Is *everyone* on HRT now?

[Kangaroobrain]

I'm 56, last period 3 years ago. TBH I think my menopause symptoms haven't been too awful compared to some people (although with my terrible brain fog I might have forgotten them already 😂) but I'm still getting some. I still have night sweats and occasional flushes, I've noticed my skin is starting to feel very thin and itchy, and I have completely lost the ability to multi task - I'm getting really forgetful.

When my sister asked her GP about HRT she was advised not to as we have a strong family history of breast cancer, so I didn't really even consider it myself. But speaking to friends and coming on here makes me wonder if it's now the norm to be on it?

lots of my friends swear by it.. sadly im also in the bracket of people not allowed to have it due to family history etc. I'm 56, last period about 3 years ago! couldnt tell you where i am on the symptoms scale :). but good luck

I went out for a meal with a group of friends and was the only one not on hrt so it can feel like it's everyone but I'm sure it's not.

I'm 55 and had a period in August. Nothing since.
I don't take HRT because of a blood clotting disorder but I'm not sure if I would anyway. I get very intense hot flushes every day but I think that's the worst of it.

No. I might have been had I not had a hormone leas breast cancer at 50. I have two friends actually on it. The rest of us have not felt the need. I feel fortunate that it's not been too bad for me in the grand scheme of things.

Maybe not but every second woman I met
In the Macmillan unit while having treatment for breast cancer, developed it within a year of HRT. Including my mother in law. Of course it could all be coincidental 🤷🏻‍♀️

I'm 54. I think in my group of about 10 friends, I'm the only one not on HRT.

I’m the only one on it out of all of my friends, I like the protection benefits of HRT.

Not me.
Last period age 48, now age 56, still getting flushes and sweats but they’re manageable. Brain fog is a pain, and my multitasking abilities aren’t what they were. But I tried HRT a few years ago, gained half a stone in a month, so gave up.

It isn't just breast cancer, there are other cancers in the family that might indicate you are vulnerable if you take HRT, such a ovarian cancer, peritoneal cancer,

Most women dont take HRT. I have one friend who I know does take it, and around 10 who I know don't, and many others I don't know one way or the other.

I never took it

I take letrozol, which is the exact opposite of hormone replacement therapy - it is hormone banishment therapy!

My MIL was on it for years but none of my contemporaries (50's) are considering HRT.
There is certainly strident support for it on MN.

I thought carefully before starting because of a family history of breast cancer. My GP sent me this
bcrisktool.cancer.gov/calculator.html

And the attached, both of which I found helpful.

Link below if that picture is too small

www.womens-health-concern.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/WHC-UnderstandingRisksofBreastCancer-MARCH2017.pdf

Yes, I take HRT and most of my friend group.

I was the first amongst my group of friends to go on it. Out of 10, 8 are now taking some form of HRT. I have collegues taking it. My friends talk about it all the time. I couldn’t function without it. It also protects my bones - I fell over running last year and broke two bones but not my wrists which was amazing considering I fell onto my hands. I would argue the HRT protected me.

I'm 47 and most of my friends and colleagues around my age are on HRT including myself. I am very surprised it being as low as 15%.

I am taking HRT, not for menopausal symptoms but for bone health.

I was diagnosed with osteoporosis at age 61 and only then discovered that if I had taken HRT in my 50s it would have protected my bones (and in addition, protected me against heart disease and dementia).

I thought I'd missed the boat and it was way too late to start HRT in my 60s, but then I started looking into it and discovered that many GPs had been prescribing HRT for older women.

So, at the age of 63 and 11 months, almost 14 years after menopause, I started on HRT for the first time. I intend to continue with it for as long as possible, for the rest of my life, hopefully.

well, I was a healthy weight, didn't smoke or drink and ran marathons, and still got breast cancer.

I am told if I had taken HRT I would have developed it decades earlier

People will not have access to genetic testing on nhs for BRCA etc before using HRT. I do wonder why you suggest this is necessary? If someone has a genetic risk(let's consider BRCA), their risk is already 80%+ adding the small risk associated with HRT is minimal. You can't make high risk any higher! I can't see many women saying well I'm OK at an 80% risk of breast cancer but if I take HRT and it makes my risk 85%, that's just too high (figures plucked randomly and are not accurate to a particular person). These women also often have very strong family histories and if a genetic cause is identified, have ovaries removed for risk reduction and will need HRT, to protect them from bone and heart disease. I would argue that there is a lot more consideration needed for those women who have strong family histories of breast cancer but no under lying genetic causes found. Taking HRT in these group of women could push them from a moderate risk of developing breast cancer to a high risk. These women need to see their local family breast history clinics and menopause clinic and discuss all forms of HRT options available to them.

I take HRT and all bar one of my close friends’ group of 11 do too. We’re aged between 47 and 54.

going by this, it seems that HRT uptake is very much linked to friendship groups, so I wonder if there is an element of social contagion in some of these menopause symptoms?

I am 55 and I think my periods had stopped by 49. I never really was one for keeping track of this sort of stuff.

I remember having night sweats, brain fog, insomnia etc. I wasn't very healthy at the time through and around the same time I got a puppy. I cleaned up my diet, lost 7 stones, stopped caffeine and alcohol and walk miles every day now. I think that offset some of my symptoms because I was lighter and fitter which made me feel better anyway iyswim.

It never crossed my mind to use HRT, I don't remember seeing so much publicity about it as I am seeing now. My mother never used it and is in great shape at 81, so it never occurred to me.

I understand why women do use it though as some of the symptoms can be very debilitating. Also, there is quality of life to consider.

One thing I don't understand though. I can't pretend to have read a lot about this subject, but if breast cancer is oestrogenic and the drugs to help slow the growth cancer are anti-oestrogenic, wouldn't the menopause be protective for breast cancer? If so, doesn't HRT increase oestrogen, thus raising the risk again? It confuses me, so if anyone can help me understand this I'd be grateful!

yes, of course, but we all still have plenty of oestrogen after the menopause, and if we take HRT, we have much much more than is natural.

Hence letrozol being prescribed to limit the risk of breast cancer - it suppresses eostrogen, so is the exact opposite of HRT

I'm 49. I'm not on HRT. Some of my friends are, I'd say less than half, but more than the 15% quoted above.