Should probably post this in war zone, the controversy over HRT treatment and vitamin supplements, but this article had a good long explanation of the new 20 year follow-up study.

No need to fear menopause hormone drugs, [if under 60]

https://wapo.st/44r7jXb



Kistler said she generally prescribes HRT only for patients with significant symptoms who are at low risk for stroke, heart disease and breast cancer and usually only after first trying non-hormonal therapies. She limits their use to five or six years and weans patients off the drugs by age 60. “The review notes relatively little harm from HRT until 60,” she said.

I wouldn't take Premarin (made from pregnant mare urine), but I could (and did) take bio-identical hormones for several years. They lessened the symptoms of menopause and made me feel so much better. I still had night sweats, hot flashes, and mood swings, but they were far less overwhelming than without the hormones.

Oh, and here's a weird thing. Right around the time I started into menopause, I got the worst case of plantar fasciitis in my right food. I saw an orthopedic surgeon who had me wear a boot all day and night, but it didn't work. He tried so many things. Finally he put a cast on my right leg from the knee down to my toes for 6 weeks. Took it off and the pain was just as bad.

It just so happened that a few weeks later I saw a practitioner for the bio-identical hormones. One week on the hormones and the pain was gone! One of the many books on menopause that I read at the time said that one side effect some women get during menopause is heel pain and plantar fasciitis!

Rant warning because I had to save my own life...



The original study was such a disaster they yanked ALL these hormone drugs away from women. Then, they get this long, drawn-out, tippy toe approach I suffered from for years. Prozac was what they wanted to give me. I finally got the pills, which worked for a week or two, then gradually faded away to nothing. (This might be an odd symptom but it's quite clear even if I'm the only one who doesn't respond. Which I doubt.)

I was informed by an OB-GYN that bio-identical wasn't worth the money, but I found a better one who confirmed the pills were the problem. Not the hormones.

Then I couldn't afford a bio-dentical clinic which sure isn't around here and wasn't covered by insurance. Finally, it came on the market from women who were suffering and managed to make it low cost and freely available. If a woman has problems she can try it.

The pills have a tweak so they could patent it. All of this risk if from using the pills, and if you are using the pills, the doctor is using a "sensible approach" because they are troublesome when older.

They never tested my estrogen levels when I complained of horrible symptoms that then cleared up with bio-identical. Before or after the pills.

And maybe they are bailing with a paper cup because so many people already have deranged hormones, by overwhelming their bodies from bad fats.

I have severe symptoms and can't function as well without my "take according to symptoms" approach. I'm actually bringing down my use as my health gets better. I will inform my my physician, who approved this.

I remember being a teen and thinking by the time I faced menopause they would have it figured out. If it was science instead of profit, they would have. The distinction between the pills and the bio-identical cream (because it has to be absorbed through the skin) was an extremely serious issue.

Menopause may be "natural" but who gets the real thing in this food environment? My surgical menopause (only took one ovary becaues of course they want to take the whole thing and thank heavens I fought them on that because I needed that thing when they kept me from hormones) was mental torture.

My sleep was 2-4 hours a night. At that rate the death I'd cause might not be my own! It gave me small, but scary, insights into those people who snap and trash things.

So: yes, I do need to fear menopause drugs. Because sometimes they aren't even estrogen!