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How can HRT help my partner with menopause symptoms?
Not sure what menopause is exactly? Or HRT? Get clued up before reading this article.
What Men Need To Know About Menopause
Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) is basically replacing a woman’s hormones that she is gradually losing or has lost. The two main hormones that are replaced are oestrogen and progesterone but women also produce testosterone like men, but in much lower quantities.
The role of the two main hormones is to regulate a woman’s monthly cycle and they play an important role in reproduction. Oestrogen and progesterone and most of the testosterone are produced in the ovaries in women, in men testosterone is produced in the testes.
When a woman enters the peri-menopause, the hormones produced are lower in quantity and can fluctuate. When a woman is post-menopause, these hormones are no longer produced - both phases cause the symptoms that many women experience. (See basics of menopause – what men need to know).
Replacing these hormones with HRT is the most effective way of treating menopausal symptoms and most women can safely take HRT. HRT has to be prescribed by the GP or a private doctor, it is not available over the counter.
Most women will be prescribed the two main hormones, oestrogen and progesterone. The medication can come in a number of different preparations such as tablets, skin sprays and gels and patches that stick to the skin. Your partner may have a Mirena IUS (Mirena coil) already for contraception or to control her periods if they are heavy, this contains progesterone so can be used as part of HRT too. It is important to know that women can still become pregnant if they are peri-menopausal so contraception is still required, the Mirena IUS is a great solution for this.
If your partner has had a hysterectomy, she will only be prescribed the hormone oestrogen, progesterone is not required.
So how does HRT work?
HRT replaces the body’s natural hormones with a very small dose of synthetic hormones, just enough to control her symptoms. Usually, women are started on a low dose, if this isn’t helping then the dose can be increased, usually after 3 months. This gives the body time to get the maximum benefit of the treatment and for any potential side effects to subside. Sometimes the treatment may not help, the GP will usually change the route that the HRT is given, so if a skin patch isn’t working a tablet might.
As with any medication, there may be side effects or contraindications. Most women can safely take HRT but there are some groups of women where it is not safe to take. If your partner has or had breast cancer or if there is a very strong close family history of breast cancer, it is very unlikely that she will be prescribed HRT as there is a very small increased risk of breast cancer with HRT use. For information on this, see here. If your partner has had a blood clot or has a strong family history of blood clots, again it might not be likely she can have HRT as there is a small increased risk with HRT use.
It is always important that any other medical conditions such as diabetes, thyroid problems and high blood pressure etc are well controlled prior to starting HRT. Maintaining a healthy weight and eating a healthy well-balanced diet is also important.
A woman is usually prescribed testosterone to help with low sex drive. This cannot be given in isolation, and she must be having HRT alongside it for it to work. Testosterone is not licensed for use in women so is used ‘off licence’ and in much smaller quantities than is given to men. She will also have to have a blood test first to check the levels of testosterone in her blood and then regular tests after that.
Many women who take HRT notice an improvement in their symptoms quite soon after starting treatment. It is recommended that treatment is started earlier rather than later when symptoms start as there are significant long-term health benefits to using HRT, such as reducing the risk of coronary heart disease, reducing the risk of osteoporosis and a positive impact on brain health.
If your partner is suffering from menopausal symptoms, no matter how mild, it’s always worth consulting the GP for a discussion about HRT or speaking to a menopause expert.
If HRT is not an option, consider alternatives to HRT or lifestyle changes to help improve symptoms.
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