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[charlie]

goodmorning all

apologies if this post should be elsewhere

I am on hrt for the past 20 + months, (premarin)
my question is this....
how do i know if i still suffer with the severe meno symptoms i started with??
how long do meno symptoms last
should i stop hrt to see if i can cope without them??
mind you i would be slow to do this just in case!!!!
when i read threads from ladies who say "i am over the worst now" i want to know .. how do they know they are?

I would love some feedback from anyone who may be a bit ahead of me on the meno road.

thanks
charlie

XX

[luvdogs]

ive got to go to the docs in october to see how im doing . now what i want to know is will i need to go on hrt?
i had a hysto about 15 yrs ago but they left 1 ovary so i didnt have to go on hrt at the time . all this meno thing came as a bit of a shock i thought id dodged that bullet. doc put me on ads and adviced the herbal route. now 4yrs into this im coping sort of but will hrt speed it up or should i just carry on as i am.


 thank you 

[lillybee]

My advice would be if you are coping, carry on as you are. I would only take hrt as a last resort. Check some of the other posts on here. It can help relieve hot flushes, night sweats and other symptoms but a lot of women say they return when you come off hrt. I would think about it carefully, there is a lot of good advice and info. on here and discuss it with your doctor if that is what you would like to do

[madmaria]

Luvdogs.. carry on without HRT if you can.im not on it either DR has offered but i said no. im only peri meno so i guess ive a long way to go as yet but if i only need herbal tablets thats what im sticking too, all the older ladies i know who have had HRT, said when they came off it ,all their symptons came back with avengence.. no thank you very much.... 

[Taz2]

Charlie - in answer to your question I would say that the ladies who say they are over the worst of it are probably not taking HRT.

The standard time to take HRT seems to be five years so you still have some time left to enjoy the benefits. It is also normal nowadays to be weaned off slowly. My friend took six months to come off it as her Doc carefully advised her. She has had minimal symptoms and they were worse for the first three months following complete cessation of HRT.

As for how long do symptoms last - well - how long is a piece of string    I know women in their 70's who still have hot flushes and my doc is forever telling me "let go of the old you - don't expect to go back to who you were. It's not called the change for nothing" which I think means that some of the symptoms will probably always be there such as dry skin, sexual problems but that we find ways round them and of coping with them. The hot sweats were what finished me off and I defy anyone to live a normal life while being drenched every twenty minutes. I, for one, will take HRT for as long as I can and for as long as it works for me.

Love Taz x

[luvdogs]

thank you so much for advice still not sure as the night sweats are the worst but must admit they seem to be easing think ill wait a bit longer as i have read peoples posts on the subject i think ill have a good natter with the doctor im lucky ive had the same doctor for 25yrs he was there at the birth of my youngest 2 and all my madness so i trust him 
  jacqui

[Jacksfullofaces]

As soon as I start suffering unpleasant symptoms the HRT patches are coming out of the drawer. I spoke to a doctor recently who isn't an expert but many of his patients have been on it for years. He said that a small minority of women should not take it but other then that he saw no reason why it should not be used indefinitely. This doctor thought that more research should be done into pin pointing women at high risk from using HRT.
It is interesting that the Birth Control pill contains higher levels of oestrogen but is considered acceptable medicine.
Obviously every woman must make her own choice. I recall my mother's new GP trying to get her to stop taking it. Her reply was short and decidedly unprintable and HRT didn't cause her subsequent ill health and death.
From the research I have been doing alcohol intake and cigarettes pose a higher risk re breast cancer then HRT.
  Jacksfullofaces

[luvdogs]

jff thats very interesting i had nothing but hassle on the pill they made me ill maybe thats why hes a bit wary

[Jacksfullofaces]

Luvdogs
Interestingly my mother had huge problems with the pill but was fine on HRT without any unpleasant side effects. But I have always marvelled at the Medical Establishment and the arbitary no HRT or only for 5 years and yet "sure take the pill for 20 years"
Logically by taking the birth control pill a woman is overloading her hormones rather then topping up missing ones. I suspect long term use of some of those Birth control pills might have a greater risk then lower doses of HRT. Next time I go into Foyles I will stop by the Endrocrinology department and check out the books.
       Jacksfullofaces xxx

[luvdogs]

thany you jff

[loulou]

I have been on HRT for four years now and have no plans to to come off. I was wary of taking it as I did not get on too well with the pill but the night sweats made up my mind. I figured poor sleep was going to do me far more harm than HRT.
I am now on my third type, the first gave me a withdrawal bleed each month and I changed to a no bleed sort when I was nearly 55. I had constant spotting with the no bleed type which I put up with for nearly a year and I am now on a miriena/patch combo which is great.
My GP is great, has been my doctor for 29 years, his wife who is his practice nurse is the same age as me. between them they give me great care.

Lynne

[luvdogs]

thank you lou lou its great when you have the same doctor im defo gonna speak to him

[Taz2]

The difference between taking the pill and taking HRT is that you take the pill during your normal fertile time of life. HRT prolongs the oestrogen being added to your body and so it is considered not as safe. It is much the same as somebody who begins their periods earlier and ends later than "normal" being more at risk of breast and cervical cancer because of the longer exposure to oestrogen.

That's how it was explained to me anyway 

Taz

[Jacksfullofaces]

Taz
That is one theory - but I'm not entirely convinced. Example danger of woman getting breast cancer having been on HRT for 5 years goes from  24 in 1000 to 25 in 1000. The statistic is essentially meaningless mathematically.
Considering the amount of women who get breast cancer I think there far  more to it then HRT and oestrogen.
Also men are known to get breast cancer and they don't take the pill or HRT.
How about oriental women who are typically less likely to have early menopause yet less vulnerable to breast cancer?
I had cervical cancer in my twenties due to the pap virus - nothing to do with oestrogen.
Personally I believe that to a degree HRT is being used as a bogey man and that there is an attempt by some of the Medical establishmennt to frighten women off a medicine that can be highly beneficial.
You only have to compare the zeal in getting people to take simvastatin for raised cholesterol levels. That drug can cause muscle weakness, depression, digestive problems and quite a few serious side effects including death but there is an evangelical zeal to get people to take the stuff.
It seems that many women who need HRT are being scared by a small statistical blip yet other medications with dangers are dished out very freely and are even available over the counter.
jumping off soapbox 
Jacksfullofaces

[Taz2]

I agree with all that you say JFF. With breast cancer though there are a lot which are not oestrogen receptive and not caused by hormones - this is the kind which men get too. As you mentioned before alcohol puts us at risk too which is why, when prescribing HRT, my GP advised me to cut back on alcohol (which mimics oestrogen) as this would give me a double dose.

The breast cancer figures have to be studied in two separate halves - those which are oestrogen receptive and in which HRT may have played a part and those which are not. It's all too confusing - I'm off up the pub 

Love Taz x