HRT/Hysterectomy Question

[Aurora_75]

Deleted

[canuck]

Gee I don’t know allot about this but none of those things are meant to be used long term and the study was stopped as too many women were having heart attacks and strokes from the hormones, Could you call her doc and mention it.
I assume she feels so awful when not on anything that she doesn’t want to give it up but I wouldn’t use it long term.
There is an interesting book called What your doctor may not tell you about menopause and addresses all these concerns.
:wave

[jersey]

my opinion

I hesitated to respond because I have very strong feelings about Premarin...my mother had taken the drug since her hysterectomy in her late 30's. She had no family history of cancer, no gynecological problems after her partial hysterectomy, no bad habits...she was very athletic (canoe, bicycle, garden) and she was diagnosed with 3rd stage ovarian cancer at age 60 - she continued to take premarin until the reports came out and I insisted she quit. She went through multiple operations to remove the tumors, and endured multiple courses of chemo...all while on the premarin. She died 11 months ago at age 67.

No, it's not just the Premarin - her gyne failed to test her or note her symptoms despite 2x yearly visits...just upped her premarin.

If your mother experiences ANY lower back discomfort, newer gastro distress, new fatigue, etc. - have her get a CA 125 test....you can get ovarian ca even with ovaries gone. Tell her I miss my mom very much and truly believe the premarin contributed to her cancer. I'm going through hellacious flashes, sweats, periods from **** but no hrt for me...

[sharbur2002]

I agree with canuck, The book she mentions is by Dr. John Lee. I read this book about 8 years ago. Unfortunately I loaned it out and never got it back. I will never use Premarin and I am going through menopause now and getting hot flashes.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0446671444/optimalwellnessc/104-5884106-3179925

Here's a link to Amazon.com for this book and to Dr. John Lee's website (although he has passed away)http://www.mercola.com/index.htm

Sharon

[2big4mysize]

She has already undergone menapuase if she needed the medication. does your mother know the choice she is making in staying on the med? She maybe only considering how she felt experieincing her symptoms without the med vs how she feels with the meds. Don't lecture her but sit down with her and explain in a very calm manner what your concens are about the cancer risks, heart attack risks and stroke risks. if you have kids play the grandma card about how you want her to be around and be a part of their lives a a vital senior lady and not a corspe in the ground or worse a bedfast crippled person.

In the end if she is making an informed decidsion there really isn't anything you can do to make her stop just as there was nothing she could do to make you lose weight before you decided on your own to do it.

[canuck]

Jersey I am sorry to hear about your mom, my mom died too at 67, way to young, with cancer but not same.
I won’t use hormones and feel so far can go thru it but Dr Lee talks about minimizing effects as we are around so many xestrgoens ( from petroleum products, plastics etc)and women in third world countries apparently don’t have same issues we do with menopause, makes allot of sense. He has a whole series of books; I read on his site he died, too bad, he was smart.
I felt he was uncommon like Atkins was yrs ago and was onto something but rest of medical community poo poo’d him..

[Becky Sue]

Dawn,
Your mom is afraid of what symptoms she will experience if she stops taking the HRT.

I had a complete hysterectomy ,12 years ago at age 42. I have taken HRT ever since that date, until a year ago. I was taking a pretty high dose and on my own I decided to break them into and take half the dose. I did this for 6 months. Nothing seemed to change so then I took 1/2 pill every other day for 4 months. Now I take 1/2 pill, just twice a week. I know I can stop taking it, but I decided to take it til the prescription is completely gone. I hav just afew pills left.

I am now 54 years old and I seem to be doing good weining myself off the HRT meds. I can't speak for your mom. But you might tell her that I started lowering my dose and that I am almost completely living very well without HRT.

In all honestly, I had to be nudged to get off the hormones by my Dr. He wasn't going to renew my prescription, so I thought I'll try to get off of the meds and I am glad I chose this instead of going to another dr.

Becky Sue

[MotherNature]

HRT is something that should be stopped gradually. Becky Sue has quite the right approach. I had a hysterectomy at 36 and have been on HRT ever since and am now 60 years old. I have always been on the lowest dose of Premarin. On my last visit, my doctor wanted to start weaning me off them. He advised taking a pill every other day for 2 weeks and then stopping completely. I am going to wean myself off even more gradually than this as Becky Sue is doing. After the 2 weeks is up, I am going to cut the pills in half and take 1 every other day for another 2 weeks. Hopefully after that I can stop completely.

Cathy

[Becky Sue]

I forgot to mention that I am also taking evening primrose(2 per day) and black Cohost(2 per day) to help with any menapause symptoms. I don't know if they are the reason I am doing so well , but they aren't hurting me.

Let me know how you are doing Cathy. Is kind of scarey to stop taking HRT. When we have taken it for so long.

Becky Sue

[ttdriver]

I had a total hysterectomy (ovaries, and all) at age 38 in 1994. I am now 49 and have been on Premarin ever since, although a low dose .625 mg. I feel great and after having endometrosis for years and NO QUALITY of life, I figure I am way better off taking the premarin and having a good life!! So my plan is to keep taking it!!

Betty

[DebbietheHugBug]

I'm not 50 yet but can I chime in?

I had a hysterectomy in 1992, just the uterus. 2 years ago I started experiencing menopausal symptoms. My doctor at the time put me on Premarin.

I took it for awhile and quit. I seemed fine for several months and the symptoms came back. My doctor (now) put me back on Premarin. About a month ago I stopped taking them to see if that was slowing my weight loss down. It didn't seem to make a difference. My night sweats were so bad that I didn't sleep for several nights so I had to take them again to feel better.

My doctor told me of the horror stories about Premarin and cancer. He told me there is no proof, real proof, that they are related. I asked him if there were any "natural" ways of controlling the symptoms and he said no. Becky Sue mentioned Primrose oil and Black Cohosh. I would be interested in knowing if someone with severe symptoms are treating them naturally and how well it is going.

Thanks.