Headaches · breast pain or tenderness · unexpected vaginal bleeding or spotting · feeling sick (nausea) · mood changes, such as low mood or depression · leg cramps. According to a review of major trials published last week, the overall increased risk of serious adverse effects, such as breast cancer, stroke and pulmonary embolism, with long-term hormone replacement therapy (HRT) outweighs the potential benefits in preventing diseases. How you apply it (or take it) depends on the type of product you and your healthcare provider choose. They'll make sure you know when and how to use it. Combined hormone therapy may increase the risk of developing breast cancer, but most studies show that the increase is small (less than 1 in 1000).
The risk of breast cancer usually doesn't increase until after five years of use. There are several factors that determine the risk of breast cancer, in addition to hormone replacement therapy. Contact your healthcare provider if you have menopausal symptoms that interrupt your daily life. Your provider can explain treatment options, including hormone replacement therapy.
It's important that your healthcare provider helps you understand the advantages and disadvantages of hormone replacement therapy and how they apply to your particular situation. The decision to take hormone replacement therapy is a very personal and complex one. It depends on many factors, such as your health history, your age and your symptoms. Health care providers know the risks and benefits of hormone replacement therapy and know how to apply them to your particular case. That said, there are times when healthcare providers don't recommend HRT after evaluating your situation.
It's important to know that they're not against HRT because they want you to feel uncomfortable. Rather, they are aware of the risks and how those risks may apply to your case. If your provider doesn't think HRT is the right treatment for you, discuss alternative options with them. Fatigue is the general tiredness and lack of energy that can occur with hormone therapy.
It makes a person feel more tired than usual and can interfere with daily activities and sleep. It usually gets worse when you are receiving other treatments, such as chemotherapy or radiation therapy. Fatigue may improve over time, but it can sometimes last a long time after hormone treatment. Some hormone therapy medications can cause nausea and vomiting. These side effects usually get better as your body gets used to the medication.
Taking hormone therapy medications with food or before bed can help alleviate these side effects. Nausea and vomiting may also occur a few hours after radiation therapy to the abdomen. Weight gain often occurs with hormone therapy. It is caused by increased appetite, decreased activity, and fluid retention. It's often difficult to control your weight when you're undergoing hormone therapy, but changes in diet and exercise can help. You can request a consultation with a dietitian to control your weight.
Some hormone therapies may cause a decrease or loss of interest in sexual intercourse. It can continue while you are taking hormonal drug therapy, but it can sometimes be a long-term side effect. It can be a permanent side effect if surgery or radiation therapy is done to stop hormone production. Treatment-induced menopause may be permanent in women who have their ovaries surgically removed or undergo radiation therapy to the ovaries. Treatment-induced menopause in women who have undergone hormonal drug treatment may be temporary.
For some women, it may be permanent, especially if they are close to natural menopause when hormonal drug therapy begins. The symptoms of treatment-induced menopause are the same as those of natural menopause, but may be more severe because the treatment-induced menopause happens quickly. Some hormone therapies can cause hot flashes and sweating in both men and women. These side effects usually improve as the body gets used to the treatment or when therapy with hormonal drugs is stopped.
There are ways to control hot flashes. Taking hormone therapy medications at night may help some people cope with hot flashes. If hot flashes worsen at night, take your medicines in the morning. Check with your doctor or health care team before taking herbal products to treat hot flashes, as some may have hormonal properties that may affect a hormone-related cancer. Some hormonal drug therapies can cause breast swelling or tenderness in men and women.
Erectile dysfunction (ED) is also called impotence. Erectile dysfunction is when a man is unable to maintain an erection sufficient for sexual intercourse. This can be a long-term side effect of hormone therapy. Some men may experience erectile dysfunction as a result of certain hormone treatments for prostate cancer.
Hormonal hormone therapy may slightly increase the risk of breast cancer. If you've had breast cancer, you'll usually be advised not to take HRT. There are also lifestyle changes that can lower the risk of breast cancer. Hormone therapy can cause hot flashes in both men and women. During a hot flush, a person usually experiences mild to extreme heat all over the body, which can also be accompanied by sweating, blushing, and a rapid heartbeat.
Certain antidepressants, called selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), can ease hot flashes. Men with prostate cancer can take a type of hormone replacement known as progesterone to treat hot flashes. Progesterone isn't safe for women or men with breast cancer. Supplements don't effectively treat hot flashes, and some supplements can be harmful.
Some people who experience hot flashes find portable ventilators and chills that lower body temperature useful. Others have also reported that exercise, hypnosis, yoga or acupuncture relieve hot flashes. Certain hormone therapies, especially aromatase inhibitors, can cause joint pain. Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, such as ibuprofen, and antidepressants, such as duloxetine (Cymbalta), can improve joint pain caused by these therapies.
Exercise, yoga, and acupuncture can also help ease joint pain. Fatigue may be due to cancer or treatment, including hormone therapy. Fatigue is common among cancer survivors and can persist for years after treatment. Hormone therapy can affect memory and cognitive function. You should tell your doctor about cognitive changes so they can control and treat underlying causes, such as depression, sleep disorders, fatigue, and medication side effects.
Limiting alcohol and drug use can improve your memory. Some research has demonstrated the benefits of yoga, exercise, mindfulness, meditation, cognitive training, and modafinil (Provigil), a medication used to treat sleep disorders. Hormone therapy was associated with an increased risk of fecal incontinence, fibroids, gallbladder disease and gallstones, hearing loss, joint swelling, rheumatoid arthritis, and urinary incontinence (68,69,97,112-11). The side effects of hormone therapy will depend primarily on the type of hormone therapy, the dose of a drug or combination of drugs, and your general health).A Cochrane review (suggested that compared to combined HRT, tibolone had no effect on cardiovascular, cerebrovascular, or thromboembolic events).
Research has shown that hormone replacement therapy has little or no effect on the risk of coronary heart disease. We identified 66 studies looking at the long-term risks and benefits of HRT, which were usually compared with those of an inactive control group (mostly placebo). If you have side effects, they may appear at any time during hormone therapy, right after, or a few days or weeks later. The new tests did not report whether the effect on diabetes continues after stopping HRT, so no update is needed in this area.
If you have menopausal symptoms that affect your quality of life, you may wonder if hormone therapy is an option for you. Compound hormones aren't well studied, and healthcare providers aren't sure about their long-term effects. The effects varied depending on whether the use of hormonal hormone therapy was current or long-term, the duration of the treatment, and whether estrogen alone was used or combined. The side effects of HRT can be similar to menopausal symptoms, so HRT may not be causing them.
However, when drafting the guideline, the protective effects of hormone therapy in type 2 diabetes seemed to last only until hormone therapy was discontinued. Inconsistent effects on intraocular pressure were observed: improvement was seen with conjugated equine estrogens, but no effect was seen with combined HRT. It's important to make the decision to take hormone therapy after talking to your healthcare provider. A tumor exacerbation reaction or a tumor exacerbation response, such as bone pain, may worsen when certain hormonal drug treatments are first used. Having a strong social and emotional support system can also help you during hormone therapy for cancer.
Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) helps treat menopausal symptoms, such as vaginal dryness and hot flashes.
