When you first start HRT you may feel a little 'discombobulated' and not quite yourself. 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.
While you may start feeling a difference within a few days or weeks, it usually takes longer for HRT to achieve its full effects. Three to six months is a reasonable trial period for systemic HRT, which includes pills, patches, sprays and gels. If you haven't seen an improvement by this point, speak to your doctor.
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.
This treatment option, which works by providing you with more of the hormones your body naturally used to make in higher quantities, can help boost your mood as well as alleviate other symptoms of tanking hormonal levels, such as a decreased libido.
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.
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.
HRT does not cause weight gain. Side effects of HRT may feel like it but the reality is that bodies change in midlife. In fact, many women lose weight and feel considerably fitter on HRT.
Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) remains the gold standard of treatments for menopausal symptoms since it directly addresses their root cause: changing hormone levels. Thus, HRT may effectively treat fatigue and the symptoms that can exacerbate it.
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.
Many women find that they feel calmer, have more energy, are more motivated and generally much happier when they take HRT.
When you first start HRT you may feel a little 'discombobulated' and not quite yourself. 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.
The first changes you will probably notice are that your skin will become a bit drier and thinner. Your pores will become smaller and there will be less oil production. You may become more prone to bruising or cuts and in the first few weeks you'll notice that the odors of your sweat and urine will change.
I wish I had never taken it – I didn't sleep for two days and suffered heart palpitations and anxiety.” While the side effects of HRT were the primary reason for her decision to come off HRT almost immediately, she also looked up the risks and decided that, on balance, she was better off without.
1) You are tired ALL the time.
This is often because the oestrogen used in HRT is the most active form of oestrogen and it's also a pretty big dose of it.
HRT with Estrogen May Lower Fear Response & Anxiety
They found that estrogen may have a calming effect on the fear response, including for women suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Therefore, there is some evidence that increasing estrogen may reduce anxiety-like symptoms.
Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) has profound metabolic effects which impact on the cardiovascular system. These effects include changes in lipids and lipoproteins, glucose and insulin metabolism, haemostatic factors, inflammatory markers and body composition, as well as changes in vascular function and remodelling.
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.
HRT contains hormones that stimulate breast tissue and so breast tenderness and growth can be a side effect of your hormone therapy. Speak to your doctor if you have any concerns about this.
It's also important to note that bloating can actually be a side effect of HRT, particularly oestrogens. This tends to settle after a few months, but you should see your doctor if it persists, is severe or associated with any other new symptoms.
There's little evidence that most types of HRT make you put on weight. You may gain some weight during the menopause and as you get older, but this often happens whether you take HRT or not. Exercising regularly and eating a balanced diet should help you to manage your weight.
The body will begin to burn the fat located in the waist, shoulders and back. The majority of the fat will migrate to the hips, thighs and buttocks, which may result in a smaller waist and larger hips.
In fact, a recent study found that women who used HRT had one point lower on the BMI scale and also about three pounds less of body fat compared to women who didn't use hormone replacement therapy.
Subjects with an android distribution showed reduced visceral fat with HRT, which also decreased the proportion of patients maintaining an android distribution.
HRT can slightly increase the risk of breast cancer. If you've had breast cancer you'll usually be advised not to take HRT. The increased risk is low: there are around 5 extra cases of breast cancer in every 1,000 women who take combined HRT for 5 years. The risk increases the longer you take it, and the older you are.
Long-running studies
Over the last 15 years, these studies, and others, have found little or no evidence that HRT reduces the risk of heart disease. In fact, they have found evidence for an increased risk of blood clots and stroke. They also found an increased risk of breast and ovarian cancer in women using HRT.