HORMONE REPLACEMENT THERAPY

Many women in their mid to late 40's may well begin to experience hot flushes, night sweats and other menopausal symptoms. HRT will help these menopausal problems and women should discuss the pros and cons of taking HRT with their doctor or nurse.

It is very important to realise that HRT is not a method of contraception and if a woman's periods have not yet stopped when she starts HRT then she must use a method of contraception in addition. We know that occasionally women do become pregnant whilst taking HRT if they do not use additional contraception. Methods of contraception to consider using with HRT are: condoms, a diaphragm, an IUD (coil), IUS (Mirena) or the 'mini pill'.

Knowing when to advise a woman to stop contraception when she is taking HRT is not easy. HRT will generally give regular monthly bleeds and it is therefore impossible to know when a woman's natural periods would have stopped. The easiest answer is often just to continue contraception until the age of 55 years, at which time it can be assumed that a woman has no further risk of pregnancy.