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Barbara Hunt, 59, a retired civil servant from Canterbury in Kent, has had a rollercoaster ride with the menopause and with HRT
âI was 51 when I had my first hot flush. My periods had been erratic for six months so I realised I was approaching the menopause. Then the flushes started with a vengeance.
âMy GP immediately suggested HRT. This was when it was being hailed as the wonder drug. I started off with patches. I still had periods, but at least the flushes went away.
âAfter four years I started to hear about its possible side-effects and decided to stop taking it. The flushes returned and I got night sweats, too. Heat would engulf me, then disappear as quickly as it had arrived. The night sweats really got me. I was waking every half-hour and became so short of sleep that going back on HRT seemed my only option.
âI started taking it again, and to my relief the flushes and sweats are a thing of the past. Iâm now trying to wean myself off the patches by cutting a third off them each time. Having gone on HRT, it seems to be such a job to get off it and I sometimes wonder whether, if Iâd never taken it, the flushes might perhaps be over by now.â
view information about Menopause on www.nhs.co.uk »Important Notice
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