17 Things I wish I knew about HRT before starting

(when I found out I was going in to surgical menopause age 30)

I was 30 years old when I found out I had borderline ovarian cancer and would need a full hysterectomy. Once I recovered from the initial shock I found the words ‘menopause’ and ‘HRT’ being thrown around. 

HR…. what, sorry? 

I then discovered this stands for Hormone Replacement Therapy, and apparently there are different types of HRT. 

When I say I was utterly clueless…. I mean it. I was focussed on my career, my 1 year old child, trying to fit in brunches with friends on the weekend. Not menopause and this HRT business. 

Over the past 5 years I have learnt a lot about HRT, so I am going to share that with you incase it helps you too. A little round up of my HRT knowledge. Here are 17 things I wish I knew about HRT before I started taking it.

I am not a Doctor, so this is not medical advice in any way. It is simply me sharing my experience in case it inspires you to talk to your Doctor about something that might help you. 

Full disclosure, I have a supplements business and if I mention anything that you want to know more about or want to buy please ask and everything is on our Amazon, TikTok shop and website. Excuse the shameless plug, but a girls gotta eat guys. 

17 Things I Wish I Knew About HRT Before starting 

1. It won’t necessarily cause breast cancer

Firstly the biggy… The ‘Breast Cancer’ link. Now I am not saying it won’t cause breast cancer and if your Doctor has told you you can’t take it due to that risk then obviously you can not take it. I am saying what I was told by my Doctor who I really trust, and that was that at my age the risk to my heart, joints and bones by not taking HRT was greater than the risk of taking it and worrying about breast cancer. 

2. There are different types

Tablets, gels, patches… to name a few! You can also get HRT that you insert vaginally. I am on the gel and I like that but haven’t tried anything else. The Doctor told me the tablets would not be right for me as I will be on it for a long time and it would be too much time having them by pass my liver. The patches didnt feel right for me as I was worried about someone seeing them, but to be honest that doesn’t really worry me anymore. 

3. There is a LONG waitlist for the menopause clinics 

I have had a fairly easy journey when it comes to my menopause, but there’s been a few ups and downs along the way. At one point I had such bad anxiety and I wanted to know if it was the menopause causing that. During a HRT medication review I requested to be put on the waitlist and it was a two year wait. Which leads me on to… 

4. It costs around £350 to see a private menopause specialist 

I went private to talk to someone about my menopause. To be honest this was a total waste of money for me, it didn’t help me at all. This is a whole other story – if you want to hear it just drop me a comment and I will do a video reply. It’s actually a pretty sad story to be honest! 

5. How to apply HRT gel 

Since starting my TikTok and talking about HRT I have discovered new ways to apply HRT gel. At first I was putting it into my hands and rubbing it on, makes sense right. Until someone told me to use the lid and someone else told me to use the bottles. Once someone even suggested a spatula. 

I made a video about random ways to apply HRT gel and tested them all, you can watch that TikTok here. 

6. You can get ones that go IN your vagina

When we are talking HRT it also means hormones that go inside your vagina. It is actually the most absorbant part of your body, and internal stuff really seems to work for me. I have tried an estrogen cream and also Prasterone Pessaries which help with dryness and are amazing. I made this (viral!!) video on Prasterone Pessaries which you can watch here. 

7. It means all different hormones 

I only take oestrogen but you can also get testosterone and progesterone. Most people seem to take oestogen but if you have a womb you might need progesterone, I was told I didnt as I dont have a womb. Again, just what I was told, I am not a Doctor. 

8. You can get a HRT certificate 

Martin Lewis, eat your heart out! It was actually an approximately 15 year old boy in the pharmacy who told me about this, not a Doctor but let’s not dwell on this. You can get a HRT certificate. It’s £19.80 for 12 months and covers all your HRT. 

There is more info about a HRT certificate here

9. You can take supplements too

I take supplements to support my menopause symptoms. Magnesium for sleep, Biotin for my hair skin and nails and Lions Mane for brain fog are a few of my favourites. 

10. You can ask your doctor to add more bottles into your prescription

I don’t actually have a HRT certificate because a lovely Doctor once added 4 bottles to my prescription, instead of one so I get 4 bottles for the £9 ish price and that lasts me around 6 months, so it is about the same cost as the certificate. 

11. You can ask to leave hospital with it 

If you’re having a full hysterectomy, ovaries and all then you can ask to leave the hospital with it. This is what I ased for, I left that day with it. 

12. Picking it up feels SO strange

I actually felt very ashamed when I first went in to the menopause, picking it up was embarrassing. I still haven’t quite figured out why I felt that way, there’s nothing to be embarrassed about at all. If you feel that way, just remember half the UK population is female and around half of them will be doing this. You are not alone!

13. You don’t want to run out

I accidentally went 6 days without HRT once and I felt it. Try and stay on top of your ordering so that you don’t run out. Which leads me on to…

14. There is often a shortage

We seem to run out of HRT in the UK quite often. I have been caught out a couple of times. My advice here is just keep trying different pharmacies. I am lucky to work from home and be able to go to different pharmacies throughout the day to check, if there is a real shortage. 

15. You can take it abroad

This applies to the gel too, even though it is liquid. I have never had to show my prescription but the advice is to take your prescription with you. 

16. Apply the gel to your thighs 

The instructions so you can apply the gel to your arms or thighs, I go for thighs as it is a bigger surface area so it’s easier to spread in. Also, lots of people comment about that being further way from your breasts, which can’t be a bad thing right. 

17. You can take it in the morning or night 

… or split it between morning and night! But that’s too much for me to remember. I actually have never taken it at night, the morning seems to work fine for me. I take it with my Lions Mane and Biotin, Copper and Zinc supplements 

I hope this helps someone! If you have any questions at all you can email me [email protected] or DM me on insta or TikTok @itsourremedy on both.

Rachel