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[Berto77]

I have been on HRT for about 18 months and its mostly been a good experience. When I first started there was a question mark over my blood pressure as it was a bit high in the doctors office but after monitoring it at home it was in more or less in the healthy zone to low pre-hypertension zone so that was ok. I have kept checking my blood pressure a few times a week and in the morning and it is typically in the healthy range. However my partner was recently diagnosed with high blood pressure and is testing throughout the day so I did too a few times and my blood pressure is always quite a bit higher in the early evening than in the morning so more like 131 over 80 as opposed to my normal 115 over 70 in the morning.

I have made an appointment to discuss this with my GP but am terrified that they will take me off HRT, I am only 45 and I was struggling to function before. Has anyone else had their HRT stopped for high blood pressure or do they just treat the blood pressure as a seperate issue? What should i say if the GP tries to stop my prescription of HRT is my blood pressure is high?

I use everol 50 patches and utrogesten tablets.

[Tinkerbell]

I have been on BP meds for a long time, nice and stable for years. A year ago I was very stressed and it went up and up. I got put on an additional BP med and never once have I been told I need to stop HRT. It is not unusual to have higher BP in evening and even your evening reading is one my GP would be happy with for me. You are on a transdermal HRT which is what they prefer if elevated BP.

[Taz2]

Hi Berto77. Your reading of 131/80 is in the pre high blood pressure range. Mine is the same and I'm on transdermal HRT without any medication at age 69. You can scroll down to the blood pressure chart here https://www.bloodpressureuk.org/your-blood-pressure/understanding-your-blood-pressure/what-do-the-numbers-mean/

Taz x 

[sheila99]

If your BP is high it's recommended not to take hrt but I don't know how high it has to be. If it's controlled by medication it's fine.

[Berto77]

@Tinkerbell Thanks for that, that is reassuring to hear that they didn't stop your HRT when your BP increased. I've done some reading and as far as I can see the transdermal HRT is actually supposed to be beneficial to your blood pressure so hopefully even if I need medication they won't take me off the hrt! I hope you are doing better and less stressed now!

@Taz2 Thank you for your reply and the link that is helpful. My reading is 122/70 this morning so still a little high but I see from the chart I am more in the lifestyle changes as opposed to the must medicate range. I certainly have changes I could make so will focus on that for now.

@shelia99 thanks for replying, I think it is supposed to be ok to use transdermal estrogen with higher blood pressure but sometimes GP's knowledge is a bit outdated? I don't think mine is that high looking at the information Taz2 linked but I'm prepared to take medication if need be I just don't want to stop the HRT!

[sheila99]

This seems to be another area where Newson and the NHS disagree
https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/hormone-replacement-therapy-hrt/
When it comes to safety imo the nhs is better than newson but if it's too high for hrt it's probably high enough you'd want to control it anyway.

[Berto77]

Just to update I saw the doctor today and she said my blood pressure was fine, good even so I just need to go back in 6 months for another check. I will continue to keep an eye on it at home and try make some lifestyle changes along with my partner.

@Sheila99 Hi thanks for that link! It does say "Blood pressure needs to be controlled before HRT is started" but I am already on it and so my concern was being taken off then potentially restarting in future, I think it seems likely that I would have stayed on HRT even if I needed blood pressure medication except in some exceptional circumstance. I looked at the nice guidelines and there wasn't really any direct mention of high blood pressure although HRT was suggested to be beneficial for blood pressure over a combined oral pill for women with early menopause. The nice guidelines have a section of cardiovascular disease but not high blood pressure specifically and again oral hrt estrogen was assocoated with a small increased risk of stroke while transdermal estrogen was not. The guidelines also seemed to suggest no risk to heart health from HRT started in women under age 60. I am guessing it is a probably something the GP has to consider based on the individual patient rather than any strict rule. I was ok this time but I will keep an eye on it!