HRT - Please Read!!!

i just saw this on the Today show.....everyone please read. i know it's kinda long, but it's so very important. i wouldn't want to NOT know this, especially since my mom had breast cancer. and who of us doesn't know someone who's had or died of breast cancer?

very very important

http://www.bupa.co.uk/health_information/html/health_news/190803hrt.html

Thank you for the info. I have to use HRT.
To compensate the added risk, I stopped smoking. I also have to pay attention to mammography.

When I go through menopause, I will use the bio-identical hormones, not the synthetic and animal hormones sold by the big pharmaceutical companies - there is a huge difference in side effects. I work in pharmaceuticals and sometimes, these drugs cause more harm than you can imagine.

btw, the "authority" they had on the Today show, i don't know but i think she is a doctor....said that even taking "all natural" hormone replacement, either from your doctor or a health food store, etc....it's still dangerous. you are still pushing hormones on your body.

gang, this seriously gave me the heebie-jeebies because of all the older ladies who rely on hrt to function "normally". :(

reminds me of the old saying: everything gives you cancer. *sigh*

it truly goes to show where the power lies. big drug companies are more concerned with the overall $$$$ than overall health for women.

i am not shocked but i am very glad for this article.

i will not use artifical hormore replacement when i go thru menopause, i am 47 and have some side effects, insomnia being the worst, i think this has something to do with having a husband in the military though.

our bodies are not testing grounds and pushing hormones is just not normal.

after a scare with HPV and cervical issues, i am way over playing with my health.

thank you for this article, we need more whistle blowing on all aspects of womens health.

There is no guarantee that you WILL NOT get cancer if you do not take HRT, same as there is NO GUARANTEE that you will not get cancer if you do not smoke.

Take a woman in her 50s with a partner in his 30. He has at least 30 more years of sexual activity. She is in the verge of menopause. What can be done? If she stops producing hormones, she will have many problems*, and eventually sex will not be possible. :(

The lack of estrogen makes women more propense to osteoporosis and heart disease. So to me is a matter of you picking how you will die, (cancer with hormones, or heart disease without), and if you want to be able to have sex until you kick the bucket.

Another alternative is that when the woman reaches menopause, she changes her YM for an OM in his 80s and no problemo. :rolleyes:

_____
*vaginal dryness, lack of vaginal elasticity, propensity to urinary tract infections.

A 7% reduction in breast cancer in the U.S. since women stopped taking HRT in 2003. Health professionals are amazed at this drop according to the article.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-2506018,00.html

Sheila, I'm not sure why you have to take HRT, but that is between you and your doctor, of course.

I'm 55, had menopause at 47, never took HRT. I don't have all the sexual issues you mention in your post either, but each of us is different. Phil is in his early 20's and our sex life is fine.

I plan to have sex when I'm 80, but they'll finally approve "viagra for women" by then, lol.

My lack of sexual desire for my then-husband may have been hormonal/menopause related and HRT therapy could have reversed it, but I wouldn't take it then and I still wouldn't take it if I had to do it over again. That was before the initial reports of adverse side-effects, but my common sense told me that there was essentially no foresight in the use of hormone replacement because it ignored the complexity of the hormonal system in women. There's a few doctors that were very disrespectful of my opinion then with whom I'd LOVE to be able to have a little sit-down now. ;)

i believe my mother had menopause around 50, i am actually tired of having my period and will welcome the day i dont worry about it anymore.

i am 47, i dont think menopause will make drastic changes in my life, i hate the fact my sleep pattern is so eratic, but adam is to be home this week and hopefully the reason i have not slept is because i am tired of being a seperated army wife.

i kinda think its a postive mental outlook and acceptance that its "JUST" menopause is healthy, i do think it offers more freedom than the alternative, i have to still use birth control and would not mind giving up those terrible bloating and cramps, i see positives to the whole meno thing. NO MORE YUCKY PAINFUL PERIODS, a reason for celebration!

When it happened to me, I had no problems... periods just stopped. No insomnia, no heat wave, or sweats. It did not make me feel old or spent. I was happy. But everybody is different. The lack of emotional effects did not mean that I did not have other menopause-related problems that became evident with time, hence the need for hormones.

My doctor tells me that with monitoring I can continue my treatment, and I am doing that. So far, so good.

Yeah, GEG, this has been a big deal for a few years now. One of my best friends quit taking hormones for menopause symptoms pretty much immediately when this first 'broke'. She's been taking stuff from the health food store and feels better than she did on the hormones.

A 7% reduction in breast cancer in the U.S. since women stopped taking HRT in 2003. Health professionals are amazed at this drop according to the article.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-2506018,00.html

That's amazing, Bubbs. Thanks for sharing this info.


I'm 55, had menopause at 47, never took HRT. I don't have all the sexual issues you mention in your post either, but each of us is different. Phil is in his early 20's and our sex life is fine.

I plan to have sex when I'm 80, but they'll finally approve "viagra for women" by then, lol.


Uh, yeah...what she said. I'm planning on having sex for decades to come. And I am NOT going to take hormones.

After talking to a friend of mine on the phone today and reading the comments here about insomnia/erratic sleep patterns, I'm pretty sure that I could be entering peri-menopause. I can't sleep worth a gosh darn anymore! But I don't want to start taking anything, including natural treatments, until I have a check-up with my ob/gyn and my GP. I hear that they have some really effective herbal/homeopathic remedies these days.

When I go through menopause, I will use the bio-identical hormones, not the synthetic and animal hormones sold by the big pharmaceutical companies - there is a huge difference in side effects. I work in pharmaceuticals and sometimes, these drugs cause more harm than you can imagine.



http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/bioidentical-hormones/AN01133

http://www.menopause.org/bioidentical.htm

Thanks for the link to the informative article, Trace...

My doctor discussed all of this with me, and still recommended HRT as a safe and effective help through menopause. He sited the study, pointing out the fact that is also mentioned in this article....that HRT for POST-menopausal women is tricky, but for peri-menopausal and dead-in-the-middle-of-menopause women, it is still relatively safe. Here's the quote from the article that supports that:

The data was analysed by scientists at the Cancer Research UK Epidemiology Unit in Oxford. They discovered that post-menopausal women taking combination HRT were twice as likely as non-users to develop breast cancer. In

My doctor noted that the dramatic increase in breast cancer in the studies was amongst the post-menopausal women who started it in their late 50's/early 60's (rather than mid 40's through menstral cessation).

I feel great on HRT, don't notice any difference from when I was in my 20's hormonally...no hot flashes, mood swings (except pre-menstral:mad: ), etc. I know I'm in the middle of menopause because my periods are dramatically different. When I cease menstruating, my doctor plans to taper me off HRT over a ~ year's period.

I trust my doctor...he was the gyno-board president for our state...and he has set up the best plan for me based on my low risk factors, benefits of HRT etc. Of course, I have an annual mamogram and PAP smear too !!! Everyone over 40 should too...please get screened regularly if you don't already, ladies.

What ever women chose to do, please remember to take calcium supplements and do strength training exercise, to make your bones stronger.

It does not seem like a big deal now, but when you are over 60, your body will thank you.

Osteoporosis is no fun and once the bones are totally porous, it is almost too late.

My lack of sexual desire for my then-husband may have been hormonal/menopause related

Ah, Chatter, you know it probably was more a lack of intimacy in the relationship. I used to have to prentend my husband was someone else to get through it when we were getting near the end of the marriage. Yuk.

I have plenty of hormones when I see Phil's 'guns' ;)