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Study suggests hormone therapy may help protect bone health in women
Osteoporosis & Bone Health | Last Active: May 28, 2023 | Replies (38)Comment receiving replies
Thank you for sharing this important information. I opted to go on HRT after I completed 2 years of Forteo . After much reading and careful consideration, I felt it was the best and most natural option for me and my bones. I was about 10 years out of menopause which was not optimal but none of our options really are. It's been about 3 years and I've mostly maintained my density.
The issues of concern with HRT were raised in the Women's Health Initiative Study which turned out to be a somewhat flawed study and the negative results were exaggerated and overblown by the media causing a steep decline in usage. More recently, it is coming full circle and more and more, HRT is being considered a viable option for women to preserve their bones and ease menopausal symptoms. If you have had breast cancer or CVD or have a genetic risk, I can understand not wanting to utilize this option but if those predispositions are not present, I think it's a viable option. I'm really glad I'm on it (along with progesterone which is necessary since I have a uterus). I only wish I had gone on it earlier as my naturopath had suggested about 10 years ago. I was too afraid and wanted to get through menopause naturally. Had I listened to her, I would likely still have a healthy spine and better quality of life.
I'd love to know if others are on HRT and at what dose. I currently use the lowest dose of .025 estradiol transdermal patch and 100 mg progesterone (which seems to be the agreed upon dosage of progesterone to counter risks). I'm considering increasing my estradiol with the hopes of greater preservation. Anyone on HRT? What dose and method are you using?
Replies to "Thank you for sharing this important information. I opted to go on HRT after I completed..."
I had been on bioidentical HRT around the time of menopause but discontinued it after about a year and a half due to the expense. I wish my Functional Medicine OB-GYN had stressed to me how important it was to stave off bone density loss! A dozen years later, I have osteoporosis of the spine and osteopenia elsewhere. She put me back on bHRT, but at a minimal dose (50 mg progesterone cream, 0.025 mg estradiol patch). I seemed to have had an allergic reaction to the 100 mg progesterone capsule as well as premenstrual type discomfort.
Now I am hyper- focused on trying to make up for lost bone via exercise, diet, supplements and low intensity vibration twice a day. Doing everything I can to avoid the hard OP drugs!!!!
I’m taking 100 mg of Progesterone in a pill and 1 gram of estradiol vaginal cream twice a week. I’m going on 5 months now. The only side effect I seem to have is some bloating. That’s not that big of an issue. I’m really hoping that it’s helping with my bone density.
I had to start on HRT right at menopause, and felt best option as already have osteoporosis. Needed .05mg/day for symptom relief, 10-20mg/day prog., but I do not have a uterus, so was told prog. is optional (still don't think good idea to leave out). Since I"m so afraid of osteoporosis drugs and they've all given me some bad side effect so far, taking estrogen is about my only option for now. I hope it helps. Was told the negative press on taking estrogen is old thinking from flawed studies. I hope i can continue it indefinitely. Cancer risks certainly are not the same for all, depending on genetics, diet, etc.
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If I can find this I'll post a link to it but I came upon an article recently wherein two oncologists debated HRT for women who've had breast cancer. One doctor was adamantly opposed to HRT and another pointed out that the Woman's Health Initiative Study had a lot of issues, with much of its methodology since disavowed, and he thinks that HRT is not a risk for women who had breast cancer at all. As we know it's always confusing when the experts disagree but I wonder if, somewhere down the line, estrogen will be considered safe for a woman to take even having had breast cancer some years earlier. If so then one can hopefully try to protect against bone loss from the years of not having estrogen.
I think this is similar to the Lupron debate for men with prostate cancer and the question of how long and how much Lupron is safe and when can someone discontinue it safely and even take drugs to resupply the body with testosterone. That is, research is looking at how long a body needs to be deprived of a hormone that, at one point in time, fed a tumor without assuming it always will trigger the same outcome.