Hi kdee69
Firstly - I am pleased that your migraines went but what a pity the doctor chose to give you beta-blockers before trying you out on a different mode of delivery for HRT. For those who suffer migraines and headaches - transdermal HRT is preferred:
Migraine
Migraine is often triggered by hormonal fluctuations and therefore may occur around the time of a period. Such migraine may improve at the time of the menopause. Some women find that migraine may be triggered by the daily hormone fluctuations which can occur with oral (tablet) HRT so the transdermal (patch or gel) route is usually preferred with a history of migraine.If your migraine was induced by the HRT then it could have been due to the metabolic by-products (from oral use) or the progestogen. Although many women tolerate the progestogen in Femoston very well, some don't tolerate synthetic progestogens at all. In this case progesterone might help. Some women are progesterone intolerant so may need to vary their progesterone cycle length under medical supervision.
In terms of stopping taking HRT because you will have to go through the menopause when you stop - this is wrong and a common misconception!! Menopause is the cessation of ovulation and all the extreme hormonal fluctuations leading up to this point. While you are taking hRT, and if you continue - you will go through the menopause but the transition will be eased by the hormone replacement and hopefully mitigate the mood swings. If you eventually decide to stop at a later date and if you have gone through the menopause - then your flushes may or may not return - but it is thought that the extent to which this happens is unaffected by whether you take HRT. In other words - your flushes and sweats may not reappear or they may do so. If they do so then it is likely you would still have been experiencing them had you not taken HRT. Therefore on this basis alone you will have given yourself all those years of quality of life that you would not have had. This is the important question! Say you take it until 60 and your flushes come back - well you've had 8 years. If you stop now you may spend those 8 years ( and more) still flushing. You cannot know which group you will belong to. Also you have those extra years ( of taking HRT) of bone protection and cardio-vascular health.
If you do decide to stop taking HRT - please let it not be for that reason! Aged under 60 the benefits exceed the risks - all other things being equal and you are in good health (and keep to healthy weight, limit alcohol etc).
As Michelemabelle said stopping HRT suddenly or slowly won't make a difference as to whether flushes come back or not - they will just come back quicker if you stop suddenly.
I stopped for 3 months cold turkey after medium dose (50 mcg patch) and by 3 months all my symptoms has come back and including more that I hadn't had before so went back on it post-haste and have been on it ever since now in my mid 60's.
If it's a choice between stopping HRT or stopping the beta-blockers (re your pill junkie comment!) - I would persist in trying to change the HRT type, and then stop the beta blockers -because the HRT is better for your health (assuming your migraines can be dealt with on a different HRT!).
Hope this helps and good luck with whatever you decide
Hurdity x
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Topic: please someone help me work out what to do...stopping HRT (Read 2945 times)