If you're over 50 and are taking HRT to ease menopausal symptoms, a GP might suggest that you try to stop taking it every 2 or 3 years to see if you still do. If you're over 50 and are taking hormone therapy to ease menopausal symptoms, a GP might recommend that you try to stop taking it every 2 or 3 years to see if you still need it or if your symptoms have improved. Many women choose to take hormone replacement therapy for a much longer period of time than a few years. This is often because they feel better and have more energy when taking hormone replacement therapy; they also want to protect their future health from long-term conditions associated with low estrogen levels, such as osteoporosis and cardiovascular disease.
All women taking HRT should have an annual review with their doctor or nurse. If you're staying healthy and feeling the benefits of taking hormone replacement therapy, there's no reason to stop taking it. Women are often surprised when menopausal symptoms return after stopping hormone therapy, even women who have taken it for many years. As we've already mentioned, menopausal symptoms can last more than a decade.
There are some tests that show a small increase in the risk of heart attack or stroke during the first year after stopping HRT. As always, decisions about your health should be made by weighing all the relevant information and deciding what's best for you, and in consultation with your healthcare professional. If people decide to stop taking hormone therapy, they should reduce the dose gradually. Stopping taking it abruptly can cause the reappearance of menopausal symptoms, such as hot flashes and sleep interruption.
A slow, consistent, and supervised approach is the best way to stop HRT. This method allows the body to gradually adapt to lower hormone levels. This reduces the incidence of shock to the system or severe withdrawal. Every woman's experience and symptom profile is different, so a doctor may prescribe estrogen, progesterone, DHEA, or a combination of any of these hormones to meet individual needs.
The duration of therapy is personal and depends on how the patient responds to treatment. Hormone replacement therapy is considered long-lasting if a person continues treatment for more than five years. Long-term hormone replacement therapy has some health benefits, but it's only appropriate for women if there are certain health conditions.
Hormone replacement therapy (HRT
) replenishes these crucial hormone levels to rebalance the body, treat symptoms and restore energy and vitality.You and your provider can evaluate if you are a candidate for hormone replacement therapy at any time or if other remedies may be more appropriate to help you. If your symptoms come back and don't go away after 3 months, talk to a family doctor, who can suggest other treatments or restart a low dose of hormone therapy. If you find that you are a candidate for long-term hormone replacement therapy, be sure to see your doctor regularly for a new evaluation. The combination pill can mask or improve menopausal symptoms, as it contains estrogens, which are also used in hormone replacement therapy.
Disrupting HRT suddenly can be incredibly uncomfortable, but a well-structured approach aims to make the experience much smoother. Although women usually experience perimenopause in their 40s and go through menopause around the age of 50, the time to start hormone therapy depends on each person's particular symptoms and health status. If your menopausal symptoms come back when you try to stop taking it and you decide that the benefits of hormone therapy for your symptoms still outweigh the risks, you can keep taking it longer. A safe and structured approach to quitting hormone therapy ensures that your body can gradually adapt and, at the same time, minimize discomfort.
and keep your balance. For symptoms such as hot flashes, you'll usually need to take hormone replacement therapy for 2 to 5 years, but in some cases it can be longer. If you and your healthcare provider decide to stop hormone therapy for any reason, there are other remedies that can ease menopausal symptoms. When you decide to stop taking hormone therapy, you may choose to stop taking it suddenly, but it's usually recommended to reduce your dose gradually over 3 to 6 months.
If you have considered the information in this fact sheet and decide that leaving HRT is the right decision for you, it is generally recommended that you decrease your estrogen dose gradually, every few days, for a few weeks. The information already mentioned also applies to those of you who were taking hormone replacement therapy but who, reluctantly and following the doctor's advice, stopped taking it. If your symptoms come back when you stop taking HRT, it's not because you've been taking hormones, but because you would still have menopausal symptoms at the time, even if you had never taken it. If you want to continue taking hormone replacement therapy or start taking it after age 60, your GP may recommend that you take a low dose and use patches or gel instead of tablets to reduce your risk.
