I think HRT is good. It took me a long time to get a GP to take my symptoms seriously and I went through some irritating times until I found a lovely GP who listened to me. I have been on Kliovance for seven years now and have felt much better, though never perfect. My weight has stabilised and my skin and hair look good and people are often surprised that I am 62.
I have had long term mental health problems with a decade long low mood/depression and I wonder if a more interested GP would have been able to prescribe a different HRT to alleviate this. I recently enquired about Tibolone and the 'female' GP I spoke too said NO NO that gives you blood clots! My own research hasn't flagged up Tibolone as being any more of a problem with blood clots and I just think she had her mind closed to HRT full-stop,
On getting my usual prescription approved last week I immediately got a text from my own 'male' GP asking me to make an appointment for an HRT 'Review'. I am now sure he is going to ask me to stop taking it and this fills me with horror! He's a very unpleasant man who I tried to get a face-to-face appointment with about my severe arthritis and who was very short with me. I've had several blood tests recently as I was getting severe joint pain and they all came back normal. My only health issue is low mood and joint pain for which he recently prescribed Naproxen.
I know that without the HRT my life will become unbearable and my mental health will deteriorate. I also believe my weight will go up and I will age overnight. I can't imagine why so many women I meet are so down, sometimes even treat me like some sort of weirdo because I'm on HRT.
I often feel some women suggest you are 'afraid' of getting old if you're on HRT or that you're sex mad! I have one 'friend' who is only 53 and talks about sex as 'that thing she doesn't bother with any more' and I think that is so sad.
My husband and I have been married for 33 years now and although not perfect - his libido is as low as mine quite often - we do at least have a sex life.
I'm terrified that I won't have anything left (my children have already disowned me for no real reason) and because of the menopause (before I got treatment) I couldn't cope with my job and we eventually lost our home (as I was on a high salary).
I doubt I am going to be able to keep my temper with this doctor and his 'review' (especially when previous GP's have said I don't ever need to come off it if I don't want to). I genuinely think GP's have lost the plot at the moment and are trying to save money left right and centre.
I personally would prefer to remain on my very low dose HRT which will keep my weight down and help me keep active. Without it I will eventually become a problem for the NHS as I will put on weight, get depressed and more than likely end up with diabetes and heart disease. It makes no sense to me why GP's think they know best when it comes to HRT.