Has anyone had breast cysts caused by HRT?

[XiCi]

Started HRT in the summer, Evorel Sequi. Found a lump in my breast recently and had a really stressful 4 week wait to be seen to find out I had 3 breast cysts which needed draining. Both the surgeon and radiographer said they were without doubt caused by the HRT due to the change in hormones. Not sure what to do now as the HRT has helped my mood swings so much, I'm on so much more of an even keel. I'm going to speak to my GP but wondered if anyone else had had the same experience and if so, what you decided to do re HRT?

I have had a lot of breast cysts over the last decade but not on HRT. They are very common and I think more so for women in perimenopause. So it may be that you would have the cysts even if you weren't on HRT.
I'm about to start HRT today and I'm hoping HRT doesn't increase chances of breast cysts as I'm clearly already predisposed.

From what I've read WhereAreWeNow If definitely does increase the risk though as you say they are common in peri menopausal women. I guess I'll never know for sure if I would have got them anyway but the Consultant seemed certain the HRT was the cause and that I'd probably continue to get them whilst still on it.

That's a worry @XiCi. I hate the stress, worry, and discomfort of going through the whole process of being referred to the breast clinic. I've done it so many times now that I'm less worried than I used to be about lumps being cancerous (I know I can't afford to be blasé though) but I still hate the whole thing and really hope that HRT doesn't make it worse.

Where did you read that about increasing risk of cysts, XiCi? I just had a quick google but couldn't find any info.

I just googled can HRT cause breast cysts lljkk and there are pages and pages about it. The 2 breast Consultants I saw had no doubt that the HRT had caused them. I guess I just have to decide now whether I prefer the risk of more breast cysts or being a raging lunatic for most of the month

mmm... I googled that phrase & got

"The use of HRT does not appear to influence the clinical pattern of benign breast disease in postmenopausal women, although enlargement of pre-existing cysts or fibroadenomas has been sometimes reported."

and

"Breast cysts tend to occur most frequently in premenopausal women over the age of 35, and become more common in the time approaching menopause."

and

Researchers do not know what causes cysts.

all of that means correlation not causation; older women often take HRT & older women often get breast cysts.

I hope yours becomes less of a nuisance soon.

Thanks for that @lljkk. That's what I thought but confess I hadn't really looked into it. This is reassuring. I've had lots of benign cysts since mid 30s so if I get more now I've started on HRT I would guess I might have had them whether I was on hrt or not.
They are a pain though.

I've had a cyst prior to taking HRT but was told it was probably caused by hormone changes due to peri menopause (they have gave me a leaflet at the breast clinic at the time).

I've just had another 2 cysts aspirated and have been on HRT for 4 years now - my GP thinks they're due to me adjusting my oestrogel upwards.

So it seems I'm just going to have to be aware of this whenever there's a change in my hormone levels - and that may or may not be linked to HRT use age or changes.

I'm with you on the stress this causes though.

Well obviously the Consultant breast surgeon and the radiographer at the breast clinic dont know what theyre talking about then lljkk . It's very easy to pick out phrases that just support what you want to hear. The risk of cysts is higher in peri menopausal women but especially so in those taking HRT. I've no doubt in my mind that the HRT caused mine. I'll chat it through with my GP about the best way forward next week.

I have had to have breast cysts drained since going on HRT, the last one was so large I had changed a bra size! But I couldn’t cope with life when peri menopause really kicked in, my mood swings, rages, no feeling of self worth, muscle pains etc. So have decided HRT is necessary and will have to put up with breast cysts

It's shit isn't it toomuchlaundry. That's where I'm at atm, just trying to weigh up the options. The Dr said if I stay on HRT I will just continue to get cysts so it's just working out what is the lesser of two evils for yourself

But you may well continue to get cysts even if you come off HRT @XiCi. It's a tough decision.

All I asked for was a specific link to an actual medical authority (not website run by unknown randoms) or a good size epidemiological study (min. 50 participants in each group) that explained or showed that cysts were more common in women on HRT than in women not on HRT.

I only want one link. Too much to ask?

I had three cysts while on HRT, having never had one before. The consultant recommended that I come off it - this was a few years ago now. With that an increase in my migraines whilst on it I decided that was the right thing for me to do. Not had a cyst since, but whether causation or correlation I’ll never know.

All I asked for was a specific link to an actual medical authority(not website run by unknown randoms)
No you didn't, you asked where I'd read it and I told you I'd found pages and pages of information online. You yourself are just an 'unknown random' and I'm not interested in arguing about it because I'm obviously going to trust the opinion of a surgeon who sees patients like me day in day out at the breast clinic. If you are that interested there's a lot of research and information out there. I posted to see if there was anyone else who had the same experience and what they did so thanks Bazookapie and
toomuchlaundry for sharing.

Asking a question is not arguing.