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?

A couple of people have asked about osteoarthritis and HRT. This may be of interest https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9397736/

What I wanted really was to see how women have got on without using HRT. I follow a lot of fitness/wellness people on instagram and practically all of them recommend using HRT to age well (not just visually, which is a bonus, but overall). The menopause meetings at my workplace all seem to focus on the benefits of hrt. To be honest, a lot of the things that come up in my feed can lead you to believe you need to be on HRT if you want to feel fit, strong and look well. I fully understand that some women need it but was looking for a bit of reassurance that you can be fit and strong well into old age without it. I was hoping this thread wouldn't turn into one of those divisive ones and I've been happy with a lot of the responses. I feel comfortable now with my current personal choice not to take it, and of course that could change in the future.

I am taking it purely for prevention as I have lowish bone density. It has given me reflux though due to progesterone 's impact on the lower oesophigial splincter so it is hard to know if it is worth the trade off.

One thing that's worth knowing, whether or not you take HRT, is that eating 50g of prunes per day has been shown to have a positive effect on post-menopausal bone density

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35798020/

I couldn’t take HRT because I was on chemo and then Tamoxifen for 10 years. No issues at all. Occasional hot flush and a bit of brain fog but I think that’s due to stress rather than anything else. I actively memorise stuff to ensure I keep my brain working (including car number plates when I walk down the street😂). I work full time, have an active social life (but I drink only very occasionally), exercise and have loads of energy. I live by the motto ‘you don’t stop doing things because you get old. You get old because you stop doing things’. People are very surprised when they find out I’m 60 (or they could just be being kind 😂) but I also think people have this image of a 60 year old being a wizened little old man/woman sat in their settee in their slippers moaning.

It depends what symptoms you have. I developed balance issues, became a bit wobbly on my feet and felt 'old'. I increased my HRT and it went. The inner ear has oestrogen receptors which is the reason this happened.

But some women will never have this symptom. Some women have no symptoms at all- a few of my friends have barely noticed it! I have had nearly every symptom. When I stopped being able to have an orgasm that was a particularly sad time.

It's a bit like skin care I think. I've used expensive skincare and SPF religiously since I was 21 but I look every day my age, sagging jowls, wrinkles. I have friends who have never used moisturiser and they look 10 years younger than they are!

We are all different. For me personally without HRT I'd be a fat, angry, sexless women sitting in the corner with no interest in anything. With HRT I feel like I did 20 years ago.

I am in Italy and hardly anyone seems to be on HRT here. A lot of my friends (in their fifties and sixties) seem to be fit and healthy anyway. I still want HRT though as I feel it is ageing ME.

What I wanted really was to see how women have got on without using HRT. I follow a lot of fitness/wellness people on instagram and practically all of them recommend using HRT to age well (not just visually, which is a bonus, but overall).

Instagram is just a platform for people to get followers and try to become an influencer and promote their businesses.

It's maybe best to ignore those and instead read sound medical research and see how you get on over the next year or so with no HRT.

Some women (me) had no menopause symptoms till almost 53 so it doesn't always go pear-shaped in peri.

If your symptoms make a huge difference to your life, consider HRT. If they don't, carry on as you are. It's completely individual.

That's fair enough.

They’re absolutely useless here!
I’ve had blood tests years ago to show I had started to go through the menopause

@BrendaSmall thats awful I'm so sorry. I'm in the south of the UK with a predominantly young and female practice. Perhaps that helps! They are so proactive for female health.

I would be interested to know how women not using HRT find their vaginal health is affected during/after menopause. (I use systemic HRT & vaginal oestrogen & would be very worried about giving up the latter.)

If you don’t use vaginal oestrogen, do you find yourself experiencing vaginal discomfort? Any sexual problems? UTIs?

I was only wondering yesterday who will put my vaginal oestrogen in my vagina once I'm in a care home?

Imagine the UTIs that could be avoided if this was done regularly for women in care homes!

Before I had it I was so sore plus prolapsed. Even using it twice a week wasn't enough. I often use it daily now.

Just to add to this @BrendaSmall it is very easy to change your practice online - you don't have to go in or give a reason. I switched from a mostly male practice where I'd been palmed off with prozac for nearly a decade and within 2 months most of my long term health issues have been supported in very different ways and I'm actually not depressed at all. I'd see if your friends have suggestions for a more up to date practice where you can see someone who has done training.

That's such a good point. I bet noone thinks of the difference it could make.

Yes - sorry don’t mean to derail thread- I have POA for 2 elderly female relatives & was thinking of asking their GPs about prescribing vaginal oestrogen- the problem is that for that age group such things were never talked about! I fear both would be mortified- but UTIs are a real issue for both.

I think it's really thoughtful of you. Hopefully at some point it will become the norm but until it is thank goodness for women like you thinking of it 👍

I'm not on systemic HRT but do have oestrogen vaginal pessaries, which don't 'leak' into the bloodstream. I was finished by 45, skin still good, no lines nor wrinkles, but have been using sunscreen since my mid-teens and my mother had excellent skin well into her 80s. GP sent me for a DEXA scan a few years in and I'm built like a mammoth in the bone strength department . I'm 63.

I don’t know the answer but am in the same boat as OP. I am 50 and have had no periods for 2 years now but I never had troubling enough symptoms to go to the GP for HRT (I have just bought some over the counter vaginal oestrogen). On the one hand I don’t think I really need it but on the other hand I really don’t want to be the only shrivelled up wrinkled crone whilst all the other ageless ladies are on HRT. I do pay attention to diet, exercise and skin care and do all I can on those fronts but I sometimes wonder am I missing out and will regret not taking it.

Hrt does not make anyone "ageless"!

Indeed - I'm on HRT and it definitely helps but the idea that women on it somehow wind back time is just so far off the mark

Well that’s what you hear in mainstream and social media. There are a lot of people who talk about how essential oestrogen is and how you will fall apart without it.

Follow Dr Louise Newson on Instagram my o my she opened my eyes to HRT,
It's not only for menopausal symptoms, its for bone health later on in life its for brain health,

Very interesting once you know,

I am 67 yrs old and never taken any medication for menapause symptoms, but appreciate I was fortunate to have sailed through with minimal symptoms. I have always keep active and have a young, can do attitude. I am told that I look as if I am in my early 50’s and believe that genetics bear a significant part in how we age, as well as how we think and act.

This ☝️