What happens if you don't take HRT?

[Loverofoxbowlakes]

So it appears I am very deep in the throes of peri, with symptoms that I have been mostly putting down to a sudden and awful bereavement last year, work stress, a chronic illness, but should now be easing off, but they're not (plus periods now all over the place).

Hesitant to get GP advice just yet (as they've been not great up to now, but not rejecting it at all) but what happens if you don't take HRT? Does the fog, the sweats, the forgetfulness, the insomnia (ye gods the insomnia) stay forever? Do you just get used to it? My mum and grandmothers never had any drugs to cope but we never spoke of dealing with such things - are my symptoms here to stay indefinitely otherwise?

I’m a dentist who has plenty of experience re the side effects of bisphosphates and osteoporosis. Unfortunately the jaw is an area where osteoporosis has a negative effect. In my post I stated clearly that treatment post menopause was with bisphosphates. My experience is observed and I have not come across any post meno woman who has been prescribed HRT to treat osteoporosis.
At around 55 we are offered a blood test to look at calcium levels, well I was. It was normal.
I had a DEXA scan when I started taking hormone blockers for breast cancer and will have one every two years to look at my bone density. Bisphosphates will be offered if necessary.
I am hoping that taking HRT for 4+ years will have given me sufficient protection through cancer treatment, and I had no signs of disease at my first scan so fingers crossed. It’s very kind of you to offer advice but I have a whole medical team supporting me and have extensively researched the whole HRT argument.
Hust to add another spanner in the works a new study/review has just been published regarding Testosterone, which has no robust clinical studies supporting its use. But that is a whole other thread.

I still support any woman who wants to take HRT but I don’t support the media frenzy over the last couple of years. Women are being bullied into thinking that they are missing out by not taking HRT. It’s is a personal choice but the reality is that for many women it may not have much impact.
I support use in premature menopause whether surgical or idiopathic. It gives those women the best protection against early onset osteoporosis. I feel it is being sold as an eternal youth drug which it isn’t.
Knowing what I do now I would change nothing, I would still have taken HRT, I knew the risks. I was just one of the unlucky ones.

@Angrymum22 I'm sorry about your diagnosis and appreciate your professional input. (I wasn't offering advice for you, by the way, just accounts of how other professionals treat osteo.)

I think the issue is that the tide is gradually turning from when the WHI report made a generation of women stop HRT, to a more balanced approach.

I don't think women are being bullied into using HRT. Only 14% do, so Davina and her chums haven't made a huge difference. I personally would not take 'advice' from anyone like her. She's a presenter, not a medic.

The BMS statement on it is here
https://thebms.org.uk/publications/consensus-statements/prevention-and-treatment-of-osteoporosis-in-women/

The 2nd bullet point states that HRT is the preferred treatment for younger women under 60.

Wishing you all the best with your own treatment and health.

@Angrymum22 I didn't take HRT because of the risk of breast cancer. I had menopause 10 years ago and there wasn't as much publicity. I had no idea of the protection it gives your bones.

I got breast cancer anyway and soon after that was found to have osteoporosis. I have a family history of osteoporosis plus I've taken steroids.
I take bisphosphates because my none density is quite poor and see my dentist quite often.

In hindsight I would have taken HRT.

I find that criminal, they push and push smears and mammograms yet we have a 50% chance of getting osteoporosis and we don’t get screened? makes me furious.

Steroids are a known cause of osteoporosis, if you have taken them over a long period of time it’s likely that this is the cause of your osteoporosis. Anyone who is prescribed steroids for extended periods is given bisphosphates routinely. It’s unlikely you would have made any difference with HRT. Don’t kick yourself over your decision.
It’s always a difficult decision when you have a family history of cancer. I took the risk and took HRT but ended up with breast cancer, you didn’t, but still ended up with breast cancer. Unless you have any of the genes associated with breast cancer it’s just bad luck.
The highest risk factors are known to be extended exposure to estrogen and alcohol. The trouble is you don’t really pay much attention to the causes until you are diagnosed then you spend months trying to find out “why me?” followed by months of research on how to prevent it returning. Then after a while you limit the worrying to the time between getting your scan letter to receiving the results. I’m having my yearly scan next week so currently in a high state of anxiety, I can honestly say that it is far worse than any of the meno symptoms women complain about, however, I have learned how to contain it to about 8 wks ( from receiving letter to receiving results). Hopefully by mid October I will be able to sleep again and stop biting peoples heads off.

@Angrymum22 They don't call it scanxiety for nothing. Are you in UK? I get an annual mammogram but no scan. My 4 year one is in a couple of weeks.
As to steroids, I know they cause osteoporosis. I had used a steroid inhaler for years, then dexamethasone during chemotherapy. The chemo set off a massive RA flare so I ended up on steroids for two years. Begged the rheumatologist for an alternative but it was spring 2020 and COVID. They dismissed my request for an alternative and for a dexa scan because of COVID.

Good luck with your scan. 8 weeks is a long time to wait for results. I usually get mammogram results in a couple of weeks.

Thank you Abeli, you think you’re going to be ok but it’s a subconscious anxiety. Last year I didn’t get the results report, but fortunately had a telephone consult with my bcn, who was able to give me my results. They are quick to call you back if they find anything, usually 6-7days, so if it takes 6 weeks I’m fine with that because it’s generally good news.
It’s not until you join the club you realise just how shit it is, I think it makes me a little intolerant of the whole menopause moaners. I know it’s wrong to be critical and some women really suffer but the anxiety levels that accompany cancer are off the scale. I couldn’t give a shit about meno symptoms because they mean the cancer drugs are working and hopefully stopping further cancer developing. I’m happy to spend the rest of my life with the meno symptoms if it means I get to see my DS become an adult, get married and maybe become a grandparent. It’s funny how it flips your whole attitude to meno symptoms around.