Hormones for large size women

Just wanted to know if taking hrt was dangerous for large size women. I'm about 250 and hoping after full recovery to join gym and work at losing half of the weight. My doctor told me hrt would not be good for me, since i'm not very active. So far I only
experience the night sweats. I spent 8 days in the hospital after my Abdominal hysterectomy with removal of everything, including ovaries. Just curious if anyone else who is plus-sized is using hrt and if so, what type? Thanks....

My gyno told me this week that one of the few benefits of being overweight is that we larger ladies store hormones which the body continues to draw on for quite some time after the hysterectomy.

Who'd have thunk it?

I don't think that a woman's size should have much to do with HRT, however, your blood chemistry might.

If you have higher levels of glucose, lipids, clotting factors which might be an indication that HRT would be dangerous.

It's true that fat stores and manufactures its own estrogen. Often women with sudden and large weight loss find that their hormone levels surge as those hormones are released into the bloodstream.

If your doctor doesn't have a reason for not evaluating you for HRT other than a number written on a chart, you might want to consult a reproductive endocrinologist or a gynecologist that specializes in hormone therapy for patients with oophorectomy.

I'm glad to hear you're working on your whole body since surgery - our heath really is up to us. Our doctors can only do so much for us. But we also have to educate ourselves about our options and know the right questions to ask.

Take care.

This post interested me. I am a large woman who had a hyst in June 2004. I've been on ERT, the climara patch .05, ever since. My doc never told me it would be a problem and was more than willing to prescribe hormones. At my annual check up my doc and I talked about continued use of ERT and he said that I could stay on it for at least 5 years, barring problems, and then we would re-evaluate continued. Menopausal symptoms would have been more of a problem. Day two of recuperation, I was having severe sweats and hot flashes. Quality of life is very important and if a woman needs help she should get it.

Good luck with recuperation.

I weigh the same as you (as of this morning, down 10 lbs). I was not aware of the fat cell - estrogen connection until I developed hyplerplasia and the rest is history. My surgeon wants to wait a couple of years and then we will re-visit HRT. So far, I'm not suffering from a lack of estrogen (think I have it in abundance!!). I'm also trying to lose weight and have vowed to return to CURVES today!! Good luck to you.

Hi Ladygloria;

I am a plus-size woman who had a TVH & BSO last Nov. It took me about 1 month before the surgically induced menopause hit (Hot flashes, sleeping problems), I actually learned from this site that estrogen is stored in fat which explains why I didn't have immed menopausal symtoms. I scolded my surgeon for not warning me in advance
When it hit, my surgeon put me on Climara w/o any discussion regarding my weight. Shortly thereafter, I switch to bio-identical compound my internist prescribed based on my blood/hormone levels. I have never felt better. No hot flashes,sleeping is improving, just feel better. I actually lost 40lbs since the operation.My internist thinks that some of the weight loss is attributed to finally being hormonally balance. I will ask my internist if being over weight is a risk regarding hormone replacements but this is the 1st I've heard of it. I know how difficult the hot flashes were, I hope you can resolve this, so you can get some relief.
Dot

I really appreciate the comments and suggestions, and will talk
with my dr. ASAP and discuss every option available. So glad I came across this site. Best wishes to all....

I got the same info from my Dr. He doesn't want me to do HRT for a while because of the risk that it will trigger the endo to grow back and I don't really want to do HRT at all because, with the exception of moderate hot flashes and chills, I feel great!

He told me that because of my size I am probably carrying enough estrogen in my body fat and as another plus, I am doing weight bearing exercise constantly just hauling myself around! Who'd a thunk that being plump actually had some perks going for it!

This was a very interesting post. Being a plus size lady I had not connected size and hormones! I was started on hormone replacement day of discharge from hospital-- 3 days. I did not experience any symptoms in the hospital during those 3 days. MD has said I will not stay on replacement, but we will address it when I would have normally started menopause. I take EstratestHS (half strength) and it is working for me so far.

interesting indeed. I had it all removed as well, started out Climara 0.1 patch immediately. I switched to Premarin 1.25 a week later (patch didn't stick) and feel ok. I'm curious now though about this hormone issue with large women.