Is anyone else not on HRT?

I was 48 just and it petered out and stopped I never had any side effects at all, my eldest daughter stopped in early 50 s with no side effects either. Nothing
Neither of us know what a hot flush is
Were we lucky or is that how it should be ?

(Had plenty of other things throughout life so certainly not without pain and fears but just not this one)

No, I managed without it. I know some women are not as lucky.

I'm not on Her now but when I was I felt fine. GO stopped the prescription and have felt very achy and often quite low since then.

What most women do not understand is that although the early effects of low oestrogen levels such as hot flushes and brain fog are usually of relatively short duration and are only experienced by some women those are NOT the major effects of menopause. It takes often 10 to 15 years before the really debilitating effects, those that hugely affect the rest of your life, start manifesting themselves.

Once your ovaries stop producing oestrogen there is a slow but insidious deterioration in your body. Your bones thin, your vagina atrophies, your urinary tract becomes prone to infection, arthritis kicks in, sleep becomes a problem. etc.
Whether or not you “sail through” the early stage there is a time-bomb in each and every one of us as the lack of oestrogen weakens your bones, causes prolapse, vaginal atrophy, loss of libido, osteoarthritis, urinary infections, stress incontinence to full incontinence, sleep problems etc.

No, we won’t all suffer these issues but few older women escape without at least one of these conditions impacting their quality of later life. I am in my 70s and among my peers almost everyone not on HRT complains about preventable health problems.

Simply women were designed to live to about their 50s. Our egg supply lasts roughly that long. Nowadays, thanks to huge advances in medical science living to 80 and way beyond is not unusual but a high proportion of elderly women suffer from lack of oestrogen. It impacts their quality of life in a major way. Thankfully modern medicine provides a solution. Once your body stops producing oestrogen it can be replaced by identical oestrogen in the same way that diabetics can replace their missing hormone insulin. It is not a drug. Both menopausal women and diabetics can now choose to go without or replace the hormone their body is not manufacturing.

What is needed is for women to become informed about their bodies and to understand that they do have a choice. It may be that for medical reasons hormone replacement is not suitable but for those for whom it has overriding positive advantages it can give them a healthier happier future.

I always planned to take it, mainly for vanity reasons, I’ve got a friend much older than me, who hardly seemed to age at all.
But my periods just stopped, no symptoms whatever.
Looking back at my life at that time, I think I was quite volatile and quick to fly off the handle, but at the time I didn’t connect the two things.

Never had HRT. Had cold flashes, not hot (though no one believed me). My mood was very, very low a lot of the time but because I'd no physical symptoms to speak of I didn't go to the doctor, it didn't occur to me.

I wish I had used HRT I am suffering badly with osteoarthritis in various parts of my body and wonder if HRT would have helped maintain my joints. When I had hot flushes I used evening primrose and black coshash for about 6 months , taking 2 capsules of each morning and evening, this worked for me.

Phew thank goodness, I was beginning to think every woman in the UK must be taking it going by the news headlines.
Menopause came and I moved on, no obvious problems, not just luck.
Lifestyle, life choices, do play a big part, plus I rarely see a doctor so no one looking at my age and deciding for me that I need it.

I’m lucky, my hormones have always behaved themselves and still are, so havn’t needed HRT which is a blessing. Currently my main issue is facial hair, OH laughs and blames testosterone, wether it is I have no idea, I’m using electrolysis to reduce it.

i never had HRT and wasn’t offered it.
If I’d known it would help with arthritis, that Esspee mentioned, I’d have suggested it for DH.

Another here who never needed it. I was fortunate to be one of the 1:5 (I read that somewhere years ago) who ‘sail through it’. Do the media whip things up to cause panic? Probably.

I have never been on it, whether I would have benefitted from having it or not. Multiple health conditions made it unsuitable for me.
I still have my original red hair, but it looks as if I have highlights, due to the white strands through it. I have saved a fortune at the hairdresser's!

I had horrendous periods that seemed to drag on and wear me down for years, and then they just stopped.
No hot flushes.
Then I had breast cancer at 55, which was oestrogen receptive.
It's the fall in oestrogen that causes the menopause symptoms, so guess mine didn't fall. They did on Tamoxifen post BC so got all the symptoms then.
I thought that all the natural foods I was eating kept my menopause symptoms away, but they were fuelling the high oestrogen. Soya milk, seeds and the like.
So for me, HRT would have been a disaster, but I obviously didn't need it!
I have friends who have taken HRT and it has been a lifesaver.
It just needs to be monitored properly and not given out like fashionable sweeties.

I never saw the GP about menopause, my periods stopped and I had hot flushes, no big deal. I’ve got a few grey hairs but not many.
Now in my sixties I have arthritis (new hip) and so does my sister. We wonder if there’s a link, but probably wouldn’t have taken it as Mum had breast cancer at 70.

Menopause wasn’t a problem and have never taken hrt and can’t think of friends who have either.

It is interesting that it is the short term effects people are still referring to and “sailing through” it.

I shall repeat myself in the hope that more people take in the fact that it is not the short term symptoms that cause the most damage (though for the few who find those totally debilitating my sympathy).

What women who are perimenopausal need to consider is that long term low oestrogen catches up with you when you are older with sometimes devastating effects. How many of us have friends with osteoporosis, osteoarthritis, vaginal atrophy, incontinence issues, prolapse, low libido, even Alzheimer’s is linked to low oestrogen!
Women need to understand that menopause has been one of the last taboo subjects so it is up to you to educate yourself and others so that when the time is right with oestrogen running out you can make an informed decision whether or not you wish to keep your oestrogen levels at a healthy level.

Many on here are too old to take advantage of the medical advances but you may have daughters and daughters-in-law who need to start educating themselves.

I’ll take my chances thank you Espee. At nearly 70y I have none of those ailments thankfully. Perhaps I’m just one of the lucky ones.

Same here Urmstongran.

In my late 30s, I underwent a total hysterectomy and was urged to start HRT immediately. I refused because of the animal cruelty involved in producing Premarin. As I am sensitive to the sugar alcohol mannitol, any yam-derived BHRT was out too. I was also concerned about the risk of breast cancer. I never suffered from any of the symptoms menopausal women describe. Fast approaching 70 now, nor do I have any of the age-related health issues described upthread although, of course, I am aware that I could develop any or all of them of them as I get even older. Luck or some correlation with the early surgical menopause?

I am not on HRT although the dr has suggested it but after reading umpteen amounts of info on it, I decided the answer was a no.

The hair loss has stopped ( thank goodness, I took to wearing a shower cap when preparing food !!) I still get a few night sweats but nothing to write home about and my anxiety is controlled by medication, so no, i don't feel the need go on HRT at all.

I'll go without HRT, thanks. My menopause was relatively uneventful and I didn't consider HRT because of heart issues on my dad's side of the family.

I don't suffer from any of the things Espee mentions, as yet; neither did my mum or either of my grandmothers. What about all those women in the past who lived beyond their 50s and into their 80s and 90s without any hormonal intervention? Looking at burial records there were a lot who did live that long.

Think I will check out the oestrogen issue esspee , had not heard of this before. Thanks

What I am always aware of with every medication is that there are a lot of drug companies gaining a lot of money from it. They don’t push HRT here so much though there are plenty of other drugs they do push. Cynically, it depends where their investments lie.

I never noticed peri or any other menopause.
I was on Depo Provera, best invention since fire IMO, no periods...and a nurse said once, you'll never notice menopause, they use it for issues sometimes.
Well yep, came time when I had to guess...over and done?
It was.
So ladies, why suffer if you don't have to, never understood some that acted so horrified when I told them.
Even the ones I knew who had awful periods and/or menopause.
I was on it 38 years.
No issues, still. The only medical issues I have now is arthritis, not surprising really, my mum had it, brother has it...

Maybe one positive aspect of current publicity is it encourages women to consider the menopause. I'm 60 and my last period was in 2014. Until then they had been very heavy for a couple of years. My GP said I was menopausal but didnt discuss HRT. I was extremely lucky in that no significant hot flashes or mood swings. Probably my main issue was poor sleep patterns,waking in early hours etc. I have had times when felt apathetic or anxious but put this down to life in general!
Yes I noticed wrinkles appeared more quickly and skin not bouncing back if lost weight.
I have found the information about long term affects of decrease in oestrogen really helpful,and I am amazed at how little I know. I expect it's too late for HRT now but I definitely welcome the discussion of later symptoms and affects.