HRT Results?

I would like to know if anyone was taken off HRT cold turkey and the results of same. Also, was anyone taken off HRT gradually, not all at once, and the results.

My gyn took me off HRT cold turkey and I feel that is when all my trouble began. Very soon after this, my bladder fell, along with my uterus.

I was taken off HRT because my fibroids were getting too big. A few months after being taken off, my fibroids began to shrink. Has anyone had this happen to them?

Please let me know.

Thanks

Alice alken211@hotmail.com

Hi Alice-
Check out the book- "Women's Bodies-Women's Wisdom" by Dr. Christiane Northrup. Look under the section on Fibroids and on HRT. I just got home from a week-long seminar she did in MA. She is an awesome lady. She's an ob/gyn with a focus on holistic medicine. Also- Dr. Lee's book- "What Your Doctor May Not tell You About Menopause"- he says fibroids are caused by too much estrogen in the estrogen: progesterone ratio. So that may be why your fibroids would shrink after stopping HRT. I doubt the HRT had anything to do with your bladder/uterus dropping -but maybe one of these other ladies knows more about that.
Take Care
TAH/BSO 3/7/00

Because fibroids are uterine muscle tissues growing abnormally into masses, it makes sense that they would be fed by estrogens. In fact it's a basic rule of thumb that fibroids shrink up and go away after menopause (that, like all such, isn't 100% of the story, I'm here with a hyst to tell you). But generally speaking, yes, removal of estrogen does cause them to shrink at least somewhat even though they are not "cured.".

Depending on where and how large your fibroids were and how much damage they had done the other tissues by displacement and pressure, I suppose it's conceivable that removing that "prop" could cause weakened ligaments, etc, to allow prolapses. Additionally, because estrogens and the other ovarian hormones (you don't mention which ones you were taking) are significant factors in maintaining genitourinary tissue elasticity and strength, reduced levels, as happens with menopause (whether natural or surgical), can substantially dry and weaken these tissues and make them more susceptible to injury and infection.

Although your outcome was an awful and abrupt event, the underlying processes are those that affect us all. The basic fibroid fact remains: you get to chose between fibroids and hormones, but you can't have both. And if your fibroids are large, the hormone option will probably mean a hyst or other procedure to remove the fibroid(s) first. [blue]