It’s no exaggeration to say that many women starting hormone replacement therapy (HRT) are praying for a miracle. Something to relieve the insomnia, the mood swings, the fatigue, the night sweats…the list is endless. And for many women, it works. However, some of us get more than we bargained for, cumulatively a range of unexpected side effects beyond those listed on the insert. I talked to a group of women on HRT and asked them this question: ‘What effects did you experience from HRT that you hadn’t anticipated?’. To be clear, I was asking for anything they didn’t expect from being on HRT, as opposed to strictly medical side effects. Here are their replies. (Names have been changed to protect identities.)
Tina, 49: “As if perimenopausal insomnia wasn’t bad enough before I started HRT! The main reason I started taking it was so I could stop counting sheep until 3 am every morning. The doctor didn’t mention applying the Oestrogel at any particular time other than after a bath or shower so I put it on before bed. The insomnia got worse! It was really awful, I felt like I’d been mainlining caffeine all day. But then I did some Googling and found that other women experiencing similar effects switched to applying it in the mornings instead. I did the same and after a few days – actually, maybe it was more like a week or so – my sleep settled. In fact, now the days when I’m on the Utrogestan I get the best sleeps of all. I didn’t expect that, either.”
Shazia, 49: “I have to factor in an extra 15 minutes into my morning routine every day to apply the Oestrogel (10 minutes to rub in the gel, 5 minutes to walk around the house with my jeans round my knees so it can dry) – I didn’t expect it to take so much time! Plus, I hate getting up in the morning anyway, so I couldn’t face getting up any earlier. Now, it means my husband has to feed and walk the dog instead. He’s had to adjust his schedule because of my HRT!
Sarah, 50: “I went on HRT because of mood swings and night sweats, and it improved both, although I still got some mood swings around the time I took the progesterone. Then we went overseas for two weeks, and I forgot to pack it. My anxiety returned instantly. I’m not sure if it was my body truly reacting or a placebo effect because I knew I wasn’t taking it. Either way, now I find going away is fraught with whether I’ve packed all my HRT; I often find I’d rather stay home rather than plan a holiday and risk forgetting it again.
Louise, 46: “I still get PMS – for at least two days every month! I thought HRT would smooth out the mood swings entirely – and it has for the most part; I don’t go up and down every few days as I did in perimenopause – but now it’s a bit like when I had my natural cycle, and I have 2-3 PMS days every month. I didn’t expect that. Is there no justice in the world?!
Andi, 52, “I started taking testosterone, and my libido has gone through the roof. Ok, maybe I’m exaggerating, it’s not as good as, say, in my twenties. But it’s way better than what I was left with after I started perimenopause. After years of languishing in perimenopausal sexlessness, my partner and I are enjoying each other in a way I thought was long behind me.”
Sat, 44 “I didn’t expect to have to fiddle around with the dosage so much – or at all, in fact – to find what works for me. I find that I have to change it as my own body changes. I’ve lost weight without even trying now that I’m on a high enough dose. The last few years I was gaining weight no matter what I did (and I was on HRT), which I’ve never struggled with before. Also, I find it very annoying that lots of doctors don’t really know much and you’re pretty much on your own deciding what you need to do.”
Kiara, 49 “HRT has been brilliant for me. However – I put the Oestrogel on at night, because I wasn’t sure I could be bothered waiting around in the mornings. It doesn’t half wreck your sex life though. It takes ages to dry and then I’m paranoid about getting it on my husband and turning him into a woman!”
Leonie, 53, “I was disappointed because I expected it to work, but actually it did not work for me at all. I went on it to stop the hot flushes, but it gave me bad headaches and insomnia, I was tired all the time. The doctor wasn’t much help. It was actually a relief to come off it and just have hot flushes again.”
Asha, 50. “I didn’t expect to get period pains. When I think I about it now, I suppose it’s obvious – you have a bleed so your uterus or whatever is going to cramp as it gets rid of the blood. I guess I thought that the bleeding on HRT was artificial, not like a real period, so I wouldn’t get the pains. They’re pretty minor though, much less than the period pains I used to get when I had my natural cycle.”
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