HRT or not HRT?

Evidence shows that it is menopause and the effects on metabolism which causes weight gain and NOT HRT. I am on quite a high HRT dose and have no problem maintaining my weight more than I ever have. So I still have to eat healthily and exercise to stay within a good range but I have always had to do that. Hope that helps. The brilliant Menopause Expert doctor Louise Newson has a great free app called ‘Balance’ and also has made a range of YouTube videos exploring the Menopause and HRT. Worth looking her up. Hope that helps
Here is a link to her podcast:

https://thedrlouisenewsonpodcast.podbean.com/

I have been taking HRT for 6 years and had no issues with weight gain. I was like you with the mood swings and irritability and honestly, the HRT is a game changer.
I felt that my whole personality had changed before HRT. You could give it a try and always stop if you find it isn’t for you

Wouldn't be without HRT really saved me to be honest, I became a whole different person for the worst prior to HRT,no issues with weight gain,if anything the opposite, only thing I will say is if you're on utrogestan you do get some bloating, it's a side effect, but hey can't be perfect

I’d say a definite yes to hrt. It’s the menopause that causes weight gain not hrt. And it also protects us against so many future ailments. Including dementia & osteoarthritis

ABSOLUTELY YES HRT 😁 I lost weight once mine had settled, and again over the last few months since adding testosterone... I wouldn't be here nor have any decent quality of life if not for HRT, and the added protection against future health concerns like osteoporosis and cardiovascular issues is a bonus ❤️

Thank you Sharon. Do you mind me asking what you take. As long don’t have a clue, how do they decide what to give you

hello ☺️
I can help give you some idea - do you have periods, or is it over a year since your last one?

Hi all, I started HRT back in May I paid private as I wasn’t getting much joy with my GP. I was put onto Oestrogel in the pump bottle and Eutrogestan tablets 100mg.
For the first 3 months everything fine now the Oestrogel is great but the Utrogestan tablets are causing me palpitations and waves of anxiety. I contacted my menopause Dr again she said to take the Utrogestan vaginally which i did but still same effects as before. Has anyone else experienced these side affects from the Utrogestan? I was doing so well for 3 months on them. I cannot stay on the Oestrogel alone because the progesterone in the tablets helps to protect the lining of the womb

I too get those feelings but wasn't putting it down to utrogestan?

I am now wandering Jennifer it is because I was given by my GP the gel in sachets and was using 2 sachets each morning which is nowhere the same amount of gel I was using with the pump bottle and therefore experiencing those feelings because I wasn’t getting enough eustrogen as I was before.

Hi Sharon.
I haven’t had a period for probably a year, although I am noticing when it’s my time as in I get similar feelings to used to get before and getting like a mark when I am due now which didn’t used to

I was going to say perimenopause/menopause alone can cause palpitations and anxiety, so it's part of it,mine had lessened with my HRT ,I use 3.5 pumps a day, came off 4 pumps as headaches were awful,but my iron so low it causes me to have anxiety and palpitations as part of low iron,just letting u know its highly unlikely to be utrogestan x

Oh that’s interesting, thanks Jennifer. Do you have to take any vitamins for your low iron ? and if you do, does it help with the palpitations and anxiety?
I thought it was the Utrogestan because I would take it before bed, fall asleep then keep waking up about 3 hours after with the palpitations and anxiety then sit up for a couple of hours until it subsided and then go back to sleep. Always happened same time in the early hours of the morning.

Yes gp put me on iron for 2nd time,as ferratin was down at 25,not very good at all. I'm also on liquid magnesium which I take before my evening meal. I actually developed severe anxiety past few months,due to iron issues, so palpitations were just horrendous, I couldn't function without feeling I was going to die,now I'm so much better x

I usually have regular blood tests for low vitamin D and folic acid, I need to get a blood test done too see if this is the case at the moment. I shall start taking my Utrogestan tablets again then as I haven’t taken them for 2 weeks because I thought it was a reaction to them.
Thank you so much for your help and information:-)

OK, then if it *is* a year since, by definition you're now postmenopausal.

As such, you'd be looking at a continuous HRT regime - that means you need progesterone each day.

This factsheet might help get you started with more info:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1F1tmFBbsEQZQWzKgdWAE3gDWq68MkOax/view

I'm on Mirena coil, plus oral oestrogen 2mg for 6½ years, and testosterone for about 7 months. However, what works for one person might not work for another!

I generally say to start on something like Oestrogel (2 pumps daily is often the starting dose) plus Utrogestan micronised progesterone capsules 100mg each day

I'm not medically qualified so these are things to discuss with your appropriately qualified healthcare professional, don't take my word for it 🙂 ❤️

Thanks Sharon x

Can I ask, my doctor asked me to research HRT and to let him know what I want to go on. Said about the gel which I think would suit. If I have the mirena in do I need the errogestan tablet too? I'm a but miffed with it all tbh. My mam and sister had breast cancer and am weary of whether or not to take it but my quality of life I'd been seriously affected.

no, you don't need Utrogestan as well as Mirena, so long as your coil is within 5 years of being fitted 😊

Have a browse through our factsheets to get some clear general advice on HRT and all things menopause:
https://m-bracethechange.com/fact-sheets/
❤️

Hiya Mmoore
If you have a mirena then you simply need to have oestrogen gel and no uterogestan. The coil will protect you well from uterine cancer and the risk from oestrogen gel is teeny. The risk of death from heart attack in menopausal and post-menopausal women is twice that of the risk of breast cancer and the newest, largest evidence supports its use even very often when there is a family or personal history of breast cancer. The person to follow for the evidence is Louise Newson. Watch her YouTube videos and download her App. She is the UK rope expert on menopause and HRT. Whilst everyone will have an opinion, it’s good to get the facts and to get them from a reputable source. Hope that helps.

Have you thought about herbal supplementation I recently just started the first and only hormone rebalancing supplement that restores our progesterone estrogen and testosterone back to its youthful state. It’s the first of its kind only using adaptogens to do so. If you’d like more info let’s chat!

Advertising and touting for business is against Peanut guidelines and anyone doing so needs to be reported. Just putting that out there...

❤️

HRT all the way and accept no substitute bio identical hormones are the best!

hello 🙂 do you mean Body-identical HRT? That's a different thing to bioidenticals... Body-identical HRT is recommended by the British Menopause Society, bioidenticals are not... ❤️

Hi everyone, I started menopause when I was 38 and the doctors kept telling me I was to young and I was probably depressed so they gave me antidepressants, after about 6 years struggling they gave me a patch, femoston conti which was great until the chemists couldn't get hold of it so I'm now on Femoston conti tablets and they do the same thing, I no longer get angry and want to kill people 🤣 and no hot sweats. So it's a yes from me, I was wondering how long do people stay on HRT as I'm 54 now 🤔