My Journey to HRT — Hormone Replacement Therapy
Peri Menopause and Menopause are still stages in a women’s life that people are hesitant to discuss.
My eyes have been opened and I am going to explore how HRT — Hormonal Replacement Therapy — can ease some of the symptoms that I am experiencing. I recently turned 51 and while I know I look younger, I can’t honestly, hand on heart, say that I FEEL younger than 51. There are still nights I don’t sleep well as my hands and feet are tingling and numb. There are days that my joints ache and not from a hard workout. My eyes feel dry and I can’t wear contact lenses everyday. I get scaly dry patches on my skin, usually related to drinking lovely NZ white wines. I am petrified that I will have a brain fog moment while presenting a training session or even recording a podcast episode!
I know I should feel better but even more importantly, my quest to live a life well and embrace longevity physically, mentally and emotionally drives me to understand and explore how HRT can protect me from death (see video below).
VIDEO: Prof James Simon discusses the benefits of HRT and How the US Government and the Media conspired to convince women that HRT was dangerous.
I am all about living a long life, as long as I don’t feel or look like the living dead. So, I am going to be my own guinea pig and sign up for HRT. Join me on this journey as I chronicle the road to finding a doctor who will understand and prescribe it, and then how it feels to be taking it.
DAY ONE: I googled “Doctor in Tauranga that will prescribe HRT”. RESULT — virtual crickets. Could not find a medical centre that specialises in women’s hormonal health. Will have to explore more.
Friend reaches out on IG page @sexyaging to let me know that she visited her GP with her “list” of menopausal symptoms which included severe migraines. Requested HRT as she know’s she is peri-menopausal and listened to EPISODE 18 with Dr Rebecca Lewis. Her GP prescribed medication for migraines and a round of anti-depressants. Same GP told her that HRT would increase her risk of breast cancer……friend lives in the USA…..
I go for a massage and a facial (thanks hubby!). The therapist is around the same age as me. She starts to tell me that I have some dry scaly patches on my skin (I roll my eyes in my head cos my eyes are closed, trying to relax). Her recommendation is that I increase the fish oil in my diet and start using X,Y,Z products added to my skincare regimen. And if I am experiencing “flushes” in my skin that I could try drinking sage tea. WTF? So, while I try NOT to talk about perimenopause ALL the time, I say to her “Actually, I’m perimenopausal right now so the skin changes are due to fluctuating hormones and how my diet has changed blah blah blah”. SILENCE.
DAY TWO: Going for a walk with a friend today and she shares her successful consultation with her doctor who agreed that HRT is the right way to go. Get’s prescription. $5. I take note of the doctor contacts.
Called the clinic to request appointment with said doctor. Unfortunately, the doctor is taking on any NEW patients right now. “Do you have any other doctors in the practice that specialise in mid life women’s health needs?” I ask. Long pause. Short story — I need to go to the clinic in person to register anyway as a new patient to the clinic.
To be continued. If you are interested in womne’s hormonal health and longevity, get across to www.sexyageing.com
