Hormone replacement therapy for menopause (patient information)
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Hormone replacement therapy |
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Editor-in-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S.,M.D. [1] Phone:617-632-7753; Associate Editor(s)-In-Chief: Lakshmi Gopalakrishnan, M.B.B.S.
Synonyms and Keywords: HRT; Estrogen replacement therapy; ERT; Hormone therapy
Overview
Hormone therapy (HT) uses one or more female hormones, commonly estrogen and progestin and sometimes testosterone, to treat symptoms of menopause.
Hormone therapy comes as a pill, patch, injection, vaginal cream, tablet, or ring.
Benefits of Hormone replacement therapy
- Perhaps the largest benefit women receive from hormone therapy is relief from:
- Hot flashes
- Night sweats
- Sleep difficulties
- Vaginal dryness
- Anxiety
- Usually, hot flashes and night sweats are less severe after a couple of years, especially if hormone therapy is slowly reduced.
- A woman's body produces less estrogen during and after menopause, which may affect her bone strength.
- Hormone therapy may also prevent the development of osteoporosis.
- Studies have not been able to clearly show that hormone therapy helps with urinary incontinence, Alzheimer's disease, or dementia.
Risks of Hormone replacement therapy
- Blood clots:
- Doctors have long known that taking estrogen increases a person's risk for blood clots.
- Generally, this risk is higher if you use birth control pills, which contain high doses of estrogen.
- Your risk is even higher if you smoke and take estrogen.
- The risk is not as high when estrogen skin patches (transdermal estrogen) are used.
- Cancer:
- Breast cancer: Woman who take estrogen therapy for a long period of time have a small increase in risk for breast cancer. Most guidelines currently consider hormone therapy safe for breast cancer risk when taken for up to 5 years.
- Endometrial/uterine cancer: The risk for endometrial cancer is more than five times higher in women who take estrogen therapy alone, compared with those who do not. However, taking progesterone with estrogen seems to protect against this cancer. Endometrial cancer does not develop in women who do not have a uterus.
- Cardiovascular disease:
- Deep vein thrombosis (DVT or blood clot in a vein) and pulmonary embolus (PE or blood clot in the lungs) are more common in women who take oral estrogen, regardless of their age.
- Stroke: Women who take estrogen have an increased risk for stroke.
- Gall bladder disease: Several studies have shown that women who take estrogen/progestin therapy have an increased risk for developing gallstones.
Side effects of Hormone replacement therapy
- As with all medicines, side effects are possible. Some women taking hormone therapy may have:
- Bloating
- Breast soreness
- Headaches
- Mood swings
- Nausea
- Water retention
- Changing the dose or form of hormone therapy may help reduce these side effects.
- Some women have irregular bleeding when they start taking hormone therapy. Changing the dose often eliminates this side effect. Close follow-up with your doctor is important when you have any unusual bleeding.
Forms of Hormone replacement therapy
- Hormone therapy is available in various forms. You may need to try more than one form before finding the one that works best for you.
- Estrogen comes in the following forms:
- Nasal spray
- Pills or tablets, taken by mouth
- Skin gel
- Skin patches, which are applied to the thigh or belly area
- Vaginal creams or vaginal tablets, to help with dryness and pain with sexual intercourse
- 8Vaginal ring
- Most women who take estrogen and who have not had their uterus removed also need to take progesterone. Taking these medicines together helps reduce the risk of endometrial (uterine) cancer.
- Progesterone or progestin comes in the following forms:
- Pill
- Skin patch
- Vaginal cream
- When estrogen and progesterone are prescribed together, your doctor will recommended one of the following schedules:
- Cyclic hormone therapy is often recommended when a woman is starting menopause.
- With this therapy, estrogen is taken in pill or patch form for 25 days, with progestin added somewhere between days 10 - 14.
- The estrogen and progestin are used together for the remainder of the 25 days. Then, no hormones are taken for 3 - 5 days.
- There may be monthly bleeding with cyclic therapy.
- Continuous, combined therapy involves taking estrogen and progestin together every day.
- Irregular bleeding may occur when starting or switching to this therapy.
- Most women stop bleeding within 1 year.
- Additional medications may be recommended for some women with severe symptoms from menopause, or women who are at very high risk for osteoporosis or heart disease.
- One of these supplemental drugs might be testosterone, a hormone that is more plentiful in males, to improve sex drive.
- Nonhormonal medications are sometimes used either in addition to, or instead of, hormone therapy.
Healthy lifestyle
- In addition to hormone therapy, a woman can take other steps to adjust to the changes in life during menopause.
- Eating healthy foods and getting regular exercise will help decrease bone loss, improve balance, and maintain healthy heart muscle.
When to seek urgent medical care?
- It is important to have regular checkups with your health care provider when taking hormone therapy.
- If you have vaginal bleeding or other unusual symptoms during hormone therapy, call your health care provider.
Where to find medical care for Hormone replacement therapy?
Directions to Hospitals Treating Hormone replacement therapy