So many GPs are still stuck in the old ways, especially when it comes to HRT. The side effects of many drugs, including ADs and SRRIs, which GPs hand out so readily, can have nasty side effects that they rarely warn their patients about. Why they are so hooked on the risks of HRT really baffles me as the benefits can be far better. If gynaes are now so pro HRt surely that must be telling the GPs something. As to whether cancer specialissts would agree I'm not sure. The 3 ladies I know who have had breast cancer all sailed through their menopause with no HRT. I believe whether you take HRT or not, your risk of breast cancer is around one in eight if we use HRT in our 60s. 5 years of HRT in our 50s can have many protective benefits for long term health. It is the combined HRT which contains progesterone that brings the very slight increased risks post 60 and there is now a debate as to whether HRT is the real cause of the BC risk - obesity is the single biggest risk with smoking and alcohol closely behind - lifestyle choices are significant. When they looked at data about HRT use again it was realised that the risks were greatly over blown - the big study related to women who were in their 60s and using the old fashioned type of HRT. I believe HRT actually reduces the risk of bowel cancer which is another common cancer - which often emerges in our 60s !!!
There is no doubt we all need to look at lifestyle - keep our weight under control, take sensible exercise and eat a good diet. I also believe that getting enough sleep and relaxation is also vital - our state of mind and general wellbeing depends on this. If HRT improves quality of life this will be beneficial - for me lack of sleep is my major problem - when I get over tired I eat more, I don't have the energy to exercise, I feel irritable and impatient with everyone and my health deteriorates.
I must stress that I am not actually pro HRT - it is a personal choice and certainly won't be right for everyone. Now 60, I have been trying to find an HRT regime that could carry me through my 60s while I still need to work but I'm not having much luck as I think my body isn't responding to the hormones so well these days - I have been menopausal for 25 years now due to premature meno in my 30s.
Sadly we are educated about puberty and birth control etc. but most of us enter this natural stage in our lives totally ignorant of the impact it is going to have our lives. A hundred years ago we would have been lucky to get to 50s - one could argue that the menopause is a relatively modern problem and we are also now expected to work into our late 60s!!!.
We women need to be calmly, yet firmly, assertive with our GPs about what we want - get clued up everyone, the info is out there. BRAVO for the Menopause Matters website. DG x
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Topic: Estring, oestrogel and mirena, update and feeling rubbish 😟 (Read 4211 times)