HRT angst

Hello Grandkind. I have been on HRT for 18 years, with one 12 month break. Exactly like you, I experienced dreadful symptoms during that 12 months. Just like you one of the most distressing symptoms was the alarming pain in my joints. I run, do yoga, walk mountains etc but suddenly could barely get out of bed and hobble to the bathroom. My young GP was incredibly understanding and suggested I go onto Tibolone (commercially known as Livial). It is a "no bleed" HRT in tablet form. I have taken it for several years now and the difference is amazing. I am back to my old self - plus my nails no longer split and my hair does not fall out! I make no apologies for being on HRT. it is not something to be ashamed of. It has restored my quality of life. If your current GP is unsympathetic, see someone else. The risks with HRT are vastly overstated and the benefits, in my case, greatly outweigh them.

www.menopausematters.co.uk/
brilliant website.

I am 56 and would give anything to be able to take HRT. I have tried several times and bleed no matter how low the dose of oestrogen. I have had all sorts of investigations and biopsies and specialist saying it must be the oestrogen causing it. The problem remains that I suffer the most horrendous night sweats, hot flushes during the day, inability to concentrate, mood swings, hair loss...... the list goes on and yet I am expected to just put up with it.

Thanks for your replies. It is really difficult to get information about HRT for women of my age. I know that when I go to see my GP she will repeat that the risks increase with age. I have paid for some advice from 'Menopause matters' - £10-but there wasn't anything said that I didn't already know.
Pollaidh, you mention Livial, but is that a combined HRT and is it bio-identical? i.e. not made from animal products as I don't want to go back on Premique or anything else like that. Also I have been trying to find out if gels and patches combined carry less risks for breast cancer and stroke, but no one seems to know. Menopause matters only referred me to a private clinic and the cost, even for a first consultation, was prohibitive.

I was on HRT patches (no uterus - so different from you) for a long time and was told that the patches carried less risk as they by-pass the liver (?) - anyway, less dangerous.

I was taken of it as I have focal migraines and this is a contraindication for HRT - also there is a history of BC in my family.

I do sympathise, as since going off it many years ago, my quality of life has been far less than it was before. Balancing of risk in these situations are so hard as you cannot get the full facts.

www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/03/170313085844.htm
www.theguardian.com/society/2017/sep/15/hrt-hormone-replacement-therapy-wont-kill-you-but-menopausal-women-still-face-a-difficult-decision
www.gpnotebook.co.uk/simplepage.cfm?ID=932839439

Hopefully those 3 articles help. My GP's position is that as long as I am aware of the slightly increased risk of cancer and judge that the benefits still outweigh the risk - she will prescribe. I have spoken to a gynaecologist who said the same thing. (My GP has one patient aged 80 still taking it!)
In my case, as my mother died of breast cancer (aged 60, I am nearly 67), I opt for a private mammogram in between the NHS ones (ie at 18 months after) and a private intra uterine scan every 2 years.
Tibolone is synthetic - very few HRT drugs are equine based these days. My GP was of the opinion that there was very little to be gained by going onto patches and she did not recommend them.
If you balance the risks of too little exercise because you can barely move, excess weight as a result and mix all that with consequential depression, loss of sleep etc - I think that HRT is a no brainer for this eof us who have not been lucky enough just to sail through the bloody menopause!

Thankyou for that information. It makes interesting reading.
I am still doing the exercise, which does lift my spirits, but am very tired at times. I still think that more research is needed, especially with regard to those women who have joint and other problems when they stop taking HRT.
I suppose I am also wary of going on to it again in case I am then told I have to stop, because it is not meant for long term use. Hey ho!!

research into HRT is progressing all the time. The Million Women study has done a great deal of damage and there are many other studies out there to prove it. Nothing is risk free and I believe that if you take responsibility for your own health then HRT should be your decision. I absolutely agree with the joint pain issue - I ha no idea it could happen in menopause! If the only menopausal impact was hot flushes I would gladly live without HRT but we know it has far reaching debillitating impacts for some of us. Wanting HRT doesn't make us vain or weak somehow - we are just unwilling to sink into an enforced old age! And don't even start me on sex!!! Good luck Grandkind! xx

Thanks again Pollaidh - it has cheered me up to know that there is someone else out there like me!!! xx

Pollaidh your post re. million woman study is disturbing - what is your source for saying that the results on HRT coming from this study are wrong?

Humpty -When I posted this I had the intention of seeking out women like myself, similar symptoms etc. - it's not about picking people up on what they have said and being disturbed by them. Pollaidh is actually correct in what she says. We are talking about a very complex subject, and I for one, am not trying to catch anyone out. In any case I do already know that the million women study has said to have been flawed by various institutes including that for the overview of safety in medicines and by people such as Dr. John Studd. If I could afford it I would get on the next train to go and see him as he is an expert on women's health. If you get the chance read what he says....

This is an interesting thread. I am one of those that can't say I really suffered with the menopause, don't notice any of the symptoms described in the thread above either before, during or after.

But having had a hysterectomy at the age of 51, I was automatically put on HRT and boy, then did I suffer! I had such severe breast pain that I would walk down the street with tears running down my cheeks, dreaded even putting on a bra. The GP swopped pills and we tried a few other options, but in the end it was decided that I was "oestrogen sensitive" so that was enough reason for me to give up with HRT altogether. I didn't put on too much weight, I didn't have hot flushes, no mood swings, and none of the other usual symptoms either.

Now 17 years later, the only thing I could say that might indicate that I am post-menopausal and sans HRT - literally the only thing I can think of - is that I notice that my hair is thinning. But my nickname at school was "Thatch" so I'm not to worried about going bald...

That is exactly why more research is needed into hormones as nearly every woman has a different experience. I was really happy on HRT and had very few aches and pains. But it was very low dose. I have just bought some vitamin tablets that claim to at least slow down the hair thinning, but it won't help me with the other symptoms. The tablets were very expensive and could prove to be a waste of money, but my long suffering H was willing for me to try them. At the moment, until I get to see my GP - 3 weeks wait! - I am weighing up whether to stay as I am and try to make the best of old age as it comes, with more frequent trips to the doc's, or go back on to HRT, which is never going to be risk free. The interesting thing is that if I had never taken it I would never have known how much it kept me young in mind and body and how little I was costing the NHS!!

Oh by the way (just reread your OP) - I had DVT (deep vein thrombosis) as a very young woman and it was put down to the contraceptive pill - I was advised to never take it again, which set me on a very miserable path of attempting to avoid conception! Urgh, those awful "coils". I still shudder at the thought.

Thank goodness I'm done with all that.

I think the general consensus of advice these days on HRT is to take it for as short a time as reasonably possible around the menopause, whereas at older ages (say 70+) it is useful in proection against oseoporosis

Grannyknot, having a relative with a DVT so young was what put me off using the pill as contraception. So after a lifetime of not taking anything except the odd ibuprofen, it may seem odd that I took HRT. But it was the one thing that greatly improved my quality of life in my fifties and sixties. If it hadn't suited me I would have stopped. The other factor in all my thinking is my mother, who took HRT for a while, came off it, and then went on later to develop vascular dementia, which was a cruel blow. When I do visit the doctor's these days the waiting room is always full of the elderly, many of whom don't seem able to walk. I just didn't want to be one of them!!

Sorry Humptydumpty, I didn't see your post asking for citation.
www.nhs.uk/news/2012/01January/Pages/HRT-breast-cancer-link-was-wrong.aspx
Researchers have reanalysed the design and data from three studies that had suggested that HRT is associated with an increased risk that breast cancer would develop. They wanted to determine whether HRT caused breast cancer to develop (that the link was “causal”). The researchers looked at a pooled analysis study called the Collaborative Reanalysis, the Women’s Health Initiative randomised controlled trials and the Million Women Study, which was a large prospective cohort study including 800,000 post-menopausal women.

The researchers found that these studies each failed to meet the majority of nine criteria which would be need to be met in order to say whether the studies could establish causality. These criteria included whether the women in the studies took HRT before their cancer developed. They looked at whether the studies had controlled for any confounding factors (where a factor may be associated with both the likelihood of taking HRT and the likelihood of developing breast cancer). The researchers also looked at the biological plausibility of any causal link.

I'm 64 an dhave been told I can stay on HRT for life by my gynaecologist ,HE says the risks are minimal and that the effects of menopause I was suffering were much more of a risk to me .I'm happy to take it whatever the risk .My sister will be 70 on her birthday her GP took her off HRT end of last year ,she requested a gynae appointment and has been put back on it and told the same as I was,she can stay on it ofr life

I hope someone can advise me. I am 61 and happily on hrt. I am healthy, it suits me. Trouble is, my GP isn't happy for me to take it for much longer. Any suggestions?

get a refferal to a gynae clinic.GP's often dont have a lot of interest or knowledge in HRT .The evidence suggests its not nearly so dangerous as it was once said to be.You dont have to take one doctors opinion as gospel so even if you get a second opinion it might be enough to keep you on it

Or change your GP! There are two GPs at my practice, one told me HRT wouldn't help me, then 18 months later I asked the other GP, who said she was "very pro HRT", she then prescribed it for me and it really helped. They all sometimes differ in their views, even within the same practice, so it's important to be insistent and take responsibility for your own decisions and your own health.

Just to add, I'd rather feel better now and accept a very small risk, than feel pretty awful now in the hope I may live longer. Quality over quantity for me every time .

I am nearly 72 and have been on HRT since I was 4l. My doctor is now making noises about stopping it.

I have tried to stop it before and, quite frankly, life was a nightmare. If she stops me I shall buy it off the internet.

I understand that in Scandinavia people are on it for life which is what I want.