HRT does come with certain side effects, which tend to be most pronounced in the first few weeks and months of use. If you are unlucky, you may even find that HRT can make you feel worse before you feel better.
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. Side effects include weight gain, irregular bleeding, feeling sick (nausea) and skin irritation.
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).
It may take a few weeks to feel the effects of treatment and there may be some side effects at first. A GP will usually recommend trying treatment for 3 months to see if it helps. If it does not, they may suggest changing your dose, or changing the type of HRT you're taking.
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.
While many people notice improvements in sleep or mood within weeks of starting HRT, changes like improved muscle mass or fat loss can take at least three to six months.
Yes. HRT is known to improve sleep, mood and hot flushes, all of which may disrupt your sleep and lead to tiredness. However, HRT comes with risks and is not suitable for everyone. Speak to your doctor about your personal treatment options.
In very real ways, using HRT to address symptoms of hormonal change can help you feel younger. It can give you more energy, elevate mood, and increase sex drive. It can make sex more comfortable and improve sleep in both men and women.
Hormone replacement therapy can help in many ways with your weight loss goals if you're suffering from symptoms of menopause. Several studies have found that menopausal HRT can have a big impact not only on weight loss, but also how much fat your body stores and where.
Symptoms of a high HRT dose: Nausea and vomiting. Breast tenderness and enlargement. Spotting or heavy bleeding.
Some women find that Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) helps with their fatigue. HRT is an effective way of managing menopause symptoms and can improve the overall quality of your life, energy levels and sleep.
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.
The main benefit of HRT is that it can help relieve most menopause and perimenopause symptoms, including hot flushes, brain fog, joint pains, mood swings and vaginal dryness. Hot flushes or night sweats often improve within a few weeks.
You may feel bloated and uncomfortable like having trapped wind. This can be due to the progesterone and usually settles with time.
Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) can affect weight loss in women. In addition to having less abdominal fat, the same study found that women undergoing HRT were almost one whole point lower on the body mass index (BMI) scale, and they had nearly 3 pounds less of fat mass.
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.
A review approximately 3-4 months after starting or changing HRT is a good time to assess both satisfaction with the HRT prescription and its effectiveness in treating menopause symptoms. By this time most start-up symptoms (if any occurred) should be settling.
Hormone replacement therapy (HRT)
Systemic HRT can improve sleep quality, making it easier to get off to sleep, with less night-time waking; it has also been shown to improve chronic pain, mood and genitourinary symptoms. A 2017 study also demonstrated an improvement in hot flushes and night sweats.
However, women given HRT systemically (either via pills or through the skin using a patch) were more likely to be diagnosed with depression, especially between the ages of 48 and 50, compared with women who were not on HRT.
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.
Some of the most common emotional changes that people share about estrogen are crying more, feeling more tender, and even experiencing greater empathy. These changes can be subtle or intense, depending on your body and sensitivity to GAHT.
That's because rising progesterone in your Week 3 (which begins the day after ovulation and lasts 8 days) and plunging estrogen in your Week 4 (your premenstrual week) both affect mood-moderating brain chemicals in a way that can trigger the urge to cry from something sad, high stress or even no reason at all.