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[KittyKats]

Looking to come off HRT now after five years and wondered if anyone can recommend alternative remedies that have helped them post menopause?

[GalwayGirl]

Hi again Kitty Kats - I am looking to come off too as can’t tolerate progesterone but am wary as have a brutal depression. As well as Jen Gunter and Amanda Thebe I would recommend Annice Mukherjee, I think you’d navigate something from them.
Also good functional nutritionist at Habitude.com xx

[KittyKats]

Thanks so much for these recommendations GalwayGirl. I watched a video of Jen Gunter and found it very helpful. It's so difficult isn't it? I'm in the middle of a cancer scare at the moment and I'm fed up of the bleeding on HRT so feel life would be quieter without it. I also have had issues with progesterone. I take it vaginally but have now been told to take it orally but I'm reluctant as had terrible anxiety on COC years ago. I guess we can always try and see....currently cutting down dose!

[bombsh3ll]

Please don't waste your money on "menopause supplements". This is an unregulated market cynically exploiting vulnerable women, with no independent scientific evidence supporting claims made by such products.

There is no herb or food product that can replace ovarian hormones.

This doesn't mean you have to take hormones, that's a personal choice, but don't be taken in by snake oil. If anything says "menopause" on the box I would avoid it. Best case it is something benign that you could have bought much cheaper without the menowashing, such as vitamin D. Worst case it is potentially harmful.

[flo69]

I'm also intolerant to progesterone, my GP convinced me this doesn't happen with HRT 

I tried HRT and basically lost both my body and mind to the terrifying roller-coaster depression that came close to killing me.

So having concluded the GP has it ENTIRELY wrong, I'm every bit as intolerant as I used to be, the practice pharmacist said they ought to give me tibolone. Thank you pharmacist, you may have saved my life because I'm in that difficult position of needing HRT but finding the side effects culminate into the worst illness I've ever suffered in my whole life.

I ditched HRT after almost a year of torture at the hands of my clueless GP, she is the menopause specialist at our GPs' practice yet didn't know that if a woman says she's intolerant to progesterone, you're not supposed to gaslight her any more, you're supposed to offer her tibolone, which gives relief to even the most progesterone intolerant woman without pain or bother.

The only exception is if the woman has a history of blood clots. I have high blood pressure, even that's not a problem with tibolone.

It is a type of HRT that isn't called HRT because it isn't a replacement of the hormones themselves, HRT supplies ready made hormones for two of the three we find fall away, progesterone and oestrogen but not testosterone.

That is where tibolone is superior, it provides the building blocks for your body to make it's own hormones, so there are no side effects because you aren't dealing with manufactured hormones. Not only that but our bodies make not just progesterone and oestrogen from tibolone, but also testosterone which HRT neglects.

So while it isn't natural, it is very effective and without side effects ime, giving bone protection without raising cancer stats.

[flo69]

P.S. Black cohosh in high doses takes away most of the sweating and flushes. I used it before getting tibolone, now I don't need it.

[bombsh3ll]

Absolutely if tibolone has not been tried it would be an obvious choice rather than going untreated.

Often women ditch HRT because of issues with the progestogen component, having only ever tried one formulation.

[GalwayGirl]

Totally agree bombshl about the mad supplements game - all 3 women I recommended v much against this - some people find functional medicine helpful however.

[KittyKats]

Thanks ladies for your input. And thanks flo69 for the tibolone and black cohosh tips! I'm glad it's worked out for you.

I'm currently going through a cancer scare as they have seen 'something' on my latest scan and they don't know what it is alongside years of bleeding on HRT. So I will have to have a hysteroscopy. I don't want to be on yearly suspected cancer two week pathways on HRT. It's just easier for me to come off it altogether.

[bombsh3ll]

I can understand how worrying that is, however it is extremely unlikely to be malignant and you may feel better once further investigation has put your mind at rest.

I would recommend seeing a menopause specialist, as it doesn't sound like your care has been particularly well managed, and bleeding can virtually always be eradicated in the hands of a skilled clinician who is willing to tailor your treatment.