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[Jillyboo]

Alas it does seem for me that HRT causes weight gain. I recently had a month off and noticed I lost about 5 pounds completely effortlessly. All my clothes felt markedly looser around the waist which was lovely! Unfortunately all those pounds have just as effortlessly reappeared now I'm a few weeks back on it. The sweating and flushes were just intolerable sans oestrogen and equally as ferocious as they were some 15 years ago. Its so depressing. I would so love to be done with it all.

[sheila99]

Are you sure it's fat rather than fluid retention? I would try a different type.

[Jillyboo]

Could be fluid - I might give Vitamin B6 a try. I used that for fluid retention that was causing carpal tunnel syndrome decades ago and it definitely worked.

[bombsh3ll]

Yes HRT does cause weight gain - this comes from having denser bones and higher muscle mass, especially if on androgen replacement as well, than our osteosarcopenic sisters who don't take it.

This is a phase of life when we need to focus on being strong not skinny!

[joziel]

I think, if HRT isn't balanced properly (which I know is a controversial thing to say...) it can cause weight gain.

Basically, make sure you are taking enough progesterone. P is a diuretic and prevents the fluid retention. If you are just taking 100mg of it, that's quite a low dose and often isn't enough.

And then T, helps metabolic flexibility and muscle mass (with muscle being a caloric organ, burning energy) - and T often is not prescribed on the NHS.

Finally, my experience is that if you UNDER-eat or eat erratically, you gain weight. I know this sounds insane, but I was eating about 500-1200 calories a day and still either maintaining or even gaining weight. I used to think that it defied the laws of physics and energy or something. It was only when I started eating 3 meals a day and doing a reverse diet to gradually increase what I was eating, that I started to LOSE weight. Yes, I ate more and lost weight (I lost fat and gained muscle).

What has been key, is eating enough protein. Approx 30g for each meal and at least 1g per lb of body weight. (For me that's 144g of protein a day, but often I hit 150 or 160g of it.)

Basically, you need to look at the whole system and make it into a metabolic machine - rather than hyper-focussing on one thing (like a hormone or diet or exercise) - it requires a large scale systemic approach. Usually.

The two KEY most helpful resources for me, have been 1) a podcast called 'Metabolism and Menopause' (you can find it on Apple podcasts) - that helped most with nutrition and diet and how to do a reverse diet. And then 2) a structured strength workout programme I do at home with dumb bells. I love the Caroline Girvan app on the app store, which is called CGX. It gives you a whole programme to do so you can tick each one off as you do it. (Left to my own devices I would just not do them!).

Oh and also 3) get the app called My Fitness Pal so you can track what you eat and how much protein is in it. You don't always need to do this but it helps if you have no idea how many calories you're eating or how much protein. It was staggering how little protein I was eating before...

Hope some of that helps.

[Hurdity]

It also depends what type of hRT you are taking. HRT can cause fluid retention and bloating, and especially progesterone. Also causes changes in the breasts which can contribute to weight gain.

As joziel's post shows there is a difference between fat and muscle. I imagine what you are concerned about is increase in apparent or actual fat or body measurements. To me that is crucial because increase in muscle mass contributes to a better shaped figure irrespective of weight per se. When I weight myslef and as I have done for years, I always take my measurements too.

I would agree with joziel - I don't think there is a magical increase in muscle mass either with testosterone or oestrogen especially post-menopause - but strength training exercise is essential to keep this balance right - to avoid fat increase. In my case I have definitely put on weight recently in the past couple of years with no changes to my HRT or diet, but I know this is fat, and I know that I should do more strength training to increase my muscle mass that should occur because I take testosterone.

Hurdity x

[Kathleen]

Hello ladies.

I just wanted to post to represent those of us who have not put on weight or experienced water retention or bloating on HRT, so it is possible.
In my case the only reason I can think of is that I eat a mainly plant based diet which means lots of fibre. I consume beans and legumes for protein and nuts and seeds for fat.
I am not claiming that my situation is perfect because I am still struggling with some physical and emotional meno symptoms but perhaps my experience demonstrates that weight gain isn't always inevitable with HRT.

Take care ladies.

K.

[joziel]

I should add that I also haven't gained weight since starting HRT. In fact, I think the changes that began to happen were due to low estrogen and not having enough hormones. Starting HRT has fixed this to a large degree, along with optimising lots of other things as well.