Oh how I wish that I was still on HRT
I’ve been carefully reading everything I can find about the menopause (Mail) because I’ve been suffering for years with this debilitating condition. I was on hormone replacement therapy (HRT) for some years, which made life much better, but was eventually persuaded to stop taking it by GPs stressing the side-effects, so I’m now suffering again. Being told to stop thinking negative thoughts and imagine that ‘this won’t last long’ made me angry. The menopause ruins your life. The hot flushes are uncontrollable, happen at very inconvenient times and are embarrassing to say the least. As for all the other symptoms — well. The BBC Breakfast programme last week highlighted that many high-powered businesswomen have to leave their jobs because of the symptoms and the lack of care and sympathy in the workplace, especially from male co-workers, who find it an embarrassing subject and can have no idea what’s going on. Apparently, it had been thought that the menopause lasted, on average, seven years, but now there’s research showing it can last twice that long. HRT does have side-effects, but is still very safe and is the best remedy, so why aren’t more women being given it, when it can improve their quality of life so much? Mrs MARGARET McCRAVE,
Stichill, Roxburghshire. I sTARTed HRT when my menopause began in 1967. I was just 40. I was on it for 30 years, then my doctors told me I should stop because of a family history of strokes and heart attacks. I tried unsuccessfully several times, but did eventually manage. The hot flushes came back with a vengeance. Two months later, I had my first fractured vertebrae, then another after six months, and I have also had two major surgeries on my spine, which is now crumbling due to osteoporosis. I’m now more or less in a wheelchair. I wish I hadn’t given up HRT. I’m a small person and have always been very fit.
JOYCE CLIFFORD, Ledbury, Herts. FoR thousands of years, woman have gone through puberty, periods, pregnancy, giving birth and, finally, the menopause. so, why do people make such a big drama out of these perfectly natural events? This can only frighten young mothers facing the prospect of giving birth — and teenagers will think the slightest period pain means they must take to their bed. As for the menopause, one wonders how our mothers, grannies, etc, survived at all. Brace up, ladies!
GAY FRENCH, Kirk Michael, IoM.