Side Effects of Hormone Therapy
In addition to the risks, hormone therapy can also cause some side effects. When thinking about whether this is a good treatment for you, it is important to realize that you may experience any of the following when taking estrogen and/or progesterone:
- Breast tenderness or swelling
- Irregular bleeding
- Bloating
- Headaches
- Queasiness
- Mood disturbance
- Local irritation or allergic reactions to delivery method (vaginal ring, skin patch, cream)
Depending on how disruptive your menopause symptoms are, the hormone side effects may dissuade you from MHT.
Questions to Ask Yourself When Your Are Considering Hormone Therapy
For many women the decision about whether to take hormones before and after menopause is a major one. You may never have been on any medication in your life, or you may be philosophically opposed to treating a normal transition with medications. Whatever your concerns, when menopause symptoms start to affect you, and you think you might want to try hormone therapy, here are some questions to ask yourself:
- How bad are my symptoms? Symptoms are extremely variable from one woman to the next, ranging from almost nonexistent to truly intolerable. Think about how disruptive your symptoms are on a scale of 1 to 10, where one is “hardly bothers me at all” and 10 is, “I don’t think I can stand this another moment.” List each symptom out and rate it 1-10. Take these ratings with you when you talk to your doctor.
- What are my personal health risks? Do you have any medical conditions? Do you take medications now? Have you had serious illnesses such as cancer? How is your cholesterol? Your weight? Write down all the health risks that you know you have and be prepared to talk about them when you discuss hormone therapy with your medical provider.
- What is my family history? Are there any health conditions that seem to run in your family? Heart disease? Cancer? High cholesterol? Clotting disorders? Diabetes? Osteoporosis? Depression? Be sure you find out as much as you can about the health histories of your parents and siblings.
- What sort of menopause experience did my mother have? You may not know the answer to this one, but your mother’s experience with menopause may give you some clues about what to expect from your own.
- How do I feel about taking medication, and hormones in particular? Think about how you really feel about taking a daily medication. Some women don’t give it a second thought, and some find it to be a violation of their values, or jarring to their self image. If you have a hard time remembering to take a pill every day, would you be okay with a patch or vaginal ring to treat your symptoms?
Finding a balance between ongoing health and physical comfort is an important midlife assignment and deciding whether to take hormones during menopause is not an exact science. Even once you decide, you may adjust your decision as your symptoms change. It’s not so much a one-time choice as it is an ongoing dialogue between you and your doctor. Learning what you can about hormone therapy, and then asking yourself the central questions, prepares you for that dialogue.
Sources:
Institute for Clinical Systems Improvement, Menopause and hormone therapy(HT): collaborative decision-making and management. National Guideline Clearinghouse, Oct 2006, retrieved 4 March, 2008.
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, National Institutes of Health, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, “Facts About Menopausal Hormone Therapy,” NIH Publication No. 05-5200, Originally Printed October 2002, Revised June, 2005, retrieved 4 March, 2008.
