Wellness

[nanny24]

Have any of you been on Hormone Replacement Therapy and then weaned off slowly? I had been taking a low dose for years because of a hysterectomy, and Dr. is weaning me off slowly, but Ladies, I am the grouchiest person lately. I am generally a nice person, but everything is getting on my last nerve, especially my husband. I have gone from one full dose daily to 1/2 dose 3x a week, and the rest of week full dose. I just wondered if anyone had done this. Thanks!

[Kachina624]

I didn't wean off slowly.  The day the news came out about its dangers, I quit cold and never took another pill.  Really had no effect on me at all.

I did take amitriptyline (Elavil) for pain for years and it took 2 months for me to wean myself off if it.  I was very grouchy during that time and was well aware of it.  Thankfully,  I live alone.

[Love my grandkids]

@nanny24 Just turned 73, was on HRT about 30 years ago and reports were coming out about possible long term negative effectis. I had only been on them a short time and just quit.

I also changed doctors as I felt that my doc, who was a woman, was totally out of touch with HRT.

[NicksmomESQ]

With all the talk that HRT contributed to beast & cervical cancer I never went on it. I pushed through menopause on my own with the help of standardized Black Cohosh which I only took for about 60 days.

[chrystaltree]

I had a hysterectomy in my late 30's so I went into surgical menopause immediately.  It was brutal.  I was on HRT for about a years and then my doctor said I'd be on it until I was the age for menopause.  Huhhh??????  After what I was reading about HRT, there was no way that I was going to take it for 15 years.  She told me we could taper off but I stopped cold turkey.  There were no problems or side effects.  

[SeaMaiden]

I went through Menopause naturally with a combination of   natural  estrogen herbs  like black cohosh and using topical natural progesterone cream  plus a good healthy diet. I Had a few hot flashes and night sweats......but really nothing else for a few years and I went into full menopause at  age 47.  I do not know if that is considered early or not.   I am now 65.

[Sage04]

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@chrystaltree wrote:

I had a hysterectomy in my late 30's so I went into surgical menopause immediately.  It was brutal.  I was on HRT for about a years and then my doctor said I'd be on it until I was the age for menopause.  Huhhh??????  After what I was reading about HRT, there was no way that I was going to take it for 15 years.  She told me we could taper off but I stopped cold turkey.  There were no problems or side effects.  

@chrystaltree  I had a complete hysterectomy when I was 38. Took HRT for about a year. I just don't understand this. I never went through menopause and I don't know  if there is a way to find out if I ever did. People say I would know if i did because it's horrible.

One question. If you had a total hysterectomy, did you have a problem with frequent urination? It's still happening and I was told that it's because the bladder has no support. I heard about some sort of surgery that would take care of it. Any opinion on that and yes I know you are not a Doctor  lol.

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[ECBG]

@nanny24 

I used HRT for 10 years following a complete hystercomy.  My doctor told me to split my remaining pills and increasingly space them out for about 2 week.  I never had hot flashes.

[LuvmyLab]

I consider myself lucky in that I have never ever had a menopausal symptom and never needed to go on HRT.

[Meowingkitty]

I took HRT for several years and the first time I tried to go off of them I did it cold turkey. I was miserable at about 5 days. Cramps, hot flashes, headaches etc. so I went back on them for another year or so. That time I decided to ween myself off gradually. First I cut the pills in half and took half a dose for about a month, then I cut the half in half and took that for about two weeks, then I took a quarter of a pill every other day for a couple of week, then every three days and finally no more pills. Worked great. Didn't have any symptoms of withdrawal even though it took what seemed like forever to stop taking them.