Menopause - the great debate seems to be do you use HRT or not and if you choose to what do you use - the manufactured chemical type or the all natural you need to take a lot more for the same effect type.
One part of me thinks if my maternal ancestors managed to get through menopause without using HRT why shouldn't I. I suppose there is and increased risk of dying younger - pre-menopause women's hearts are protected by estrogen and when that falls it bring your risk factor up to that of a man. Ooohh there is something good about periods after all! And lets face it most of my maternal ancestors probably didn't live much past 70.
Some women I know do menopause very hard, the hot flushes, the menopausal brain, the depression that sometimes comes means that HRT is a must for these women. But is it a must for me? I'm certainly not enjoying being hot all the time, but I certainly haven't got to the laying in a pool of sweat in the middle of the night stage - and maybe I never will. Some women seem to breeze through the menopause - maybe that will be me?
I switched on to the end of an Oprah show about menopause and HRT the other day and Dr Phil's wife was there touting her book about just this subject. Trouble is I am put off reading the book because she came across as a know-it-all American (sorry I know that it not a nice thing to say and not all Americans are that way). But do I want to take advice from Dr Phil's wife?
I've talked to some other women friends about this and I don't know if that has made things any clearer or not.
So I suppose I am off to find out more before I get to that place, you know, the climbing the walls asking the doctor to give me anything to stop these symptoms place. I'll let you know if I find anything that makes the decision easier.
Your question is difficult to answer from both a professional and non-professional viewpoint. It is said that HRT does protect the heart etc., particularly in the case of those with diabetes.
ReplyDeleteI was fortunate in that, having had a hysterectomy, I did not need a tablet that contained progesterone and that is apparently the hormone that is the dangerous one. I think I took my HRT for about 7 or 8 years but then a doctor said "that's enough" so I stopped.
I didn't have very bad side effects of menopause and was that because of the HRT I was on or not?
I have heard that some of the 'natural' products can be quite dangerous so it is quite a dilemma women have about which is the right choice.
I know you have an excellent doctor who will advise you to the very best of her ability and then it comes down to your own choice "To HRT or NOT?" a question you have already asked. Good luck.