Why are women afraid of HRT?
Hormone replacement therapy was the single best choice I made as my life got turned upside down by the symptoms of perimenopause.
But like so many of my friends, I was afraid of HRT. But when I tried to figure out why I was afraid, I didn’t have an answer.
Enter research.
In Dr. Mary Claire Haver’s fantastic book, The New Menopause, she talks about a landmark study that was done in the early 2000s, called the Women’s Health Initiative. Shockingly, the study called for women to STOP taking hormones and the study was actually stopped because the “results” were so detrimental they couldn’t ethically continue. What were these frightening results? In 2002, the WHI study, which was one of the largest and most influential hormone therapy clinical trials, published results that indicated a higher risk of breast cancer, stroke, and blood clots in women using estrogen and progestin hormone therapy. These findings were widely publicized and interpreted as a significant risk factor for women considering HRT, particularly those over 60. However, scientists and researchers quickly pointed out that the results were being slightly misinterpreted and that the study itself was flawed (largely because it focused on women who had already stopped menstruating, many who were 10 years past menopause).
Here is a great Washington Post article about this that explains the giant mess this caused better than I ever could. The short version? This thing freaked people out and caused a generation of women to abandon a treatment that could have offered significant relief from troubling symptoms of perimenopause, but MOST IMPORTANTLY can offer tons of protections for the brain, heart, and bones that cannot be regained once the window for hormone replacement has closed.
I am not a doctor.
But I am a huge fan of research.
And everything I learned about hormone replacement suggested to me that a conversation with my doctor was in order.
That conversation resulted in taking 100mg of progestrin for about a year, only when I wasn’t menstruating. This relieved the hot flashes and improved my sleep SO much. When I noticed the hot flashes had returned, we upped the dose, and I now take it continuously instead of cyclicly. I also use an Estradiol patch. These two things together have relieved my symptoms and cleared the brain fog, which is great, but I’m more excited about the long-term benefits for my bones, brain, and heart.
Do I advocate HRT?
That’s not for me to decide. It is for you and your doctor to have an evidence-based conversation about. I’m including a list of questions to ask your provider here. And if your health care professional will not have this conversation with you, or if they blow off your symptoms as unavoidable?
You need a new doctor. (If you’re in the Denver area, get in touch. I’ve got referrals for you.)