Your decision about hormone replacement therapy is a very personal one. Whatever you decide, nothing is cast in stone. If your choice is to try HRT to relieve night sweats, hot flashes, urinary incontinence or mood swings, you can follow up with your health care provider regularly (three months after starting HRT, sooner if any problem occurs). During this follow-up visit, you can evaluate how you are feeling and judge whether your symptoms are adequately relieved. The same holds true if your decision is that HRT is not for you right now. At any time, you can always reevaluate, which is why I stress the importance of making a date every three months to check in with yourself and assess how you feel.

One of my patients, Sylvia, found it helpful to take HRT one day at a time. This mentality gave her the open-mindedness she needed to work with her health care provider to decide if she would continue HRT, and to select the best regimen for her.

Obviously, if you feel worse after starring HRT, you don’t need to wait for months before you take action. Most women feel the impact of starting, stopping, or adjusting HRT very soon. After starting HRT, symptom relief usually happens within three to four days, and side effects, if they are going to appear, usually show up within three to four days as well. Discontinuing HRT has the same rapid impact: the side effects will go away within a few days, and if HRT has alleviated symptoms such as mood swings or sleeplessness, they often return three to four days after HRT is stopped.

I encounter so many women like Terri who approach the decision about HRT as if it were irrevocable. They fear that they are risking great harm to themselves if they don’t make the right decision, or they think that the decision they make today has to stand for the “rest of their lives.” I want to emphasize that there is no single “right” decision about HRT, so take that pressure off yourself. What’s right for you today may change in the future. The important first steps are to review your history and get all the information you can about HRT. Then talk your options over with a health care provider you trust and who is willing to answer your questions. Most of all have faith in your own wisdom¡ªthe choice you make will be the right one for you.

Related posts:

1. The Basics of Perimenopause – Risks and Benefits Hormone Replacement Therapy

2. The Basics of Perimenopause – language barriers during hormone replacement therapy

3. The Basics of Hormone Replacement Therapy For Perimenopause – Facts about Your Choices

4. The Basics of Perimenopause – New Hormone Test Options

5. Who Is Eligible for Hormone Replacement Therapy?

6. The Basics of Mood Swings During Perimenopause – Depression

7. The Basics of HRT alternative perimenopause treatment – black cohosh

8. The Basics of Perimenopause – Working with Your Health Care Provider

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10. The Basics of Perimenopause – HRT and Genitourinary Changes