If you are unlucky, you may even find that HRT can make you feel worse before you feel better. Common side effects of oestrogen include bloating, nausea, indigestion, tender breasts, vaginal bleeding and headaches.
Unsurprisingly, many women are pretty evangelical about its benefits. Unfortunately, however, this is not true for everyone and there are some unlucky women who find HRT makes them feel worse than the very symptoms that caused them to seek it out in the first place.
You might feel a bit sick or nauseous, or experience breast tenderness, bloating or headaches, particularly in the first few days. You can see a full list of side effects of the different hormones in HRT here. Bloating is a common side effect of HRT and can be a result of taking oestrogen or progestogen.
You may notice physical symptoms get better first, for example, at the correct dose of estrogen, hot flushes and night sweats are often much better after 4-6 weeks. However psychological symptoms, such as low mood or anxiety, can take a few more months to improve.
The progestogen part of HRT is often the one that can give side effects. It can cause premenstrual type symptoms (low mood, irritability, bloating, acne, fatigue, headaches).
When starting HRT, it's very common to experience some initial side effects or start-up symptoms such as breast tenderness or breast size increase. Some women describe slight nausea, headaches or abdominal bloating. Light erratic bleeding is also quite usual.
On average, however, you can expect it to take about 2 – 3 weeks for the effects of HRT to become noticeable. After a few months of treatment, you should begin to notice further relief from your symptoms and feel more like your younger, healthier, more energetic self.
It is common to have side effects in the first few months of taking HRT. These usually settle on their own within 6 to 8 weeks.
Many women actually find that they lose weight by using HRT as it shifts the metabolism back into a pre-menopausal metabolic state. Progesterone can sometimes cause fluid retention which can mimic weight gain, but there are alterations that can be made to the regime to minimise this impact.
HRT abolishes hot flushes and night sweats: within two weeks of commencing treatment, sometimes sooner, HRT dramatically reduces and more often than not completely abolishes hot flushes and night sweats. No currently available alternative therapy is as effective for these symptoms.
Being on HRT doesn't actually stop your own hormone levels from changing, it just puts extra quantities of sex hormones into your body. So your own oestrogen levels can fall and this causes anxiety.
Symptoms of a high HRT dose: Nausea and vomiting. Breast tenderness and enlargement. Spotting or heavy bleeding.
The altering levels of estrogen and progesterone during the perimenopause and menopause can cause mood swings. Women may experience being happy one minute and then angry the next. Additionally, they may suffer from low mood, poor motivation and lack of energy, all of which are eased with HRT.
How Estrogen Replacement Therapy Can Help with Belly Fat During Menopause. Recent studies show that menopausal women on hormone therapy tend to have less body fat, especially visceral belly fat. Because estrogen affects how your body distributes fat, low estrogen levels can contribute to gaining fat in your belly area.
Another reason why some women may appear to gain weight occurs when background anxiety, with reduced appetite, keeps weight a little lower than it would be naturally. This anxiety is often reversed by the positive impact of HRT, which in turn can increase appetite and weight over time.
You may feel bloated and uncomfortable like having trapped wind. This can be due to the progesterone and usually settles with time.
You may find that you have access to a wider range of emotions or feelings, or have different interests, tastes or pastimes, or behave differently in relationships with other people. For most people, things usually settle down after a period time.
Hormone Replacement Therapy
Thus, HRT may effectively treat fatigue and the symptoms that can exacerbate it. In particular, estrogen replacement is considered the most effective treatment for the vasomotor symptoms that tend to occur in concert with fatigue and can be instrumental in restoring energy levels.
Research says yes. Many studies have consistently shown a benefit of HRT on sleep in women who have vasomotor symptoms, when the vasomotor symptoms are causing the sleep disturbance. The main part of HRT is estrogen, to treat symptoms caused by estrogen deficiency.
The most noticeable effects of taking HRT are a reduction in menopausal symptoms, which can often respond quite rapidly to treatment. Perhaps even more importantly, HRT provides significant protection against osteoporosis; however, HRT is only licensed for second-line use in the prevention of osteoporosis.
Symptoms of low estrogen can include: Hot flashes, flushes, and night sweats are the most common symptoms of low estrogen. At times, blood rushes to your skin's surface. This can give you a feeling of warmth (hot flash).
While some patients notice the effects of treatment relatively quickly, improvements typically happen over the course of weeks and months. And when you work with an HRT specialist, its impact can last a lifetime.