I had periods about every 3 months or so.

I see MN has a banner at the top of this thread with advice on Gransnet - thanks very much MN, I've got a DD in secondary school and not at the granny stage yet!

@notnowk
The rest of us just got hot and stuck the fan on. No one went on hrt.
I am not saying it is all psychological, or that some women don't suffer. I am only sharing my experience which is really that your state of mind and expectations do have an effect to some degree.

How patronising.

I'm afraid you are misinformed on several points here.

You talk about 'us' as if you were a generation who didn't bother with HRT yet it's been around since the 1940s. My mum- now in her 90s- asked for it 30 years ago but her GP advised she'd left it too late after her last period to start (she was well into her 60s then and carried on flushing into her 80s.)

Germaine Greer did use HRT- she's on record saying that- but she gave it up as it didn't suit her- said it made her swell up.

The argument that's it's 'men' who make more of the menopause- what bollocks! You think women aren't in science and pharma too?

What about companies who make vitamins and supplements- multi million pound organisations peddling 'cures' some of the time.

The problem with taking hrt is you can't take it for life and as soon as you stop you have to go through it anyway.

As for not being able to take HRT for ever- well, sorry, but you can. There is no time limit. And if you stop the menopause doesn't 'happen again' - some women have no symptoms, others do and go back on it.

*notnowok How do you feel about the fact that all the women menopause specialists- Dr Currie, Dr Newson, Miss Matthews (last night's programme) are on HRT and may well be on it for a long time?

Your argument ( or GGs') that high powered women have no time for the menopause is incredibly insulting. I think you will find in fact that it's the well educated, professional women who tend to use HRT because they need sleep to keep their jobs, stay alert, (it helps the brain) and remain healthy.

Implying it's moaning, stay at home women who only suffer most is so insulting.

Just count yourself lucky that all you had were a few hot flushes that a fan helped.

I'm with @sackrifice

I don't think she was rude at all. The post above from @Notnowok was one of the biggest load of patronising bollocks I've read on here.

Are we bloody menopause shaming now? If you had to have more help than 'just sticking the fan on' and keeping a stiff upper lip, you're doing it wrong and it's all in your head anyway?! Ffs.