Peri-menopause/Menopause Hormone Replacement

OMG the meno belly!!  I can't get it to at least lessen a little bit.  So frustrating!!

Someone come with a cure for that....please.

Anyway, I just wanted to chime in on that.  I have not been taking any HRT, I have one ovary left from hysterectomy at 36.  I am 52 now and going through it, hot flashes and meno belly. No periods, thank God.  

I hope this gives you some relief!

Make sure that the area where you are putting the patch doesn't have sweat or has oil skin.  Unfortunately, it will be harder in the summer.  Well, it was for me as I simply cannot handle humidity and found few places were the patch would stick.

The meno belly and for me, the increase in boob volume was an issue.

I really hope that this will work for you.

HRT saved me from a life of peri and meno hell. I originally started on progesterone and testosterone. We have since added estrogen to the mix to help with hot flashes.

There are something like 50 symptoms that can be perimenopause beyond the hot flashes and insomnia. Frozen shoulder, dry eyes, joint aches, brain fog, vaginal dryness, thinning hair,heart palpitations, depression, anxiety, low energy, UTIs etc. All need HRT not SSRIs, statins, birth control, antibiotics.

I'm on progesterone during my luteal phase and it's helping my hormonal migraines. Still working my way up in dosage. I've also gained more around my middle. The HRT won't melt the fat away but that it could stop more from coming, I think.

Same and I will never go without it if I get a choice. My life had an 180 degree change for the better and addressed so many things symptoms that I didnt realize was hormonal. 

I'm pushing thru with my hotflashes. Haven't had a period since I was 48 in June 2022- so almost 2 full years. I don't miss my periods one bit and these hot flashes can find a deep dark hole and die in it. I'm so over them. I have 3-5 a night pretty much like clockwork- 9:30 pm, 12 am (sometimes I skip this one), 2:30 am, 4:30 am (sometimes I skip this one), 6 am. It SUCKS! My sleep is so fragmented! Thankfully I don't have them often during the day but omg when they come on it's HORRIBLE!

I keep thinking about maybe doing HRT and then I remember the studies on heart health and breast cancer and all that mess and think twice about it and don't make the call.

What is the process for being prescribed HRT? I assume they test your hormones but is that just a one time blood test? What else do they do at the initial appt?

Blood work is required if under 45 yo or older than 55. Otherwise, your provider may order it for a baseline and to rule out other issues (thyroid, vit S, etc) but is not always necessary. You should see a GYN (I’m a gyn PA and talk about HRT all day long lol). You should be up to date on your exam, pap, and mammogram. And then your provider should ask about symptoms and have a discussion on perimenopause. That’s all.

cakediva

All lies! The WHI (women's health initiative) study was done on women well into menopause, there were women as old as 79 who had never had any HRT before, using synthetic HRT. The absolute risk for breast cancer increased by 0.8% (many lifestyle factors are a bigger worry, drinking, stress, being overweight etc) but colorectal cancer decreased. There is a decreased risk of dementia, general urinary symptom, cardiovascular. Now women are prescribed bioidentical which is even better. Women who do develop breaat cancer have better odds at survival and cardiovascular disease kills more women than all cancers combined. The WHI in 2002 made a false claim that estrogen causes breast cancer and 22 yeara later doctors and patients still believe this. The stat was something crazy like 80% of women were on HRT and the stopped overnight and today 14% are on it. There are even women who have had breast cancer on HRT. Makes me so angry for my mom's generation who missed out on this and are now suffering from dementia, osteoporosis, cardiovascular disease. Yet they had out birth control like their tic tacs to anyone ages 10-60 with any sort of female issue.

I've learnt a lot from books and Instagram and podcast pages like Estrogen Matters, Dr Louise Newson, Dr Jen Gunter, Dr Mary Claire Haver just to name a few

I did not have to do anything extra BUT I have Type 1 diabetes, so my endocrinologist prescribed mine. I already do annual bloodwork, so that may be why it was so straightforward.

Look at the latest research. All of those claims have been proven false. I wish I had the study handy, but there is evidence that it decreases colon cancer risk by over 40%! I hate that women were convinced to just suffer through it. It makes me so angry.

Yep, lol. Mine works out to $100 month but it is worth waaaaay more than that to me!