I want to tell a little bit about hormone replacement therapy, HRT, for menopause symptoms that I started end of May.

At some point during my menopausal journey I began to get symptoms. Nothing too serious. No severe hot flashes, nightsweats or moodswings.
But I did notice clear changes.
Almost overnight my skin got dry. I was shocked that could happen so fast!
I had trouble falling asleep, no matter how tired I'd been.
And I had the occasional heart flutter. Innocent in most cases but still unpleasant.

The GP allowed me to get on the pill, which helped. But then after 2 years they told me I had to get off it as it would become a danger due to my age -then 54.
Back to not falling asleep, heart flutters.
I must say I did feel better when not on the pill anymore! As if a thin veil got lifted.

The last couple of months I did notice my memory was getting worse and I had difficulty finding words when in conversation. Not too bad, but not my normal and certainly something was decreasing/not going well in my brain.
Scary as hell! I had planned to see my GP for early onset dementia, truly really scary.

Then I happened upon a YouTube clip with an interview of Dr Marie Claire Haver, gynaecologist, on menopause.
Holy cow! Major eye-opener!
She told of many horrific changes and health risk due to lacking hormones.
The list was a mile long and many I recognised but had not thought of as menopausal issues.
Like sudden dental & gums problems. Tinnitus, dizziness, brain-fog, joint & muscle aches and so on.

But as a woman you also have a very high risk of dementia, cardio vascular disease, osteoporosis and so on.

DOCTOR VISIT
I educated the hell out of myself and then went to my GP.
She did help women with menopausal issues, but she described things according to GP regulations, meaning synthetic hormones.
These don't work well and pose a risk for cancer.
Bio-identical hormones don't, they can even help prevent cancer.

I told her about the oestrogen and progesterone I wanted. She didn't know these, had to look them up, but then prescribed them.
I began with the start doses. You have to do that for 6 weeks, then see how it's going and if need be up the doses.

Five days ago doctor gave me permission to go up 1 dose of estrogen gel.
Progesterone will remain the same for now. It'll take an ultrasound of uterus lining to know whether that needs to be higher dose or not.

THE EFFECT:
Memory was back to normal within 1-2 days

Being able to come up with words in conversation --> back to normal within 1-2 days!!
just goes to show how much you need your hormones!! Also how fast things can reverse back to normal

I fall asleep as I did all my life: as soon as I see my pillow, haha

No more heart flutters

I feel better, have more energy

I didn't really have hot flashes, more like the occasional warm wave. I haven't had that since I began.

No more brain-fog


A couple of other things as well, but to personal to tell here.


THE FUTURE & HOPE
I hope my tinnitus will eventually heal or get less.
Also hope my sensitive joints & ligaments will cause me less or no grief.
I even hope my TBI will begin to heal!
I mean, some doctors found it strange it had't healed. I accepted it as a given, but why wouldn't it heal? If I cut my finger it heals as well.
If my brain gets the appropriate dose of hormones again, who knows what it possible!

RISKS
Of course another big reason for doing this is preventing ending up with a ton of ailments, diseases, limited mobility, heart disease and so on.
Looking at my mum, who's only 82, and all the things she suffers from which keep getting worse...
I do not want to get old like that.
And I now know you don't have to get old like that. As long as you have your hormones.

Think of risks as:
Cardio-vascular diseases
dementia
osteoporosis
diabetics
joint issues and losing mobility
high cholesterol
incontinence
thyroid issues
Some get vaginal atrophy (!!!)
Insensitive/shrinking clitoris
And so on (list is much longer)

WHY
Like a diabetic needs insulin for the rest of their life, a woman need hormones for the rest of her life.
Whether it's the pancreas that stops working or ovaries, it doesn't matter. You need to replace what's lacking so the body can function without breaking down.

Lastly... every woman needs progesterone incl. the ones without uterus.
Progesterone is incredibly important for the nervous system, which includes your brain.

DISCLAIMER: I am not a doctor or expert. By all means educate yourself and consult a professional!

I'm newbie here to see a man who have a good sense of humor and mingle with to see where it leads to

I got to experience menopause twice and here is
something they do not tell you.

Went through menopause at 28 after a hysterectomy,
then again in my 40's as the OTHER ovary stopped
working, thought I was going insane as you can
imagine, doctor said twas rare but it happened.

He put me on hormones immediately as tests showed
the total absence of hormones, had to get a
monthly shot.

So I said how long will I be on these hormones?
He said forever.

I stopped taking them immediately after maybe a
year on them, high as a kite just after the
shot, but no desire to be hooked up permanently.

My system settled down after a few months and
I never needed them again.

So nice to be done with all that ;-)

Hi Soufie!
I remember you telling that story before.
I don't know what they gave you of course but chances are it wasn't bio-identical. Then it can have all kinds of side-effects.

And even with bio-identical you don't give a dose once a month. That would likely be a very high dose in one go that had to tide you over for a month.
I'm guesstimating you didn't get progesterone either since you had a hysterectomy. Until recently it was believed you didn't need it then.
Now they know that EVERY woman needs it, uterus or no.
But that's still fairly new knowledge.
Not getting could've meant -and very likely did- create a serious imbalance in your body.
But I suspect also getting a major shot each month.
My mum had a hysterectomy some 38 years ago. She wasn't given monthly shots but daily patches to use. She successfully used them for 14 years. When she stopped (prolly doctors advice) the trouble started...


Nowadays you take daily doses.
You build it up until you're in your therapeutic window. That's the levels of both hormones that are required to be free from menopausal unpleasantness AND protected from the high risk diseases.
So building up, not starting on the full whack as that would have way too strong an impact on the body.

I guess you were extremely lucky.
Personally I don't want to take any risk, and do what I can to stay as mobile, fit & healthy as can be!
For that you need bio-identical hormones :)

Indeed things have changed a lot in the last
50 years, thank goodness to be able to
even get information.

Keep up the good work and I am glad you are
getting some relief ;-)

Thank goodness things have changed, esp. in the US and UK, possibly AUS too, not sure.
Over here in The Netherlands most GPs still have obsolete regulations they must stick to.
They are very cautious and many still latch onto the belief that hormone therapy causes cancer.
In actual fact it can prevent certain cancers provided the hormones are bio-identical.

Gynaecologists have different regulations via the overarching EU menopause organisation which follows the US menopause organisation.
So things are beginning to change, but it's going to take time.

The stories I read...
There are even women -although exceptions I think- that suffer from vaginal atrophy?!
I didn't even know that was possible.
If men suddenly had their baws shrink and disappear it'd be a world crisis!
Billions would be spent on research and it wouldn't be a problem to get hormones for the duration of your life. Anything to hang on to their precious crown jewels!

As for us women... there's only a very small percentage of money for research of 'women issues' being allocated to menopause...

A few things that have left me flabbergasted -in a good way!

Since approx. 2 weeks I have 1 more doses a day of oestrogen.
Start doses is 2 pumps gel, now I have 3.

Within 1-2 days I noticed a difference in a few things. One is my skin.
In the elbow fold I had gotten tiny 'folds'/wrinkles when I turned my forearm. I wasn't chuffed when I saw that a while back.
Now it's as good as gone?!

Another was my left eye.
That has always been slightly smaller than the right, but was barely noticeable.
However, since I was menopausal it got worse and worse.
Not a matter of the eye socket getting smaller, but the skin above the eye becoming looser.
That skin then presses on the eye, causing it to look smaller.
I was not chuffed :(
At first it was only noticeable in photos, and I tend to take a lot for dating sites amongst others.
I almost stopped taking photos as it made me feel horrible to see my eye like that.
Last year approx., you could also see it when looking at me. Not quite as clear as in photos, but it was noticeable.
I was really really not chuffed!!!

But then after about 1 week on 3 pumps oestrogen gel instead of 2 I was doing my make-up, looked at myself in the mirror and, WTH?
I had to blink, look twice, thrice, couldn't believe what I saw!!!
My left eye looks normal again???!!
I kid you not!
The somewhat loose fold on my eye is nice and tight, no longer pressing on my eye?!

Unreal. I had NOT expected that. Hadn't even thought of that.

Then today...
Had to drive somewhere, hadn't been in my car for about 1,5 weeks.
As I'm driving I notice the rear view mirror is too low, I had to bend a bit to be able to look into it properly??
WTH?
No one else drives in my car, the mirror never gets adjusted and it's not loose.
I adjusted it, couldn't get it right as it needed to move quite a lot and I was driving.
Later on I had to adjust it again as I still had to bend over a bit?
It got to the point that I had to adjust it so much that I couldn't see directly behind my car, which I do not like either.
In the end I sorted it by putting the mirror diagonally. It was the only way to get both short distance and further away in view.

I felt my bum in the seat. Was I sat further back?
Nope.
Same as I've sat in this car for 5 years.

Meaning...
My intervertebral discs are recovering!!!
WOW!

Being 59 I had not noticed shrinking had already begun? But if I am now a bit taller again, then f*(k, it does begin at a younger age and it sneaks up on ya.

So danged happy I got my hormone therapy.
Total life save!

Looks like I'm going to have the future I have in mind for myself: no walkers, no scoot-mobile, just me myself and I :D

And... looking in the mirror I honestly see a younger face looking back at me.
Now I've always looked younger than my age. People thinking I was 10-15 yrs younger wasn't rare. But still, now it's somehow different. Even my mother says so time and again, and she isn't generous with compliments.
Maybe it's mostly because looking younger was my default. I absolutely liked it, but it was normal to me.
But now, even I see a difference.
And that...
I am utterly really really chuffed about, haha.

And I'm only on HRT for 8 weeks now.