Any of you Ladies Take HRT

[emmie]

would appreciate advice, help, as to pros and cons of HRT

[woofgang]

I wouldn't take premarin as I disagree with the production method. Had the patches but they turned me into a middle aged hormonal teenager. It does work well for people, wish it had for me.....

[emmie]

can you explain about the production method, is it tested on animals or ?
and hormonal teen, as opposed to a raging hormonal oldie.

[daffy654]

I use a natural hormone cream and it is working quite well for me. I've only been using it for a few weeks so far but my hot flushes are less frequent, my night sweats have almost stopped and my mood swings are gone completely. I was dubious that this cream would work but persevered anyway and it has actually started to help.

http://www.progesterone.co.uk/

[emmie]

daffy is this available in UK, if so, over the counter, or doctor prescription.

[Euphemia]

Was fortunate enough to never need it.

[boxtops]

em10, I had the patches - I found them excellent, but what suits one doesn't suit the next person, you may have to test a few types out. I found that I suffered very little menopause symptoms and no side-effects at all. After a few years, my GP reduced the dose in the patch, and after a few months I just stopped using them altogether. No problems.

The literature will tell you that using HRT increases very slightly the risk of breast cancer, but if you look at the statistics, it really is a very small increase. As with all medication, you weigh the potential risks against the huge benefit. IMO.

[woofgang]

http://www.premarin.org/

a bit of a biased site but basically factually true.

On the patches I went into full teenage tantrum mode...nothing like menopause furious old lady mode.

[Bambiagain]

Pros - once you've found the right thing, you get rid of the sweats, mood swings and every other horrible symptom and can get on with life as normal!

Cons - yes, there is a slightly increased risk of breast cancer and if you couldn't take the pill, HRT might also be a no-no.

I had an excellent gynaecologist, and he put me on a mixture of oral oestrogen and a Mirena coil, which pumps out progesterone. This is apparently safer than a combination taken orally or in a patch. The recommended safe time to take it is three to five years, after which the risks increase. I was lucky in that when I came off HRT (I stopped the tablets after four years, having reduced them to one every other day for a while, then the coil was removed six months later) my symptoms were much reduced.

[daffy654]

You can just buy it at the website I linked to em. Don't order it from anywhere else though as there are a lot of websites out there selling fakes.

[emmie]

not sure what to do in this respect, but will look at the info i have been given as well. Thanks for the help ladies.