CassieJ
I started going through the menopause when I was 46, I am now 58.
I must admit I haven't had many problems. In the early days I had a few hot flushes and night sweats, and did get irritable. But on the whole these were manageable.
My doctor did put me on HRT, but it doesn't work for me. It makes me bleed constantly! I have tried various ones and they all do the same. I then gave it up and haven't been on it for over 10 years.
I would like to know why this is as I have never come across anyone else that has this problem. The doctors don't seem to know the answer either.
The main hormone in HRT is oestrogen, and this can stimulate a build up in the lining of the womb. This can be counterbalanced by a second hormone
progesterone. If HRT is started before your periods finish, or within a year of your last period, when there still may be a little hormone production from the ovaries, the hormones are given cyclically – 2 weeks of just oestrogen, followed by 2 weeks of oestrogen with progesterone, then back to just oestrogen again. When you stop the progesterone, the lining of the womb is shed, as a sort of ‘artificial’ period. When the ovaries are assumed not to be working at all, then the two hormones are given together, all the time. However, getting the balance between the two can be difficult, and some women seem to naturally have a womb lining that is a bit unstable, and tends to bleed quite easily with just a little stimulation from oestrogen. The problem can usually be solved by switching the types of both hormones, and also tweaking the doses. It is also important to try and keep going with each different regime for at least 3 months, to give the body, and especially the womb, time to adjust. If bleeding persists despite trying several
different hormone regimes, and a woman is keen to stay on HRT, then I usually arrange an ultrasound scan to check that there isn’t an abnormality in the womb, such as a small polyp. But if a woman is happy to stop HRT, and once she does this the bleeding stops, then a scan isn’t necessary.