When is hormone replacement therapy needed

This can cause symptoms such as hot flashes, night sweats, pain during sex, and vaginal dryness. For some women, the symptoms are mild, and they go away on their own. Other women take hormone replacement therapy HRT , also called menopausal hormone therapy, to relieve these symptoms. HRT may also protect against osteoporosis. There are different types of HRT. Some have only one hormone, while others have two. Most are pills that you take every day, but there are also skin patches, vaginal creams, gels, and rings.

Taking HRT has some risks. For some women, hormone therapy may increase their chances of getting blood clots , heart attacks , strokes , breast cancer , and gallbladder disease. Certain types of HRT have a higher risk, and each woman's own risks can vary, depending upon her medical history and lifestyle.

You and your health care provider need to discuss the risks and benefits for you. If you do decide to take HRT, it should be the lowest dose that helps and for the shortest time needed. The benefits of HRT are generally believed to outweigh the risks. Read more about the risks of HRT. You can usually begin HRT as soon as you start experiencing menopausal symptoms and will not usually need to have any tests first.

A GP can explain the different types of HRT available and help you choose one that's suitable for you. You'll usually start with a low dose, which may be increased at a later stage. It may take a few weeks to feel the effects of treatment and there may be some side effects at first. A GP will usually recommend trying treatment for 3 months to see if it helps. If it does not, they may suggest changing your dose, or changing the type of HRT you're taking.

A GP can give you advice to help you choose which type is best for you. You may need to try more than 1 type before you find 1 that works best. Find out more about the different types of HRT. There's no limit on how long you can take HRT, but talk to a GP about how long they recommend you take the treatment. The purpose of this joint statement is to demonstrate the experts do agree on the key points.

The North American Menopause Society, the American Society for Reproductive Medicine, and The Endocrine Society take the position that most healthy, recently menopausal women can use hormone therapy for relief of their symptoms of hot flashes and vaginal dryness if they so choose. These medical organizations also agree that women should know the facts about hormone therapy. Below are the major points of agreement among these societies. Hormone therapy reduces menopausal symptoms Hormone therapy is the most effective treatment for menopausal symptoms such as hot flashes and vaginal dryness.

If women have only vaginal dryness or discomfort with intercourse, the preferred treatments are low doses of vaginal estrogen. Hot flashes generally require a higher dose of estrogen therapy that will have an effect on the entire body. Women who still have a uterus need to take a progestogen progesterone or a similar product along with the estrogen to prevent cancer of the uterus.

Five years or less is usually the recommended duration of use for this combined treatment, but the length of time can be individualized for each woman.