Do you really age dreadfully without HRT?

[Lia73]

I'm just about postmenopausal at 52, no period in a year. I've had a few hot flushes and a bit of trouble sleeping but other than that (and some dryness) feel OK. I take vitamins and am fairly active. We have menopause meetings at work and along with my Instagram feed, everyone seems to be on HRT. I keep hearing and reading that women on HRT look younger and age better than those not on it. I'm an older mum so want to look and feel as young as I can for as long as I can...now I obviously wouldn't go on HRT just for appearance sake. I do appreciate it's absolutely essential for some women too but I'd like to hear from those NOT taking it...are you doing just fine without it?

I had an early menopause ...last period at 45 which was 8 years ago. No HRT. I do have some health issues but they're more related to stress and anxiety. I look at least eight years younger than I am although I do have a condition that affects collagen in the hands so I wonder if that helps with the skin on my face. My libido is non existent.

What HRT did you have that helped with these things if you don't mind me asking?

Yes, interesting question.

And what about knowing anyone on it/who took it with dementia.

I am on hrt and have widespread osteoarthritis. But I had it before going on hrt. I am hoping it might slow down progress and that I don't develop any more OA.

That's interesting when compared with @MotherMary14 's experience.

Do you think its the brand/ form you had? i wonder if you both had the same...

Jury's out on dementia afaik. This older generation now are the first that's lived long enough to present with it as a primary complaint in large numbers, and the majority of the ones who do are women, and women's health is always under-researched. A few years ago there was talk that it might slow it, now there's talk it might exacerbate it. They don't even know what causes dementia really, just that plaques/tangles form and become pervasive over a period of years/decades to the point where cognitive function is notably impacted.

I had ovarian cancer and the particular type means I can never take hormones. I was already more or less menopausal by the time it was diagnosed, but I don't feel like I've been disadvantaged by not having HRT. But I guess if you've been seriously ill, maybe your definition of what's normal is a bit skewed?

The link between HRT and dementia has not yet been shown to be causal and may be 'middle age woman presents with early signs of dementia so is put on HRT as standard cure for all middle aged feminine health issues'.

Among the peers around my age I don't think anyone could tell which of us are on HRT. I think looking younger (or maybe just not looking older?) is more down to genetics and their lifestyle.

I am 2 years younger than my sister. She has taken HRT, I never have. I look older than her, mainly due to her taking better care of her skin.
I've had more bone problems than her but this could be down to many things - I run a lot on the road (weight bearing exercise = good, too much running = stress fracture...never really understood what I'm meant to do!), am quite a low weight and probably don't eat well enough. I know being a bit heavier would protect me, but I just can't do it (mentally I mean).

I haven’t taken any HRT, having had a pretty easy menopause. Nothing against it - I just haven’t needed it.

I am late 50s, have a full time job, three older kids, do about average amounts of exercise, average skincare routine, drink an average amount of alcohol, don’t avoid sun but try to remember sunblock.

In the last few years I’ve donated a kidney and went back to work after 3 weeks. I’m pretty healthy. I couldn’t do my job if my brain wasn’t functioning properly. I’ve just worked 21 hours in two days. That’s not average but it’s not killed me.

I look probably younger than my age, but I have noticed recently my skin is significantly drier, and getting more of a crepey feel to it.

Would HRT make a difference? No idea.

Not for the cohort who are presenting with dementia now. Very few of them took hrt in middle age because they were told that menopause was a normal natural thing and that hrt would give them breast cancer.

The Nice guidelines are very clear that hrt should be offered to women with menopause symptoms, and if there are complicating factors which might make it unsuitable for someone then they should be referred to a menopause specialist. There's no reason doctors should be withholding it.

I can't take HRT for various reasons. Been in peri for a couple of years now . I seem to be managing fine so far without it. I have the occasional night sweat but I think a combination of eating well, gym, long walks are helping along side vitamin and collagen supplements.

I can't take HRT for various reasons. Been in peri for a couple of years now . I seem to be managing fine so far without it. I have the occasional night sweat but I think a combination of eating well, gym, long walks are helping along side vitamin and collagen supplements.

My mum is almost 84 and was on HRT for years and years so I'm not entirely sure that's true, although she did have a fabulous woman GP at the time, so that may have been a factor.

Menopause IS a normal and natural thing. That doesn't mean women do not have problems going through it, but it is not abnormal or unnatural.
The HRT breast cancer link wasn't something just made up to put women off. There is a slight increased risk of breast cancer in those taking HRT.

I don't take HRT to look younger, but for the various other health benefits it offers. I came off it for about a year and got various aches and pains which noticeably improved in the first month of going back on. But like all meds it's not for everyone and nobody has to take it.

You can't take HRT forever and what I've noticed in people who have taken it then stopped, is that their appearance looks aged very quickly once stopped. The hrt has maintained good hair etc longer than nature would so the ageing seems abrupt when it is stopped, its not been so gradual.

My mum said she sailed through menopause without a single symptom, and didn't take HRT.

She's 73 and what's aged her is that she's resolutely avoided walking anywhere for her entire adult life. She's always driven to the shops, driven to the local village (15 minute walk), and her chickens have come home to roost in that she now has a weak frame, no muscle and no fitness.

I'm 41 so don't know how it will play out for me, but I hope my good diet, strength training and walking will help me a bit.

@LavendarPink @Calliopespa I don't think there is anything to show HRT prevents osteoarthritis.
It can cushion the joints a bit by maintaining the collagen round them, but it won't change the wear and tear much.

osteoporosis and osteoarthritis are very different things.

You can take it forever if you have no reasons to stop and still have symptoms.
There is not time limit.
I'm not suggesting anyone does- it's their choice and with their dr's advice- but there are well -known consultants on record (online) who discuss patients in their 80s and 90s still on it.

@Bulbsbulbsbulbsit’s not bollocks, sorry! There are loads of studies now to show keeping a healthy BMI and eating well can reduce symptoms - I heard something on the ZOE podcast that it can reduce symptoms by up to 70%. Just because it’s not YOUR experience, it doesn’t mean it isn’t true. Obviously there will always be people who suffer regardless, but on a population basis it IS true. And it’s not remotely misogynistic to say so - it’s just fact.

It's an impossible question to answer OP because everyone's experience is different. For example, a lot of women say that they're glad to be in menopause because it means they don't have terrible period pains anymore - but I never experienced terrible period pain. Periods like menopause differ from woman to woman

I do take HRT; I have tried to come off it and for me the aches, itchy skin and mood swings come straight back so I stay on it. I also rarely drink, exercise, and eat healthily. I don't take it to look young! (I mean really???)

at the end of the day it's not compulsory yo take it but equally please don't feel guilty if you do take it. I really dislike the idea that's taken root in some quarters that women who take HRT are somehow lacking and weak. It's as pernicious as the idea that women who don't have a natural childbirth and need epidurals or heaven forfend a Caesarian are somehow not doing giving birth right

HRT means I can get out of bed. Perimenopause hit my mental health like a sledgehammer, as did puberty. I wasn’t going through that again.

I’m hoping it will also ward off osteoporosis, as both my parents had it.

I don’t think for a minute that it makes me look younger that’s what Botox and fillers are for.