Menopause Matters Forum
Menopause Discussion => All things menopause => Topic started by: clio on July 30, 2018, 04:42:21 AM
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Hello ladies, I was put on hrt at 39 and I will be 51 soon, 12 years seems along time and although I was glad of it when I had started all the symptoms I was wondering when I should be coming of it. I know about the higher risk of breast cancer etc so would only want to be on it as long as I need to. My doc put me on it as she was concerned about developing osteoporosis at an early age. Anyone else been on hrt long term?
Clio
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Hi! I have the same concerns about the safety and the duration of hrt's use.
I am 42 and I started HRT a year ago.
I asked a lot of gyns and everyone has his own theory. My first gyn was adamant that hrt is poison and it causes cancer. Another said that I can take it only for 5 years and another said that I can take it as long as I want with regular check ups. I chose the last!
I really cannot imagine my life without hrt and I think that I will take it the longest I can.
Nowdays hrt considered safe after all.
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It seems that if you use HRT before the usual Meno age of 51 then those years don't count risk-wise as in those years you are merely replacing what your body should have naturally produced. Some women come off it around the age of 50/51 to see where they are meno-wise and to see what symptoms they have and then restart if necessary.
I started HRT at 53 and I'm still on it eleven years later.
Taz x
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I've been on 20 years but I stearted at 25, I've always been told up until I'm 55 I'm not adding someing extra just replacing what I don't produce x
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Where did you read about the apparent risks?
Are you getting benefit? If so, why change?
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clio - I believe the slightly increased risk of breast cancer only kicks in after 60 if still on HRT. As others have said, you will get a different story from different gynaes but I think the newest NICE guidelines do not specify a time length for being on HRT and certainly not for any women who have experienced a premature meno - at 51 you are only just at the normal age for menopause anyway, which is when many women start HRT. I know a lady in her 80s who is still on HRT adn she is amazing!!!
If you are healthy and feel good, then don't consider coming off HRT yet. Perhaps take a break when you hit 60 to see how you feel? DG x
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Trouble is, if one stops the HRT GPs are loathe to put them back on even if symptoms are awful. They state age, risks etc.. :-\
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I'm wondering why GPs have this attitude...is it because the fear of cancer?
Are they poor informed? Is it an attitude towards women in general?
I had a really strong argument with a gyn a few weeks ago and he said that my problem is that I don't accept aging and such things! I am only 42. Of course I don't intend to visit him again but I wonder about the whole attitude...I said to him that if I wanted a child they would give me higher doses of hormones and they wouldn't talk about risks at all!!!
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Emerald - I think you make a good point. If we are expected to keep working till our late 60s, then we do need to fight the ageing process better and, for women, the menopause makes this very difficult - we need better help to cope. There is a general trend now within the medical profession that they must tread so carefully in case things come back to bite them. The scares around HRT (so unfounded) will make any doctor more wary in case they get blamed for prescribing HRT. However, I believe any doctor who does not prescribe HRT to women under 45 or even 50 who have oestrogen deficiency is being negligent unless there is good medical reason for not giving hormone treatment, as the consequences of oestrogen deficiency can be serious. They wouldn't not prescribe the necessary treatment for a thyroid condition, so if a women is deficient in a vital hormone(oestrogen) too early this is potentially serious. Doctors so readily dish out ADs and painkillers which can have awful side effects and long term problems, yet HRT is somehow deemed as ‘poison' by even quite eminent professionals.
I also think you are right about the attitude towards women - and more specifically towards women in their 40s, 50s and 60s. The trend to simply ‘cosh' them with ADs is endemic and needs to be questioned. The pressures on women when they hit menopause are far greater these days as well; with our children often unable to afford their own homes, so still living at home, and elderly parents living so much longer and needing support. On top of that we need to work, so if we then suffer hot flushes, poor sleep, aching joints, headaches, etc. we need appropriate treatment.
The medical profession still has a long way to go when it comes to women's health and if the cost to society, for not supporting us at this time in our lives, was properly accessed, it would probably give alarming results. At 62, I can now only work part time - I wish I could be working full time as our finances would be far better and more taxes would be going into the chancellors coffers - so how many other women are similarly not contributing as much as they could because of inadequate medical treatment and not just for the menopause but many other age related health issues?
RANT over. DG x
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I went onto it at 40 and am still on it in my 50s no intention to stop either, my Gynae has ladies in his 70s on it still, I use the bio identical HRT gel and Utrogestan.
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I totally agree with you DancingGirl, I cannot imagine myself working without hrt and I will not waste my time and my energy again asking gyns about their opinions regarding hrt.
I will stay with my gyn who is very pro HRT and will try to handle psychologically my fear about possible future risks mainly for breast cancer.
Thank you for replying! The forum is a treasure for me! :)
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I have been on Hrt since I was 60, I will be 69 on Thursday, I tried so hard for nearly 10years to cope with hot sweats, lack of sleep, etc, even gave up my job as just could not cope, in the end I did speak to my GP about Hrt, he telephoned his wife at his other surgery who knew more about it, asked me lots of questions, explained some risks and gave me Hrt, tried about 3 or 4 but settled for Femseven patch, day sweats stopped, foggy brain eased, night flushes still continue and wake me 3 or 4 times during the night, I never thought menopause would be like this, and still be ongoing after 20years :'( so ladies whatever helps you go for it .. :-* :-*
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Thanks Rosebush! Some women had no symptoms at all and sometimes I wonder what the hell is going on with me! I cannot imagine to go on my life and my career without hrt! Maybe my body doesn't produce any estrogen.
I had a friend, she had her meno at 46, no hrt, she looks great, has a body of 40, few wrinkles and that's it! She is 53 now.
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Despite the info on here etc., etc., etc. the medical profession on the whole have little knowledge of menopause symptoms or appropriate treatments. They are in general not 'specialists' in this particular field, poorly informed.
Each lady is different during The Change but many have symptoms that interact with others = requiring treatment/s.
Emerald! that statement about hormone investigations is so true, my Gynae won't do any blood tests for menopausal women but for any of his ladies trying to get pregnant >:( .............
If it ain't broke, why fix it .......... if one is getting benefit ? ::)
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I absolutely agree CLKD!
They don't hesitate to make a woman pregnant at 50 and they don't talk about risks in this case!
The major factor for blood clots is pregnancy! Because of the money they forget the risks! They remember the risks when we ask hrt for meno!
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Risks based on very old 'research' apparently.
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I think part of the problem is those wretched HRT studies. Even though they have been discredited for being deeply flawed, mud sticks and the likes of Beral and McPherson (well past his sell by date judging by the state of him on Newsnight recently where he could barely string a sentence together) stick to it like the proverbial to a blanket.
There needs to be a huge push to consign those studies to the dustbin of history along with the dinosaurs who are still wedded to it.
One thing they did (nearly) get right was the name, Million Women Study... responsible for ruining millions of women's lives.
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A large shredder required!!
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They wouldn't not prescribe the necessary treatment for a thyroid condition,
Oh Dancinggirl, how I wish you were right about the above. Thyroid diagnosis and treatment in this country is dire. One of the worst there is. You have to be nearly dead to get a starter dose of Levothyroxine these days. Its got worse recently. The choice of medication is 1. The level of illness has to be almost non-functional to start treatment and then the chances of getting proper dose adjustment and care is close to zero.
I'd say it's worse than HRT. I suffer both. It's easier to get HRT and to try different HRT's. Thyroid is kiss of death on the NHS. A slow, depressed, fat, exhausted, lingering death.
I've had yet another gp appointment today where I've been told to loose weight. I didn't have a weight problem before I got sick. And I'm doing my best to make myself well despite the gp's, but I'm not even close yet and the thought of exercise makes me want to curl up and sob.
They think we are all bone idle wasters.
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Oh Sue :'( :bighug:
Have you been referred to an endochronolist recently if your GP won't help?
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SueLW - you are right about support for thyroid issues but at least if they do diagnose you properly, they don't frighten you about the treatment as they would with HRT.
I'm afraid I have found I have to go privately for most things now which I really can't afford. DG x
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Oh Sue :'( :bighug:
Have you been referred to an endochronolist recently if your GP won't help?
I do have an endocrinologist appointment at the end of October, but that's to see if they can find anything wrong with my adrenal status. I failed a short synacthen test 2 years ago and the results were ignored! Now I'm trying to get my GP to repeat it but she is reluctant. So she referred me.
Sadly the view of many patients is that endocrinologists are useless at thyroid issues unless you are very lucky.
I've read extensively on thyroid over the past 6 years. I am prepared to treat myself if they won't do what I know I need. But for now I'm seeing how far they will go. I had to get a private doctor, the one I see for HRT, to start me on thyroxine because I wasn't deemed ill enough by the NHS.
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but at least if they do diagnose you properly, they don't frighten you about the treatment
But they do. They are terrified of osteoporosis and are fixated on the TSH blood test. They ignore free T3 altogether, even though it is the active thyroid hormone and fixate on the pituitary hormone TSH which means many patients never get a big enough dose of medication to make them well.
It's a crushing disease and the treatment is poor.
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Question: why don't the NHS conduct proper thyroid tests namely T3 free/total, T4 free/total and TSH? You need the whole lot tested.
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SueLW - I didn't know that thyroid treatment caused osteoporosis!!! Gosh I'm learning new things. I know so many women on thyroid treatment I thought it was something readily treated by the NHS!! I do have a friend who was suffering with burning mouth syndrome and her dentist referred her to specialists at Guy's Hospital and they diagnosed an under active thyroid (borderline) and put her on a low dose treatment which has transformed her life!!! Hope you get what you need. DG x
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SueLW - I didn't know that thyroid treatment caused osteoporosis!!! Gosh I'm learning new things. I know so many women on thyroid treatment I thought it was something readily treated by the NHS!! I do have a friend who was suffering with burning mouth syndrome and her dentist referred her to specialists at Guy's Hospital and they diagnosed an under active thyroid (borderline) and put her on a low dose treatment which has transformed her life!!! Hope you get what you need. DG x
Oh, Dancinggirl, don't get me wrong. Hyperthyroidism, over active thyroid, can cause osteoporosis. Under active hypothyroidism doesn't. But doctors no longer treat and diagnose on symptoms. They worship the blood test instead. TSH is a pituitary hormone, not a thyroid hormone and problems with the pituitary gland can make the numbers look high or low without there being a thyroid problem. Or the number can fall low whilst the patient still has symptoms but the doctor won't increase the meds because they are afraid that the patient has become hyper and at risk for osteoporosis and heart disease. So they keep patients under medicated to save themselves. That's the jist of it.
Thyroid hormone needs steady and reasonably good levels of oestrogen to work well too. Trying to balance both at the same time is hard. But I do think I understand it more than either of my doctors. They say some quite worrying things really. Things that give a red flag to their level of understanding.
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Question: why don't the NHS conduct proper thyroid tests namely T3 free/total, T4 free/total and TSH? You need the whole lot tested.
Because of cost? Or ignorance? Or perhaps both. I've had doctors argue T3 is irrelevant.
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My lovely Mum who is now 80 years old, was on HRT for 17 years and LOVED it. She is fab for her age and makes me feel older than her at the moment!!!
My consultant wants me to stay on HRT for the rest of my life as she thinks it's perfectly safe and research has proved this. I do realise that we have never had breast cancer in our family though and not sure how I'd feel if this were the case... At the moment I'm more than happy to stay on it forever, even though mine still needs tweaking to perfection x
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Even I know that T3 is important in getting correct treatment :-\. ......... that stinks of negligence!
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I thought long and hard before starting hrt 4 months ago- basically I dithered for about 2 years. I am gutted by the fact that it has worked so well, i should have done it sooner.
When i went back to my go for the early review- he asked how long i was thinking about taking it- my reply-the rest of my life pal!!! Te he. But actually i meant it.
I have become a bit philosophical in my ripe old age of 48!! I am thinking - heck i'm only here once and i intend to enjoy it!!. Quality over quantity and all that.
Of course this outlook may well change, but at the mo it is all good ( well, a few night sweat is all)