Please share your HRT experience

[Anonymous]

From what i understand, estrogen only reduces a bunch of risks and raises uterine cancer risk.

Adding progesterone counters uterine cancer risk but increases breast cancer risk, even at low doses.

I haven’t seen data on overall quality of life and longevity.

I am sitting on the sidelines (45 with hot flashes, no other bothersome symptoms) and waiting for some more data.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:From what i understand, estrogen only reduces a bunch of risks and raises uterine cancer risk.

Adding progesterone counters uterine cancer risk but increases breast cancer risk, even at low doses.

I haven’t seen data on overall quality of life and longevity.

I am sitting on the sidelines (45 with hot flashes, no other bothersome symptoms) and waiting for some more data.

I'm not on the sidelines but also have no interest in convincing anyone to take HRT. To be clear, the current USPSTF guidelines allow for a woman with no other health conditions but "bothersome" menopause symptoms to take HRT in the lowest dose, and for the shortest amount of time that can be tolerated. It does bother me that this is the guideline, given what the studies actually show when you consider all of it. So:

-Uterine cancer: There is broad agreement that unopposed estrogen (that is, estrogen without progesterone) causes uterine cancer. The only way to take estrogen alone is to first get a hysterectomy.

-Breast cancer: There is not broad agreement that progesterone causes breast cancer. The Women's Health Initiative data was originally said to show an increased risk of breast cancer for combined estrogen and progesterone (this risk was one additional case of breast cancer per thousand -- that is, not statistically significant -- but no additional deaths). It appears now that this risk was actually a result of the unusually low incidence of breast cancer in women in the placebo group who had previously taken HRT. Additionally, the form of HRT taken in the WHI was conjugated equine estrogen plus the progestogen medroxyprogesterone acetate, which are rarely used now. Due to the hysteria over the WHI, the current forms will likely never be tested in a large randomized controlled trial, and the USPSTF has rejected reliance on the many observational studies or further analysis (specifically, dividing the cohorts by time since menopause and whether they had previously taken HRT). The WHI estrogen-only group had a 40% reduction in breast cancer incidence.

-Bone health: There is broad agreement that HRT reduces osteoporosis while you are taking it.

-Dementia: When divided up by age at which HRT is started, HRT increases the risk of dementia if it is started more than 10 years after menopause. Started earlier, the risk of dementia is decreased in comparison to a placebo. This protective effect continues even when the HRT is continued into late life.

-Heart health: There are inconsistent results on the extent to which HRT is protective in the first 10 years after menopause. One study showed a 44% reduction in incidence while the WHI study showed a small but not statistically significant benefit. For HRT started more than 10 years after menopause, cardiovascular risk goes up, at least with oral estrogens (which are rarely used today). The WHI showed a risk in the first year of blood clots, but this risk has not been replicated with topical formulations. The USPSTF guideline is that women with any previous cardiovascular disease should not take HRT, and women without such disease may but not for heart health reasons. In reaching this guideline, all evidence other than the WHI data was expressly taken out of consideration.

In general, there is consensus that starting HRT more than 10 years after menopause is not beneficial and may be harmful. On just about everything else, well, see above.

[Anonymous]

Started out with Sandoz estrogen patch .0375 early April 2024 (already was on 100 mg progesterone nightly and vaginal Estrace cream 2x week) since UTIs increased. Have put on 1 lb/week since I started (and eating habits did not change). Gained 8-10 lbs since the beginning So I wrote to GYN asking to switch to lower dose estrogen patch (.025?) and CVS filled the script 2 days ago (Mylan brand). (GYN said metabolism does slow down as we age so patch dose might not make a difference). I put the Mylan patch on and now have had weak period-like cramps and gasiness last 4 days (and I've already had a total hysterectomy/kept ovaries 19 yrs ago). So am going to go patch cold turkey until my annual exam (8 weeks from now) to see if I can get rid of both the weight gain/period like cramps/bloating.

[Anonymous]

Tx The first sthing time ssrrss zźssas

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I just went online - myalloy.com. Zero interest in being mansplained about this. It's been life changing.

My alloy doesn’t take insurance. I use Midi Health and it’s been great. Really line the doctor, prescriptions quickly placed and appointments covered by insurance

[Anonymous]

Loving this thread. Let's keep educating each other and pushing those doctors in the right direction.

[Anonymous]

My gyn recommended it for me. I started on estradiol and norethindrone acetate (Mimvey) about two years ago, right at the start of menopause. My hot flashes disappeared entirely. I never had sleep disruptions, so I can't comment on that. Knee pain that started in my 40s went away. i'm the most regular I've ever been in my life (had a lot of GI stuff with my periods and during perimenopause). I don't have issues with lubrication (if you know what I mean). I'll stay on it as long as I can.

[Anonymous]

I had hearing loss not long after starting Prempro and later read it’s a possible cause of sudden hearing loss.

I’m partially deaf now.


https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2698030/