Hormone Replacement Therapy: Side Effects

by Aimee Amodio | More from this Blogger

10 May 2008 07:57 AM

If you are considering hormone replacement therapy to relieve menopause symptoms, you might want to know a little bit about the possible side effects. Not all side effects occur in all women, but the following side effects have been reported.

In general, side effects are more frequent when taking oral forms of estrogen therapy. With any form of estrogen therapy, you could experience:

• Irregular vaginal bleeding and other discharge.
• Headache.
• Nausea.
• Fluid retention and weight gain.
• Breast tenderness.
• Darkening skin or spotting on the skin, especially on the face.
• Asthma -- newly diagnosed asthma seems to be more common in women using hormone replacement therapy or estrogen alone.
• Gallstones -- women who use estrogen replacement therapy are more likely to have gallstones with symptoms than women who are not using hormone therapy. High estrogen levels have been linked to gallbladder disease.
• An increased growth of existing uterine fibroids is a rare side effect.
• A worsening of endometriosis is a rare side effect.
• Using an estrogen patch can cause skin irritation.

Some of these side effects may go away after a few weeks of hormone replacement therapy -- particularly, headache, nausea, fluid retention, and breast tenderness.

The side effects of progestin are generally more of a bother to women -- this is often what causes women to abandon hormone replacement therapy as a treatment for menopause symptoms. Adjusting the amount of progestin or changing the dosing schedule or type of hormone used can help. For example, using an intra-uterine device can reduce or eliminate many side effects seen when using oral progestin.

When taking progestin, you may experience:

• Mood changes like depression, anxiety, or irritability.
• Headache.
• Breast pain or tenderness.
• Abdominal pain and/or bloating.
• Dizziness and/or drowsiness.
• Diarrhea.
• Vaginal discharge.
• Using cyclic progestin (taken ten to fourteen days each month) can cause PMS-like symptoms, including bloating, cramping, nausea, breast tenderness, and mood changes. Cyclic progestin may also cause monthly withdrawal bleeding.
• Using a patch form of progestin can cause skin irritation.

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Dale Harcombe (10321) 10 May 2008 02:54 PM

I never took and HRT but a friend was told by her doctor that HRT likely caused her breast cancer. The HRT was given to her years earlier by another Dr. Any comments?

Samual (11722) 11 May 2008 07:53 AM

My mother was on HRT as she has to have her uterus and ovaries removed, after a month her body went mad so she was put onto the HRT patch, she was not on it for the maximum five years, when she first went on it she did retain quite a bit of water, but light exercise got rid of it. Now she is off it the original side effects she had due to lack of hormones have not returned and she came off the patch 4 years ago.

Aimee Amodio (11995) 12 May 2008 11:55 AM

I'm so sorry to hear about your friend, Dale. Hormone replacement therapy seems to be one of those treatments where the cure may be worse than the disease. You can take a look at some of the risks and precautions here: http://health.families.com/blog/hormone-replacement-therapy-risks-and-precautions

Aimee Amodio (11995) 12 May 2008 11:56 AM

Thanks for sharing your mother's experience, Samual! I'm glad things went reasonably well for her using the patch.