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Menopause

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Original poster

What are the benefits of NOT taking HRT?

232 replies

AlpacaThePicnic · 21/05/2023 20:28

We obviously are wall to wall with the benefits of taking HRT

I just wondered if there are any benefits of not taking it as I weigh it up in my mind whether I wish to continue with it

OP posts:
aussiegonewrong · 22/05/2023 21:13

I know that ovestin is HRT but as it is a topical cream that you use intermittently it's a much lower dose and doesn't travel through the body in the same way

bert3400 · 22/05/2023 21:18

I've been on it for 6 years but have recently stopped taking it as I seemed to getting sick so often. A cold would wipe me out for two weeks and then get something else a few weeks later. I just want to reset my body to see what's what. HRT has been brilliant apart from the sickness I keep getting. If I feel my anxiety/anger/fogginess is coming back I will review my decision.

Bookist · 22/05/2023 22:01

midgemadgemodge · 22/05/2023 12:05

I always get a nervous twitch when someone mentions their private practitioner

A follow the money twitch

I know it's honest that you mention that you are paying for advice but it always to me devalues what you then report

That's nonsense. You pay to see a private consultant because you can't bear to wait at least 10 months to visit an NHS clinic. Every consultant I saw privately also worked for the NHS too. Do you honestly think these consultants give different advice and medication to their private patients?

Bookist · 22/05/2023 22:09

BenCoopersSupportWren · 22/05/2023 20:56

Although I’m lucky to have an informed and supportive NHS GP, it’s hardly surprising many women go private when learning about menopause is not even a mandatory module in GP training.

Exactly. There's even a doctor on here who admits she's still influenced by the totally debunked One Million Women Study and just has a vague 'feeling' that HRT is wrong. Good God!

THIS is why women go to private consultants who actually know what they're talking about.

bellac11 · 22/05/2023 22:10

aussiegonewrong · 22/05/2023 21:13

I know that ovestin is HRT but as it is a topical cream that you use intermittently it's a much lower dose and doesn't travel through the body in the same way

Its still replacing hormones though

I dont get this insistence that cream or gels like that arent HRT, the clue is in the name?

rattymol · 22/05/2023 22:17

@JinglingSpringbells if you take HRT you are replacing hormones. When you stop HRT the level of hormones in your body drops. Since it is the drop of hormones that leads to many symptoms, your assertion that the drop in hormones after coming off HRT would have no impact, makes zero logical sense.

rattymol · 22/05/2023 22:19

@Bookist if you think the profit motive has no impact on medical care then you are very naive

Bookist · 22/05/2023 22:19

A year's supply of Ovestin is equivalent to taking just one (yes one) tablet of oral estrogen. The active amount in Ovestin is miniscule, and because it's applied very locally it's effect on the rest of your body is so low it is considered statistically irrelevant. My oncologist routinely prescribes Ovestin to breast cancer survivors.

JinglingSpringbells · 22/05/2023 22:20

rattymol · 22/05/2023 22:17

@JinglingSpringbells if you take HRT you are replacing hormones. When you stop HRT the level of hormones in your body drops. Since it is the drop of hormones that leads to many symptoms, your assertion that the drop in hormones after coming off HRT would have no impact, makes zero logical sense.

Do some reading on medical sites- Dr Louise Newson has a good one and it's all covered there.

Bookist · 22/05/2023 22:20

rattymol · 22/05/2023 22:19

@Bookist if you think the profit motive has no impact on medical care then you are very naive

Not naive at all. I know full well the financial gains that GPs get from prescribing certain medications.

rattymol · 22/05/2023 22:22

@JinglingSpringbells you keep simply saying drs state differently. But logically what you and others are saying does not make sense.

rattymol · 22/05/2023 22:23

@Bookist GPS get no gains from HRT. Private drs benefit if they prescribe HRT.

Bookist · 22/05/2023 22:26

rattymol · 22/05/2023 22:23

@Bookist GPS get no gains from HRT. Private drs benefit if they prescribe HRT.

Yes, and the women they prescribe it to also benefit. It's a win/win. But seriously do you believe that private consultants who also work for the NHS give different advice, consideration and medication to their NHS patients?

rattymol · 22/05/2023 22:29

Why not?

Nutterjacks · 22/05/2023 22:33

Kendodd · 21/05/2023 22:28

I'm in my 50s, having normal menopause symptoms, nothing terrible.
I'm not on any medication and don't want to be, although reading this, it seems there are health benefits (like reducing risk of certain cancers and osteoporosis) am I understanding that correctly? If so, would all women benefit from taking HRT? The fact it's only available on prescription suggests care should be taken with it?

It's also available to buy over the counter now.

https://onlinedoctor.superdrug.com/gina-tablets.html?gbraid=0AAAAADrzrcdXxyhf6afyUXuNW0okFy9A&gbraid=0AAAAADrzrcdXXxyhf6afyUXuNW0okFy9A&gclid=CjwKCAjwpayjBhAnEiwA-7enazuiQluSKXUJdbDduLGn6KwCBs005lRzkEAHJY1gt267BdY3YbjNMhoCAuUQAvDBwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

Esjolaol · 22/05/2023 22:36

I am late 50s and my period stopped when about 46 . It never occurred to me to go to the Dr . I don’t have any friends that have taken HRT that I am aware of …it just wasn’t a thing that I gave any thought to

FelicityFeatherstone · 22/05/2023 22:39

@Bookist I read somewhere that it increases your risk of womb cancer which makes me a bit reluctant as I have a womb still

kizziee · 22/05/2023 22:58

Thank you @GillyGilipollas - glad you found something to help

Judystilldreamsofhorses · 22/05/2023 23:19

Interesting thread. I started HRT about this time last year, didn’t get on with patches, and then got a Mirena, gel, plus Vagifem. I put on loads of weight but otherwise felt okay - definitely not the game changer that others have though.

Forward to last month when I caught Covid, then everything went haywire with bleeding - I had the same after each jab. I played around with the gel dose to try and stop it, which it did, but I blew up like a balloon! I stopped the gel last week. I’m bleeding again but my breasts are no longer feel like huge swollen boils, and my stomach is flat.

I’m open to going back on it depending on how I feel, but let’s see. I wouldn’t stop the vaginal oestrogen as I was so sore I almost flew through the roof when the gynae doctor put the speculum in to fit my coil. I hadn’t even realised it was something I could get treatment for so didn’t mention it to my GP - what an idiot.

DustyLee123 · 23/05/2023 06:54

It’s interest that the localised vaginal oestrogen is said to not travel around the body, yet if you read the blurb it can cause side effects which are not local, ie high blood pressure and stomach pain, and the warnings include previous breast cancer, blood clots and liver disease. Yet it’s localised 🤔

Damnspot · 23/05/2023 06:57

How can vaginal cream be localised but you can also use utrogestan tablets vaginally??

UnaOfStormhold · 23/05/2023 07:38

@DustyLee123 I think vaginal estrogen gets those warnings not because of any specific research on it but because they use the generic HRT warning, which is itself based on older formulations and not all applicable to modern forms of HRT e.g. transdermal which doesn't increase blood clot risk. There is a campaign to update the warnings on both vaginal estrogen and HRT.

To answer OP's question, overall it is a very personal balance of risk and benefit. While HRT relieves my symptoms (mood swings, insomnia and night sweats) I probably wouldn't be taking it if I had breast cancer running in my family rather than osteoporosis. I think for some women it's obviously life changing and desperately needed. But it's not a universal panacea for all the ills besetting women in their 40s and 50s and it's important not to feel that HRT means you don't need to look after your health in other ways, or end up constantly increasing HRT dose to try to deal with persistent symptoms instead of getting investigated for other conditions like thyroid issues that could be the cause of the symptoms. Some women find the side effects more bothersome than others do and again it's a personal calculation of benefits.

GillyGilipollas · 23/05/2023 07:54

But it's not a universal panacea for all the ills besetting women in their 40s and 50s

This is very true. There could be all number of other things going on with your health which is why it's so important to have a GP who is switched on and will test for things like thyroid or recommend self-help, or things like supplements.

If you sail through your 40s and 50s without any menopausal symptoms then fabulous. But it doesn't make you better, healthier, more resilient than those of us who don't. There is this weird attitude among some women that not taking HRT is a badge of honour. Probably the same women who thought they handed out gold star awards on the postnatal ward for those who gave birth without pain relief.

The reason why people go private is that many NHS GPs are just hopeless. We've all got stories - I personally broke down in tears on two female GPs in their 40s/50s who knew I'd had a hysterectomy 3 years previously and had several other symptoms like recurrent UTIs for which they had prescribed antibiotics and I'd also seen them about ongoing joint pain. Didn't join the dots or even mention the word "menopause" - reached for the prescription pad and sent me off with antidepressants. After i'd seen more stuff on TV from women like Kirsty Wark, Davina McCall, Louise MInchin, the penny dropped and I saw a third GP and specifically asked about menopause. He did blood tests (not recommended) and sent me off with a prescription for folic acid.

It took seeing a fourth GP and assertively telling him that I wanted to try HRT that I finally got the prescription. I asked the (middle aged, female) receptionist at my large GP practice whether in addition to the diabetes clinic, asthma clinic, pregnancy clinic, etc they had a menopause clinic. She looked at me as if I had two heads. The waiting list for referral to the specialist menopause clinic in my city is 18 months. Many women can't wait that long.

bellac11 · 23/05/2023 08:07

Yes, theres no 'well woman' clinic at my GP or anything tailored for menopause etc.

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