What age did you start HRT?

[Rolloisthebestpony]

I’m 41 and going to ask for it

46 but could have done with it 1-2 years prior. I just didn't link my symptoms to perimenopause until recently. Been on it 7 weeks and feel the difference already.

41 - 2 months of patches and so glad I did it. Brain fog and tiredness , awful moods like constant pms but didn’t link it with peri until very heavy periods started and had to get merina coil fitted - then the penny dropped!

42 (started three months ago), had to arm wrestle the GP slightly, but definitely for the best. My brain fog has lifted and rage dissipated.

Almost 49.

I was 58, been on it 14 months now and wished I’d had it sooner. I tried the herbal routes but nothing worked, for me it was severe joint pain, brain fog, palpitations and hot flushes that were all really bad.

36 but actually should have gone on it at 34. Was told at 35 I'd had my last period and gone through menopause but tried delaying HRT for another year stupidly. I feel so much better on it now.

34

55, had periods until 54 but had been having night sweats etc for 3 or 4 years beforehand so probably should have started sooner.

44, should have been 42

I’m 50 next month and feel totally normal. I’m confused in a way. Is it a life of soya (vegan for decades)? Is it breastfeeding for decades?
I‘m wondering whether a) I would be better on HRT - I just don’t realise that I’m not 100% or b) if menopause is going to hit me like a train next month or something.
I’m actually a bit scared.
i asked my mum and she said she had her last period at 54. My grandmother said the same. So I didn’t really question it. But now I’m 😳

If you don’t have any symptoms then you don’t need it. If you have lots of weird symptoms that don’t seem related and don’t seem to be down to anything in particular then join the dots — often it is perimenopause.

Not everyone needs it! Some women sail through menopause, just like some women sail through pregnancy. Others don’t. It just shows that we’re all different.

Just turned 40 but could have done with starting a couple of years earlier but didn’t realise my symptoms were peri meno.

50

My main symptoms that gave me the most trouble were achy joints and stiffness in my joints. An increase in migraines, low mood, restless arms & legs, night after night of hot flushes and sweating with being unable to go back to sleep. Really really Itchy ears and sensitive skin.

I feel like I’m tempting fate by reading the thread. Nooooooo

46, I was already post-menopausal at that age though. I had tried it earlier in perimeno but the huge benefit for me of peri was only having very occasional periods and I didn't want to go back to having them again.
So I waited to be a year post-meno in order to have continuous HRT rather than cyclical HRT.
I had very few meno symptoms though, mainly hot flushes and night sweats.
if you go through menopause early (average age is 52 I think), the benefit of having HRT regardless of symptoms is that it protects against osteoporosis and heart disease in later life.

Oh and how could I forget the brain fog. It's a bit better now I'm on HRT but my memory and ability to focus are no where near as good as it was. I'm in awe of people who can retrain at something completely new in their fifties

I started hrt aged 46. - I was suffering from really bad migraines that were clearly hormonal. I had other symptoms over the past couple of years that I hadn’t linked to peri menopause: rosacea, weight gain (went from being slim to suddenly having a barrel for a tummy), weird heart palpitations for a year or so, anxiety which was completely bewildering, aches in hands, rage. No hot flushes.
Feeling so much better after a few months. I was so ignorant in retrospect - thought I’d be 50+, having hot flushes and menopausal before needing hrt.

52, nearly 53, just a couple of months ago. I wish I'd asked sooner as apparently the sooner the better really. I was trying to do it naturally, eating walnuts and avocados and sardines, but I still had no energy.

55

@Insideallday i agree, i was trying to eat yams, soya yogurt mixed with natural kefir, I alternated between unsweetened soya milk and almond milk but still, I'd become very lethargic. I wasn't depressed exactly but felt like nothing was worth the effort. I used to have a spring in my step and I really lost it. Gradually so I wasn't aware that it was menopause. Funnily enough within about 2 weeks of going on hrt, I thought, I'll go for that walk, finish painting that chair I started painting 3 years ago... et cetera!

52 but would have benefited from around 47/48 when is started getting really bad PMT that lasted from about 2 days after ovulation. Now 57 and still having periods albeit infrequently.

51ish, I'm nearly 54 now and still having periods. It was the right time for me, my symptoms came suddenly after the covid vax.
I'm actually struggling now with the changed recommendations for progesterone dosage. But up until that point HRT was great.

Your comment is really interesting as I have had the same thing with meno and motorways. I have only just started HRT aged 50 and feel a lot better already.