Has anyone started HRT after the age of 65?

I've been on the ultra low dose Menostar patch for 6 months. This is designed to support the bones not hot flashes and other symptoms of menopause. I am so grateful to have a menopause consultant who is giving me a change at my age with HRT. I'll be thrilled if this proves to stabilize my bones 🙂

I am 77 and started hormone therapy about a 16 month ago. only side effect I had was sore nipples. went away after about a month or 2. I do the patch at .05. and because I still have my uterus I take 100 ml progesterone. so far there has been a small gain. nothing huge, but haven't done regular exercise, vit. or calcium so maybe is I get myself going there may be bigger gains.
who knows.

That's so good to know!

@samclembeau so if I had a hysterectomy what I'd be going higher than a .05

@tillymack I had a hysterectomy in 1996. I'm 64 years old I wanted to try the HRT I'm on forteo right now and they wanna put me on the other medication I've been fighting with my rheumatologist cause I have autoimmune disorders and stuff and I cannot be on a lot of this medication but I was thinking about trying HRT at 64 with the Forteo but my rheumatologist won't she she just gives me a hard time she either pushes two brands and that's as far as she goes she pushes Leah and she pushes reclast. that is it. I even thought about going on that Optimun stuff to see if that helps. I can only take calcium citrate because I can't take carbonate carbonate is not good to take and they're saying the algae calcium is the same as the carbonate I don't know anything about any of that stuff I'm just like fighting freaking wall that's all I'm doing is fighting that Dr I have I keep trying to find another rheumatologist my endocrinologist doesn't work with this stuff but my rheumatologist she fights me on everything like she does not seem to care I don't know what to think with her I have to be careful being on that stuff because I have an autoimmune I've had problems with kidneys no thyroid so I have to be careful I don't know what to do I'm really lost at this point

I know what your mean about the doctors. HRT is such a sore point. I'm considering booking a consultation with a more experienced doctor who doesn't accept insurance just to get another viewpoint. My messages on the patient portal have been ignored, which really hurts. Another person from Mayo Clinic Connect suggested I find high quality information online supporting my preference and bring it to an upcoming appt. Data can be very powerful!

@vmcgri don't think so. You just would not take progesterone. I take it to protect my uterus.
If you still have a uterus it can thicken over time with just estrogen. But you could just take the estrogen unless you have a history of endometriosis, then I think you would take a low dose.
Also, if you had your overies removed, you may need higher dosage of estrogen.

@vmcgrantham
I'm 66 and my gynecologist said it was not a good idea at my age to start HRT.
My friend is 62 and was using the bioidentical hormone patches. Her cardiologist told her she shouldn't due to risk of blood clot.
I read that the general rule is that you have to start them within 5 years of entering menopause for them to be safe.

thank you that's what my endocrinologist said but my rheumatologist she doesn't even wanna deal with any of that stuff she just pushes Prolia and reclast. optimum shilajit

I started hrt at 66, 14 years post menopause. I did my research and took it to the endocrinologist. After going through my labs for the past 6 or 7 years she said I was a perfect candidate for hrt. I have low breast cancer risk. I always have high good cholesterol and low bad cholesterol. I eat a plant based diet and excercise daily. I'm using the .025 patch and 100 mg progesterone pill. I sleep better, my lipo protein A, which was 1 point out of range lowered significantly. I also started Tymlos one month after hrt and have a great response so far, starting month 10. I hope to maintain my gains with just hrt.