Talk to me about HRT

[Dogmama]

I've tried them - bio-identicals that are compounded as well as patches & creams. It's been awhile - like about a year. They made me fat & crabby but took away some of my hot flashes. I imagine if I kept up with them, I would have eventually had better relief. But I kept feeling premenstrual - no matter what I used. I used to have horrible PMS & literally planned vacations around my period.

Fast forward - hot flashes are no better & actually getting worse. Sleep is really bad - like waking up at 3AM for the day. Night sweats are awful in spite of an overhead fan & another fan next to my bed. Hot flashes - I get a good 3-4/day where my whole body sweats. Didn't know I had sweat glands in my knees. Had a bone density test & I think I flunked, judging from the phone calls I'm getting from my doc.

I've tried herbs. I drink & eat soy. I've tried maca, estroven, you name it. Nothing helps. Summer has just started & I don't know how I'm going to make it through.

So, I'm appealing to the collective wisdom of the group. If you tried HRT, did you get side effects? If so, did they eventually go away? What did you use?

[azfiddle]

I have been on HRT for about 3 years. I could not function teaching when I was waking up every couple of hours and sometimes could not get back to sleep.

HRT started helping very, very quickly- a week or two if I recall. Periodically I ask my doctor and she says the new research says it's not a problem staying on them. I occasionally have a "warm flash" or two, usually in the early morning but they are so much less intrusive than the hot flashes were.

I can't think of any side effects I've experienced.

[Dogmama]

The gyn that I see, who specialized in menopause, says he has no problems with women staying on HRT for as long as they need it. My PCP has a five year limit for post menopausal women. I have noticed that research seems to change, "it causes cancer...it prevents cancer but causes blood clots.." on & on.

[Sky King]

Dogmama,

Sounds just like finding a saddle, keep trying. That sounds miserable. I have been working with my naturopath and started taking something for my adrenal glands about 3 weeks ago, I think it is helping with my sleeping! So don't rule out seeing a naturopath as well

[Kubla]

Gee, I am so sorry to read of your discomfort. I realize now that I must have been extremely fortunate in my menopause journey. My cycles stopped abruptly when I was 47...never to return. I did have hot flashes, but they were tolerable.

Insomnia has been my MO for many years, so perhaps that did not seem like a symptom to me. I drop off like a rock at night and wake up 4-5 hours later. Sometimes I am lucky enough get back to sleep-most of the time I do not.

I benefit from power naps, but this is not practical at work. Occasionaly I go out to my car during break and doze off midday, despite my best efforts. I feel amazingly refreshed afterward, though.

My doctor has been on my case to take HRTs for years. He thrust a prescription at me last time I saw him and I ripped it up after I left the office. But-I'm reasonably comfortable and don't feel I need them.

[Artista]

Your story sounds similar to mine. We even splurged to have air conditioning installed in our house because I was soooooo miserable with hot flashes and night sweats one summer.

I tried bio-identical hormones years ago that didn't help. At the time I was about 30# overweight, had little muscle, and ate well by conventional standards. What I learned is that our bodies have little hope of balancing and making good use of our gender hormones if our major hormones like cortisol and insulin are out of whack. I started on a recovery plan to get my entire body healthy and now have little trouble with hot flashes and I sleep well 90% of the time. It's been a 6 year journey of trial and error but it's been worth the effort.

Everyone is different but here's what worked for me.

1. Lost 30# - I could still stand to lose another 5# but I'm not too worried about it at this point
2. Build muscle throughout my body
3. Intense exercise at least 6 hours a week, split between 4 or more days a week
4. Drastically reduce carbs - there was a point where a serving of cooked carrots would send me into a 3 day tailspin of hot flashes and sleepless night. Now I can eat carrots with impunity and I've been able to add fruit back into my diet. I still don't eat many grains, though.
5. Work on adrenals with high quality supplements and healthy lifestyle. I've just started working this point with gusto.
6. MOST IMPORTANT! Avoid artificial sweeteners like the plague. Besides eliminating stuff like diet soda, I had to switch to products like natural toothpaste and gum to avoid artificial sweeteners. It took many months to experience benefits from eliminating artificial sweetener but it probably had the biggest impact on improving my sleep.

To this day natural progesterone does nothing for me. I'd like to go back and try bio-identical estrogen again now that my major hormones are mostly under control.

Good luck, Dogmama. I know how much this sucks

[ACG]

Just chiming in here. I have 2 older sisters 54 and 55 years old. One has all the most horrible symptoms. Most docs would not prescribe HRT to her, finally one did. I'll try to find out which drug. The crying jags, hunger pains, sleepless nights are mostly gone.

The other sister has hot flashes from time to time, but no other real symptoms.

I'm 50 and have noticed a few things, but nothing to be negatively obtrusive in my life. Time will tell to see if my symptoms worsen.

We are all so different.

Good luck to you.