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[Stellajane]

Hi to all my old friends on MM. Just a quick update for those who remember me. I left off my HRT last summer but only managed three months before restarting. I just felt progressively worse and worse as the weeks went by and at 12 weeks I was enduring drenching night sweats, constant day sweats and flushing, itching skin - oh and as a bonus my hair was falling out literally in handfuls.

Back on my old regime of 1 pump of gel per day and bi monthly Utrogestan all is well. It did take about a month to get back to anything like normal though! Its hard to believe such a tiny dose of oestrogen can make such a massive difference. I guess this just illustrates the difference between one woman and another - one can experience hormonal change and hardly notice it, the other notices a dramatic difference.

I headed my post 'HRT for Life' because having reached 63 already and with quality of life my prime concern, this is now absolutely my intention.

[Daisydot]

Hi StellaJane im so pleased for you it was a wise choice you made,I stayed off hrt for around 5-6 years and was a huge mistake my menopause symptoms went haywire,you get to a stage where you don't seem capable of even noticing that it's a menopause symptom because you are constantly ill and I had every scan,drug , X-rays blood tests under the sun and all came  back fine but I was walking about like an old sick woman.
Thankfully I decided to Bite the bullet at 60 and go back on it and now I've settled well (after a few bummers) on one squirt of Oestrogel and vagifem pessaries and I'm 99% me again,I have my off days but overall coping well with life again.This forum has been a godsend I knew nothing really until I read each post backside forward on here and learned so much which I'll always be grateful to these ladies for and hope one day I can return the favour to someone else whose life is in turmoil and help in some small way.
Keep doing what your doing and well done and I agree 100% with your heading I'm also committed long term there's no way I'm coming off it again xx

[Hurdity]

Hi Stellajane! Good to hear from you I was wondering how you were - as I sometimes come across your posts and remember that you decided to stop and then get on with life.

Sorry to hear that your symptoms came back - and I think the same would be the case for me since they started to return even dropping from 50 mcg to 37.5 mcg patches 4 years ago. The older you get the more difficult it is to think about stopping for some time and then re-starting so I have decided just to carry on for the time being anyway. I am 65 next birthday - eeek!! There seems to be more and more of us in our 60's still taking HRT or re-starting which is great since many women were scared off due to that discredited study.

It's great that you feel fine on that 1 pump of oestrogen now and that enables you to feel good, and do the alternate month prog cycle like I do too (to minimise the negative side effects).

Yes - it is quality of life now that is important - and we can all spend our lives worrying if we are putting ourselves at risk from additional cancers etc through taking it for longer (despite conflicting evidence!) but the way I look at it is - if you minimise your risks in other areas of life - (diet, exercise, sunshine, body weight, stress, alcohol, smoking etc) - then take the HRT with confidence and know that you have done the best you can for yourself.

I hope you continue to stay well and feel well and enjoy life

Hurdity x

[Emerald2017]

Hi! I'm quite new to the forum and I have no big experience with hrt. I'm 42 and on hrt.
I agree that we can choose to use hrt for as long as we want. I think that maybe hrt will be a preventative anti-aging drug that every woman will use after 40.
Maybe our bodies are not disigned to live without estrogen for many years and it's a personal decision about the duration of it s use.

[Dierdre]

Hi, I'm very new to the forum also although I have been reading the posts as a guest for years which has been a great help.  I will have to be on HRT for life as I suffer with severe VA (only symptom, although I have noticed improvement in other areas lately) and vagifem and ovestin are no longer enough. I agree about the duration of use, if we were deficient in anything else, i.e insulin etc there would not be an issue how long it was allowed.

I started on Femoston Conti ultra low dose tablets at 61 but had too many side effects so now into second week of Femseven Conti and feeling much better, no side effects so thinking great.  Only downside is I may be allergic to the patch, red and sore around the edge.  Do I persevere and hope my skin gets used to it, I'm so upset as I think I've found the one, only for it to be ruined by the adhesive!

[aspie65]

Just wanted to add that my mother (79) has been on HRT since her 50s.  She is a complete fan and fights tooth and nail to stay on it.  She if very fit and well too.  A great role model for me and others!

[Salad]

Hi Stellajane - I so agree with your thought that Quality of Life is the way to go.

Good to hear from you and that you are now feeling better 

[Joaniepat]

Aspie65, three cheers for your mother! I hope she can stay on it for the rest of her life. I took oestrogen only after a hysterectomy from the age of 48, but my GP refused to prescribe any more when I reached 53/4. This was against my will, and if I had known the consequences I would have fought harder to stay on HRT. I got it back last year aged 67. Better late than never!
JP x

[Emerald2017]

I agree with all of you and I'm convinced that all the career focused women stay on hrt for life!
I see the energy they have and I'm sure that they all take hrt from their 40s as an anti-aging strategy and maybe higher doses than the conventional hrt!

[Cassie]

That is great! What strength Utrogestan do you use and for how many days every 2nd mth?

[Mary G]

Stellajane, I think you have made a very wise decision.  I am also an HRT lifer, it's a decision I made a long time ago and I take the view that quality of life is what matters.  Oestrogen is like a control centre for all vital bodily functions and without it, all sort of things start to go wrong.  I think 'HRT for life' is the future and it will probably be standard practice in the future. 

[Rosie63]

Not sure how true it is, but one of the GP's at my previous surgery told me the queen was on hrt and she doesn't look too bad for her age, does she  I'm definitely a believer in quality of life and hrt and sure I'll be taking it for many years to come, once I get settled on something that suits me   

[wombat62]

When I was in hospital there was a very frail old lady a couple of beds down. She kept spouting on about her hrt and how no one was going to ever take it away from her! You go girl.....

[Cassie]

For those ladies who have opted for this will you stay on the conti regime, I cannot imagine it would be too much fun to be getting periods well into ones 70s! Having said that I could not imagine having to take Utrogestan daily, its bad enough for just 12 days per month.

[Hurdity]

Me too Cassie - still having withdrawal bleeds in my mid 60's but they last a bit longer than yours Stellajane - probably 5 days in total although only heavy-ish for a couple, then tail off and then comes back very briefly for a day. Nothing like proper periods though and certainly not the pain! I keep my oestrogen levels low (medium) for this reason. Those on 100 mcg patches or 3/4 pumps might find these bleeds too much getting to 70. I haven't yet come across anyone in their 70's still having a withdrawal bleed but they must be out there! I agree Stellajane - the horror is in our heads -although I think I need a reassuring scan as I do wowder sometimes about my long cycle. However the lack of unscheduled bleeding, and lack of heavy bleeds when I do stop the prog, should be suffcient indication that all is presumably OK!

Hurdity x