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[Liz]

Can I ask opinions please, ladies?

I have always been around 8.5 stone, could eat all I wanted and not gain weight.  These past couple of months I've felt "podgy" around my hips and tum.  Clothes have felt tight.  I've been on HRT since April and am convinced my weight gain is down to that....... I walk my dog for 2 hours a day in total, eat a healthy diet with lots of fruit, etc.  I do like a bit of chocolate but have always enjoyed that with no problem.

Last night I weighed myself and I've put on over half a stone, just since starting the HRT patches.

I'm afraid to say I'm seriously considering stopping them due to this and trying to do without.  Putting on weight will make me feel worse, for sure.  My boobs have grown as well, which is not good as I was already well-endowed and I've got a tiny frame.

I know some people say HRT doesn't cause weight gain, but nothing else has changed.  I don't over eat and I exercise, so I'm convinced it's caused this.  I'm 45 years of age.

[LizeeeH]

Hi
Im not on HRT but have put weight on around my tum & hips and Im sooooooooooooooo fed up about it! Even tho I still ride my mountain bike abt 15 miles a day nowt will shift it!!! I have to say tho I do enjoy my food but before I would burn it off....I hate feeling so "blobby"

[JeanneA]

Hi I'm also not on HRT but have put on 3 stones since hitting the menopause a couple years ago.    It seems that weight gain is part and parcel of menopause.

[Hurdity]

Yes there seems to come a point for all women - including those who have eaten what they like and stayed the same weight - where the metabolism slows down and you being to put on weight.

Here is some information on this site about weight gain and menopause/HRT

http://www.menopausematters.co.uk/weightgain.php

I have been more or less the same give or take 10 pounds here and there -that seems like a lot - but since my metabolism slowed down I eat far far less - have a smaller plate, eat a low fat diet without too many refined carbs ( biccies, cakes, crisps, sweets - also chocolate - boo!) and try to limit alcohol. I went over to a smaller plate too.

Admittedly I do not take enough exercise but even so I still eat a lot less and always have to work at keeping my weight down. I am now 9 st 4 but would prefer to be 8 st 10-12 as when I was 18 - so I just need a bit of effort now - but it always creeps back on if I am not careful! I have a rule never to go much beyond this and never ever to buy a size larger in clothes - so as soon as they get tight I go on a diet, and have worn some pairs of the same shorts and jeans for several years!

It may well just be that you are getting further towards actual menopause - which is why you needed the HRT, so the weight change would be happening anyway.

There is definitely an effect on the boobs - although for me this is reflected in them having more substance instead of being worn-out and shrunken after 4 children, and depleted of hormones! 

In your case as you are only mid 40's I definitely would not want to stop the oestrogen because of health concerns eg osteoporosis later on - but of course that is for you to weigh up - and how you feel now. It is hard having to come to terms with changing body shape and having to work at preventing a downward slide - but excessive weight gain is not inevitable, and can be prevented with strict attention to diet and exercise (unless some other medical reason for it eg thyroid etc).

Sorry to hear you are still unhappy with how things are and hope this helps a little

Hurdity x

[Liz]

Thanks Hurdity - appreciate your thoughts.  I, like you, try to eat a healthy diet and I do exercise, but it's literally been these past 3 months that I've put on this weight (since I started the HRT).  Nothing else has changed.  I know what you're saying about the metabolism thing, but I'm really thinking it's the Oestrogen.

Thing is, the reason I was put on HRT was that I went to the Doctors and said I felt "down, etc" and was sweating a lot.  They did a thyroid test and that came back fine.  This wasn't long after I lost my Dad and she said a lot of it could be down to that, obviously. 

I started to read about HRT, etc, and it was me who suggested it to the Dr...... now I'm wondering if I actually need it at all, given the problems I've had since I've been on it.  The weight gain is not good, though...... if anything is going to make me "down", it's putting on weight.

I'm going to talk to the Dr next week and see what she says..... if she suggests stopping the HRT and seeing what happens, I will (I can always go back on it if need be).

Not sure if I will have to work hard to lose the weight now, or if stopping the HRT will be enough to reduce it.  Been reading on other forums etc, that lots of ladies lose weight when they stop the HRT.

[Joyce]

The weight gain is depressing, but I think very little to do with HRT. Just that stage in our lives. My grandmother, who wouldn't have known what HRT was, put on weight too. She never sat still, always on the go, but still developed a tum.

[honeybun]

I am quite small at 5"1(and a little bit) and up until I was about 45 could eat as much as I liked and whatever I liked and stayed at 8 stone 2.
That was the weight I stayed at even after three pregnancies.

Suddenly I found every thing was getting tight and I had to go up a size. At that point I did not have scales as I had never needed them. I weighed myself  at my sister's and I was 9 1/2 stone.

That was pre HRT. I just stopped eating what I was used to and cut it back. I have lost the weight and am back to what I was before. It's a slowing of your metabolism.
Today I have eaten, one slice of toast and honey and an actimel for breakfast.
One slice of cheese on toast with a spoonful of beans for lunch.
Chicken salad and a baked potatoe for dinner and that's it. I am used to it now. I will probably have a mini chocolate lollie this evening.

You really have to cut back but I truly think HRT has little to do with it. Also weight distribution changes to around the waist which does not help.

Honeyb
X

[Liz]

Appreciate your thoughts, but thinking about it, I put on weight when I went on the Pill at 19.  Stands to reason that it could be the case with this HRT.  I definitely didn't have this weight 3 months ago and like I said, I have a healthy diet and exercise.  In my case, I'm convinced the HRT has caused it.

[honeybun]

Guess you have to weigh up the pros and cons.

For me even if HRT had caused weight gain it would have been worth it to stop the terrible mood swings and drenching sweats.

It all depends how bad you were pre HRT and also as you said there is the option to try again as you get further into meno.

As Hurdity said though you are protecting your bones and your heart as you are still quite young and are replacing what by rights your body should be producing anyway.

Honeyb
X

[Liz]

Well, an update.  I've been off the HRT for about a week now and I've lost 5 pounds in weight.  I'm only 8 and a half stone normally so 5 pounds shows.  My trousers are much looser.  Nothing has changed with my diet and exercise during the past week, only stopping the HRT.  So, I definitely feel the weight gain was due to the HRT after all.

I know many ladies don't put on weight with HRT, but it seems I was definitely one of the ones who did. 

[Taz2]

I put on a few pounds on the progesterone phase each month and I think I've put a stone on overall in the past few years. I blamed it on HRT but then gained more when I stopped it and then a bit more when I restarted it so I really think that most of mine is down to moving around less but still eating the same. I also found that although from the age of 55 -57 my weight stayed the same my shape changed which was disheartening.

Like Honeybun, for me, the extra weight is a small price to pay for relief from drenching sweats three times an hour and also the brain fog and inability to function properly.

Taz x

[MissKitty]

Liz - I have just posted about weight gain and HRT........ It is driving me mad.

I cannot possibly work any harder at maintaing (not losing what I have already put on) than I am now. And like you it has all been since I started on HRT.

For me the night sweats and the insomnia where pretty horrid but I am also considering stopping as I am sure with the changes I have made to my diet snince starting HRT and gaining weight and the increased exercise weight would probably drop off me given what you have just said.

I am pretty fed up with it and whatever benefit there has been re mood swings is definiately overruled by misery at increased weight.

I know that many ladies are happy to accept that at a certian time of life it is inevitable that you will gain weight but I just don't believe that - the only thing that has changed is the fact that I am putting chemically produced hormones into my body - hormones that are a "one sixe fits all" approach and not identikitted to me and my needs. Sorry to rant a bit but there is so much blurb out ther about HRT not impacting weight and it so obviously doe for some women.

Rant over and apologies .... and breathe....

x

[Rowan]

I think that female hormones (steroids) do cause weight gain, some may disagree, they plump you up and cause cells to retain water too. If they did not then for instance if you used for VA it would not work.

Hormones increase the appetite too especially for salty and sweet foods, I know that when I have a break from my estrogen patch, I don't feel so hungry and I wee a lot of the retained water!

Hormones are fed to cattle and poultry to fatten them up.

Here is an eye opener http://www.buzzle.com/articles/hormones-in-food.html

The only way to not put on weight if on HRT is to eat less then you did before, cut the carbs and fat and exercise.