Hormone Replacement Therapy… Terrible Idea or Life Saver???

In my head I thought hormone therapy was a terrible idea because it could cause cancer. I ignored the option and suffered through five years of sleepless nights, night sweats and endless hot flashes. In addition, I kept the house so cold that my kids had to layer up when they came home. Everyone else was freezing and I was always hot. Determined to get through menopause though without assistance, I thought to myself, “How bad could it be? How long could it last?”

Pretty bad and a long time.

Thankfully a couple of friends, including Laura, encouraged me to explore hormone replacement therapy (HRT), sharing their positive experiences. In addition, after I pulled my head out of the sand, I learned the risk of cancer because of HRT was extremely low. After we moved to Dallas almost three years ago, I found a new doctor and decided to explore the possibilities.

Hormone Levels in Peri-Menopausal and Menopausal Women

Explaining to my doctor that I wasn’t sleeping well, had night sweats, was always tired, was experiencing lots of hot flashes, was unable to lose any weight and was overall feeling crappy, she was empathetic and ordered bloodwork to check my hormone levels.

Low hormone levels contribute to:

• Hot flashes
• Night sweats
• Sleeping problems
• Anxiety/moodiness
• Vaginal dryness

Testosterone? What???

Not shocked when results indicated extremely low estrogen and progesterone, but testosterone, too? What did that even mean? What are the signs I should look for?

• Depression/tiredness
• Weakness (bones)
• Decreased sex drive

The Doctor’s Recommendation

My doctor suggested bioidentical estrogen, progesterone and testosterone. After discussing the pros and cons with her, I decided to start with estrogen and progesterone, eventually adding a very low dose of testosterone. The bioidentical estrogen is a patch placed along the bikini line, replaced twice per week. The progesterone is a pill taken once per day. The testosterone is a little more trial and error. My dosage after trying different options is a half pump three times per week. I rub it into my inner thigh…easy peasy.

Results

OMG!!!! I tell people it has been life changing. I sleep like a normal person with no night sweats, I don’t have hot flashes! After adding testosterone, I definitely have more energy, although I also had to shave my legs more often. I can’t believe I suffered for FIVE years. I am so happy I jumped in! I saw results within a couple of weeks and I felt like I got my life back!

Apparently I’m not the only one to jump in; the market for HRT is growing:

What’s Next?

As you get older, and particularly after the age of 60, the risks of HRT may start to outweigh the benefits. This is because you’ll usually (allegedly) find that menopause symptoms improve as you get older, so you’re less likely to need HRT to help with symptoms. In addition, as you age, HRT can contribute to cardiovascular issues.

I’m certainly not an expert on the subject, but I do know I would recommend discussing with your doctor to anyone struggling with symptoms.

I’m not sure what this means for me, as I’m rolling into 60 shortly and have been engaged in hormone replacement therapy for 2 1/2 years. At some point, I’ll have to cover the impact of coming off of HRT in another post!