Why does my doctor say HRT for women under 50 is not safe but everyone around me is taking it and feeling good?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:it is SO FRUSTRATING.
I dont want to be an old twisted hag when i could have had magical youth potion. But my dr says evidence still strongly points to cancer risk. who is right? what to believe? halp.

Please don't ask this on a listserve since it all depends on the individual.

If you have not gone through menopause yet, like me, you can take birth control pills which are "hormones" and totally safe until age 55. Hopefully I will just zoom through menopause and avoid any symptoms.

If you are experiencing perimenopausal symptoms, it is safe to use MHT, depending on your health history. Talk to a menopausal expert. You can find one here https://portal.menopause.org/NAMS/NAMS/Directory/Menopause-Practitioner.aspx

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Honestly, there’s no strong evidence that HRT when started within 10 years of menopause, and ideally done transdermally, creates ANY significant health risks.

I drink wine now and then, which is causally linked to all sorts of bad health outcomes. I drive in a car even though I statistically put my safety at risk every time. I eat saturated fat even though my cholesterol is over 200 and I’ll probably need a statin someday.

When I take HRT it makes me feel fantastic. I sleep well, I reversed my osteopenia (I also started lifting), my mood is good, I have energy and no brain fog and no hot flashes. I like to feel fantastic, don’t you? Isn’t that the whole point?

Did you know that trans women are freely prescribed *multiples* of the tiny HRT doses that doctors grudgingly, with warnings, prescribe to us? A standard dose for a trans woman is 4-8 mg of (oral) estradiol per day, or the patch (2-4 x 0.1 patches). I’m in surgical menopause and had to really advocate for more than 2mg per day for myself.

We already medicalize menopause by prescribing women SSRIs, sleep meds and supplements, osteoporosis drugs, etc. And yet doctors largely continue to be unwilling to prescribe the one hormone that our bodies make and that resolves so many of the health problems that women encounter in menopause.

I’m mad and you should be, too.

This. I was given klonopin for sleep and became dependent. And then it stopped working. And coming off of it was hellish. I was also given Trazodone for sleep, which had me drowsy all day. I had been struggling with insomnia and broken sleep for a few years. No one suggested my sleep issues might have anything to do with menopause, and I didn't know. I just knew my hot flashes were awful. New doc put me on HRT a few months ago and my sleep is 100 percent fixed.

I can't believe I spent months tapering off klonopin, suffering horrible withdrawal, when someone could have just given me the Estradiol. Which works significantly better anyway.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Anyone take supplements too?

I tried black cohosh. It was useless.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you don't have cancer risk in your family, it really is doctor dependent on how they chose to read the info. I do my research and the two I have gone to, when I present my case for HRT, have no problem with it. I started at 49.

But I also go to younger women rather than any age male.

NP. I have always found male doctors to be more compassionate than female doctors, in any specialty. YMMV

And is this about compassion or competence. I think the latter

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Honestly, there’s no strong evidence that HRT when started within 10 years of menopause, and ideally done transdermally, creates ANY significant health risks.

I drink wine now and then, which is causally linked to all sorts of bad health outcomes. I drive in a car even though I statistically put my safety at risk every time. I eat saturated fat even though my cholesterol is over 200 and I’ll probably need a statin someday.

When I take HRT it makes me feel fantastic. I sleep well, I reversed my osteopenia (I also started lifting), my mood is good, I have energy and no brain fog and no hot flashes. I like to feel fantastic, don’t you? Isn’t that the whole point?

Did you know that trans women are freely prescribed *multiples* of the tiny HRT doses that doctors grudgingly, with warnings, prescribe to us? A standard dose for a trans woman is 4-8 mg of (oral) estradiol per day, or the patch (2-4 x 0.1 patches). I’m in surgical menopause and had to really advocate for more than 2mg per day for myself.

We already medicalize menopause by prescribing women SSRIs, sleep meds and supplements, osteoporosis drugs, etc. And yet doctors largely continue to be unwilling to prescribe the one hormone that our bodies make and that resolves so many of the health problems that women encounter in menopause.

I’m mad and you should be, too.

This. I was given klonopin for sleep and became dependent. And then it stopped working. And coming off of it was hellish. I was also given Trazodone for sleep, which had me drowsy all day. I had been struggling with insomnia and broken sleep for a few years. No one suggested my sleep issues might have anything to do with menopause, and I didn't know. I just knew my hot flashes were awful. New doc put me on HRT a few months ago and my sleep is 100 percent fixed.

I can't believe I spent months tapering off klonopin, suffering horrible withdrawal, when someone could have just given me the Estradiol. Which works significantly better anyway.

I had virtually the same experience and am sleeping through the night again with more estradiol. If you’re suffering, if you have any menopause symptoms, please just take the hormones. You’ll feel so much better almost immediately. Don’t be like us!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You really should have genetic cancer screening before going on hrt.

How do you do that?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:it is SO FRUSTRATING.
I dont want to be an old twisted hag when i could have had magical youth potion. But my dr says evidence still strongly points to cancer risk. who is right? what to believe? halp.

Have fun getting cancer then.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Honestly, there’s no strong evidence that HRT when started within 10 years of menopause, and ideally done transdermally, creates ANY significant health risks.

I drink wine now and then, which is causally linked to all sorts of bad health outcomes. I drive in a car even though I statistically put my safety at risk every time. I eat saturated fat even though my cholesterol is over 200 and I’ll probably need a statin someday.

When I take HRT it makes me feel fantastic. I sleep well, I reversed my osteopenia (I also started lifting), my mood is good, I have energy and no brain fog and no hot flashes. I like to feel fantastic, don’t you? Isn’t that the whole point?

Did you know that trans women are freely prescribed *multiples* of the tiny HRT doses that doctors grudgingly, with warnings, prescribe to us? A standard dose for a trans woman is 4-8 mg of (oral) estradiol per day, or the patch (2-4 x 0.1 patches). I’m in surgical menopause and had to really advocate for more than 2mg per day for myself.

We already medicalize menopause by prescribing women SSRIs, sleep meds and supplements, osteoporosis drugs, etc. And yet doctors largely continue to be unwilling to prescribe the one hormone that our bodies make and that resolves so many of the health problems that women encounter in menopause.
I’m mad and you should be, too.

Cholesterol is OVER 200?!!! You are puttinf yourself at a huge risk for heart attack, stroke, diabetes. I'm more mad your Dr has not put you on a serious diet and exercise regime, and cut outbthe HRT until you lose weight and lower your cholesterol. YIKES.

[Anonymous]

My doctor fully supports. No one dies of cancer in my family they all die way 60s and early, early 70s from heart disease. For me the benefits far outweigh any risks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Most of the doctors are relying on an old poorly designed study from over 20 years ago. The more recent studies show that IF YOU START HRT BEFORE you are fully through menopause it has significant benefits in protecting your heart and brain. If you wait until you are in your 60s, it’s too late because those receptors have turned off and so your body isn’t able to make appropriate use of the hormones and the effect is negative.

This contradicts 14:24.

From my mother's abysmal experience with HRT, I'm not touching it. Also, it doesn't make sense to me for "normal" menopause. And the constantly changing medical recommendations do not inspire me to change my mind.

+1 my mom had a horrific 18 months on hrt and died of ovarian cancer 15 years later.

Most women do not have a horrific experience with HRT. It has also changed a lot over the years. In the WHI study, they were taking synthetic oral estrogen and progestin. Now it’s often given as a bioidentical estrogen transdermal patch with bioidentical oral progesterone, which has lower risks of side effects. There is always a small risk of breast cancer, of course, but often the benefits outweigh the risk. My mother and grandmother both had osteoporosis, and I am in almost in menopause at age 45, so I am taking HRT for now.

This is not conclusive:


From the Mayo Clinic:
Are bioidentical or natural hormones safer and more effective than hormones used in traditional hormone therapy for menopause symptoms?
Answer From Tatnai Burnett, M.D.

"No, they aren't. According to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and several medical specialty groups, the hormones marketed as "bioidentical" and "natural" aren't safer than hormones used in traditional hormone therapy. There's also no evidence that they're any more effective.

The term "bioidentical" means the hormones in the product are chemically identical to those your body produces. In fact, the hormones in bioidentical medications may not be any different from those in traditional hormone therapy. Several hormone therapy products approved by the FDA and prescribed by doctors or other health care providers contain bioidentical hormones."

https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/menopause/expert-answers/bioidentical-hormones/faq-20058460


From the Cleveland Clinic:
Conventional hormone therapy vs. bioidentical hormone therapy
"Compounded bioidentical hormones are advertised as being a safer, more effective, natural and individualized alternative to conventional hormone therapy. However, these claims remain unsupported. Also, the lack of FDA oversight for compounded hormones generates additional risks regarding the purity and safety of compounded bioidentical hormones."

https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/treatments/15660-bioidentical-hormones


From Harvard Medical School:
Are bioidentical hormones superior to hormone medications?
January 1, 2022
By Toni Golen, MD, Editor in Chief, Harvard Women's Health Watch; Editorial Advisory Board Member, Harvard Health Publishing; Contributor, and Hope Ricciotti, MD, Editor at Large, Harvard Women's Health Watch

"While advertisers may claim that these bioidentical hormones are "natural" alternatives to hormone medications, the truth is that the two are often very similar — but bioidenticals may come with less quality assurance. Many FDA-approved hormone therapies also meet the description of a bioidentical (although they're not usually advertised this way). In some cases, they are actually made using the same ingredients as bioidentical hormones. There's little evidence that bioidenticals are superior to FDA-approved hormone medications, and in fact, bioidenticals may be riskier, because they aren't scrutinized or tested by the FDA to verify dose and purity."

https://www.health.harvard.edu/womens-health/are-bioidentical-hormones-superior-to-hormone-medications

interesting, because I've heard so many doctors say they like bioidentical more and that there are fewer side efects. I also heard something reecntly - from a doctor at Emory? - about how tere's somerthing about the way research was done that yields the bioidentical hormones as more reliable, but I can't remember specifics

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I tried it initially a few years back and it made me very short-tempered and target - kinda like taking prednisone. Roid rage. I have pretty bad symptoms. Maybe I should try again? I’m only 48 and have been in full menopause for 5 years.

You get “roid rage” from anabolic steroids, which is totally different than prednisone. This post demonstrates how little people know about medicine. The views posted here on HRT and the above are ignorant. Embarrassingly so!

I’m not saying it was roid rage. I’m saying it felt like they. Calling someone ignorant for attempting to describe the sensation of being on HRT is not helpful in guiding more women to effective treatment.

NP, and a little off topic, but last time I was on high dose prednisone I could have stabbed a puppy. I have never felt such instantaneous rage. It was terrifying. And this is a relatively common reaction to high dose steroids. Every doctor I mention it to just smiles and says, yeah, some people have that reaction.

I think most people have that reaction no? Our child was on (extremely high) doses for a while and the docs were 100% certian it would happen- seems reaosnable that it would happen at a minor level on lower doses

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Honestly, there’s no strong evidence that HRT when started within 10 years of menopause, and ideally done transdermally, creates ANY significant health risks.

I drink wine now and then, which is causally linked to all sorts of bad health outcomes. I drive in a car even though I statistically put my safety at risk every time. I eat saturated fat even though my cholesterol is over 200 and I’ll probably need a statin someday.

When I take HRT it makes me feel fantastic. I sleep well, I reversed my osteopenia (I also started lifting), my mood is good, I have energy and no brain fog and no hot flashes. I like to feel fantastic, don’t you? Isn’t that the whole point?

Did you know that trans women are freely prescribed *multiples* of the tiny HRT doses that doctors grudgingly, with warnings, prescribe to us? A standard dose for a trans woman is 4-8 mg of (oral) estradiol per day, or the patch (2-4 x 0.1 patches). I’m in surgical menopause and had to really advocate for more than 2mg per day for myself.

We already medicalize menopause by prescribing women SSRIs, sleep meds and supplements, osteoporosis drugs, etc. And yet doctors largely continue to be unwilling to prescribe the one hormone that our bodies make and that resolves so many of the health problems that women encounter in menopause.
I’m mad and you should be, too.

Cholesterol is OVER 200?!!! You are puttinf yourself at a huge risk for heart attack, stroke, diabetes. I'm more mad your Dr has not put you on a serious diet and exercise regime, and cut outbthe HRT until you lose weight and lower your cholesterol. YIKES.

DP - calm down. Statistically, yes. But individually lots of people with genetic cholesterol and those numbers who are slim and active and don't need a doctor to "put them on a serious diet and exercise regime" FFS

[Anonymous]

The gaslighting and internalized misogyny in this thread is crazy. I had to stop reading.

I have to assume these are younger women who haven’t experienced peri telling people lifestyle changes will fix symptoms. This forum tends to attract healthy, active people. Stop assuming we’re causing peri with our diet and workouts.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Honestly, there’s no strong evidence that HRT when started within 10 years of menopause, and ideally done transdermally, creates ANY significant health risks.

I drink wine now and then, which is causally linked to all sorts of bad health outcomes. I drive in a car even though I statistically put my safety at risk every time. I eat saturated fat even though my cholesterol is over 200 and I’ll probably need a statin someday.

When I take HRT it makes me feel fantastic. I sleep well, I reversed my osteopenia (I also started lifting), my mood is good, I have energy and no brain fog and no hot flashes. I like to feel fantastic, don’t you? Isn’t that the whole point?

Did you know that trans women are freely prescribed *multiples* of the tiny HRT doses that doctors grudgingly, with warnings, prescribe to us? A standard dose for a trans woman is 4-8 mg of (oral) estradiol per day, or the patch (2-4 x 0.1 patches). I’m in surgical menopause and had to really advocate for more than 2mg per day for myself.

We already medicalize menopause by prescribing women SSRIs, sleep meds and supplements, osteoporosis drugs, etc. And yet doctors largely continue to be unwilling to prescribe the one hormone that our bodies make and that resolves so many of the health problems that women encounter in menopause.
I’m mad and you should be, too.

Cholesterol is OVER 200?!!! You are puttinf yourself at a huge risk for heart attack, stroke, diabetes. I'm more mad your Dr has not put you on a serious diet and exercise regime, and cut outbthe HRT until you lose weight and lower your cholesterol. YIKES.

You should spend your time learning more about the issue than scolding strangers on the internet. Another poster here who is thin, exercises, has a great diet and a cholesterol level above 200.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So far three (THREE) separate docs, obgyn, online doc for BC and my PCP have agreed that I should be fine on BC all the way up until menses have truly and well stopped for like a year.

So I just stay on the BC.

+1.