Hi Donnarob,
You had a stroke, except you say it didn't damage you, so perhaps you'd still be allowed my medication? It's called Tibolone.
I have high blood pressure I take ramipril for, I was told by the GP that tibolone was the safest menopause treatment they could give me. She told me oestrogel and utrogestan were too risky to be given to just anyone. I know that her view is contradicted on this forum, without proper studies it all seems to be based on opinions.
Tibolone's banned in America for doping atheletes, as if the drug itself is at fault there. It's a mild anabolic steroid which our bodies can use to make the three main hormones from. However, in the US it can't be allowed out of the factory for a few million women to get relief with, because it might make an escape and be into an athlete before you know it. Imagine how awful that would be? Clearly women cannot be trusted to use it for their own relief (sarcasm).
I believe the American ban has influenced GP's here in Europe. They don't tend to know much about menopause, since it's apparantly not a compulsory module for trainee GPs in the UK
So they half remember it's banned in America and think there must be a good reason for it. There isn't. It is banned for doping athletes,
not for adverse effects in postmenopausal women. However this still seems to inhibit prescribing in the UK.
At first I wanted oestrogel and utrogestan, I asked for them and was refused, I'm glad now that my GP's unusual opinion got me the unusual drug, the one that works
far better. I got to try my requested drugs after a year on tibolone, oh no, that was bad, awful in fact, mood swings came back that I thought were history, fatigue as well and I believe the best protection for bones is from tibolone rather than O+P types of HRT.
As well as the high BP, I've been on recall to have my heart scanned every two years since my early forties, for enlargement. That is also medically irrelevant for taking tibolone. A GP can refuse tibolone on the basis the woman might be peri (that was why they switched me to O+P after a year, another doctor commented I was peri when I was post) but they won't say that to you at 66!
It doesn't even require checks the way I think O+P type combinations do. I have to get a BP and blood test once a year for taking ramipril but there no checks at all for tibolone, I've asked thinking they'd been missed.
All in all, tibolone seems like a pretty safe alternative to HRT to me. Perhaps worth a try?
