Do most women go on Hormone Replacement Therapy?

[Anonymous]

No, I am 60 and don't know people my age who are on it. According to BRCA testing I am at elevated risk for breast cancer due to family history and jewish heritage so definitely not doing anything to increase the risk. I went through a couple of periods of hot flashes, and still get the occasional one, but it's manageable at this point.

[Anonymous]

Individual assessment for risks and symptoms to find the best treatment, which may include HRT. The pendulum has swung historically from HRT being widely prescribed to being rarely prescribed and I think we are coming back to a middle ground. There's also timeframe of use to consider- in the five years following natural menopause has a very different risk profile than extended use. I'm an endocrinologist and if I have considerable symptoms I would likely do a low-dose OCP in the menopausal transition time frame then discontinue a few years after natural menopause. I would avoid pellets (challenging to precisely titrate dose and if you have side effects/complications they may not be able to be removed).

[Anonymous]

https://www.menopause.org/ NAMS has good info on treatment options. They have a good app for download as well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m 49 and having hot flashes daily. I will be talking about it with my doctor. Does anyone have a website or resource to learn more about it. This is new to me but intense so I’m hopeful for some relief!

I believe that if you go on HRT that your hot flashes will go away but at any time that you get off HRT you will have hot flashes again. So you'll end up dealing with it one way or another. That's one reason I just toughed it out until the hot flashes faded for good. But obvs talk to your doctor about.

[Anonymous]

My cyborg told me to take supplements to help with symptoms. B complex, black cohosh, calcium. I can’t recall what else.

[Anonymous]

^^^gyno*

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My cyborg told me to take supplements to help with symptoms. B complex, black cohosh, calcium. I can’t recall what else.

I know it's an auto correct, but it was pretty funny.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My cyborg told me to take supplements to help with symptoms. B complex, black cohosh, calcium. I can’t recall what else.

I know it's an auto correct, but it was pretty funny.

NP and made me laugh too! 😁

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I read a book by Newson on menopause. I’m currently in menopause and it was seriously affecting my sleep and life with night sweats and multiple flashes a day. I asked my obgyn about hrt and am on a patch. I have my life back and am so glad I did this. You don’t have to suffer.

+1
I have an appointment with my doctor next week. I just can’t take the night sweats anymore. It’s been going on for a year and it’s unbearable. The interrupted sleep is killing me. To the posters who are saying just to deal with it, I’d like to wake them up 2-3 times EVERY night with uncomfortable sweat. There’s a reason sleep deprivation is a form of torture.

Hoping I can get something. Everything I’ve read has indicated that doing menopause hormone therapy (MHT) before age 60 and within 10 years of menopause is safe. I’m about to turn 55 and winding down to menopause. And there’s no family history of cancer or other issues mentioned when considering MHT.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My cyborg told me to take supplements to help with symptoms. B complex, black cohosh, calcium. I can’t recall what else.

I know it's an auto correct, but it was pretty funny.

NP and made me laugh too! 😁

Thanks for the laugh!

[Anonymous]

Why.. what happens during peri menopause/menopause.. should I be scared?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why.. what happens during peri menopause/menopause.. should I be scared?

2nd and a different poster. I'm almost 46 y/o and no changes so far. How do you know that you are in peri?

[Anonymous]

I’m on a pretty low dose. The night sweats were unbearable on top of being a poor sleeper, I was 48 and my understanding is that menopause on the early side isn’t great for you. My family has no increased risk of breast cancer. I also still have my mirena. I’ll stay on this for no more than 5 years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A lot of old, bad science on here. The connection to cancer has been found when people start HRT long after menopause, like 5 to 10 years later. If you start in peri, or just after your last period, it seems to have significant protective effects against dementia, and that is why I am taking it. If you feel that you have brain fog, aphasia, less short term recall, etc. that’s for a reason...your brain is significantly altered without estrogen, and studies seem to show that a rapid decline from estrogen to no estrogen can actually cause irreversible damage. There’s a reason rates of Alzheimer’s are so much higher among women, but most science in general focuses in men, not in the unique role that hormones play in a woman’s body.

And there is still evidence of cancer. So, no.

There is also evidence that not getting enough sleep increases the risk of Alzheimer's so if menopause is making it harder for you to sleep, that has its own risks (beyond just alzheimer's).

Do they account for age? A big factor in developing Alzheimer's is age, and women live a lot longer than men on average, so it would make sense that more women than men develop it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I did not take it -- but then I was diagnosed with premenopausal breast cancer. Chemo put me straight into menopause and it was awful. I ended up going on a low-dose of Effexor, since HRT is off-limits for breast cancer patients, and the Effexor helped a lot.

I know women who take HRT and women who do not. Sadly, if you want to learn more about managing menopause -- however you choose to do it -- you will probably need to raise the issue with your doc. Physicians could be so much more helpful and proactive about menopause than they are ....

I'm surprised, and happy, to hear this. Back in the "old days" (the early 2000's) doctors pushed hormones whether you wanted or needed them or not - and other women made you feel stupid and unhealthy if you refused hormones. Docs cited research that had not been completed, and once it had, showing HRT to be dangerous in many ways, they quickly took patients off of HRT. It was a panicked mess, unless you hadn't gone on HRT in the first place.
https://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/02/health/us-stops-estrogen-study-citing-risk-of-stroke.html?searchResultPosition=1
https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/471025

Keep in mind that the major influencers of MDs are drug sales reps and insurance agents. Whatever makes or costs money for docs is what most influences the health care you get.