Post #27
Did I Start HRT Too Late?
Dispatches from Hormone Country · Filed under: HRT, perimenopause, timing, and the traitorous meat bag
There are so many things that fuck me off about perimenopause and being a woman. And one of them I can’t actually blame clueless doctors for. I know! By now you’ve seen how much I love to bash them (useless morons that they are) but I’m a FAIR Crone, I don’t beat you with my verbal baseball bat unless you deserve it.
This time I can only blame my own body clock and Mother Nature (hate dissing my fellow females but she’s got a lot to answer for). Let’s be honest here, my body the pathetic meat bag is sabotaging me big FUCKING time. It’s a damn traitor.
You may ask what’s it done now? It never gives me a heads up. That’s what. IT JUST GOES ALONG causing HAVOC and CHAOS. Ironic I know since I’m the last person to shun mayhem. But only when I’m in control of my body!
The biggest gripe I have is that I just didn’t KNOW what was happening to me until it was too late. I spent years on crap diagnoses that I could’ve got from WebMD for all the good they did me. Thanks to incompetent doctors, I suffered through delays when I could’ve been getting help sooner.
With all that wasted time I really needed to know, “was I too late?”
I know I might sound like a great optimist, but shock horror, I’m fucking not. I’m glass half empty all the way and PROUD. I’m sick of being shamed on that subject by the way. Some of us are just morose, moody Eeyores (even without the hormonal shifts) and we take life as it comes warts, warts and more warts.
When those first hints of perimenopause began in my late 30s, scenarios of broken hips, bald pates and dementia plagued my tiny fucking mind!
It terrified me to think I’d done permanent damage, that I’d missed the “healing” boat at 43! This was FOMO gone crazy.
BUT THEN! The fucking light bulb went off.
I was RIGHT ON TIME.
The minute I got my gnarly mitts on my HRT and felt its initial balm soothe my aching bones, I knew the “damage” wasn’t permanent.
HooFUCKINGrah!
So when do the experts say we should be on the look-out for perimenopause and starting HRT? Late 30s to 50s is when hormones start playing up. They also say start it 10 years before menopause.
SERIOUSLY!
THIS is why these people are fuckwits! There’s no way to know when that is since, to quote Tatter Cloak, “I’ve got two balls darlin’ and none of ’em are crystal.”
We can only go by symptoms.
And that’s the other thing that screams Dr SADIST. We have to go through the utter fuckfest that is perimenopause first and then when we’re nearly through it, we’re granted respite.
That’s like going to war in a bikini and getting your legs blown off. THEN being given a pair of fucking army boots!
And what about the women who’ve gone through menopause? Ditch them?
No.
HRT still helps. That HRT age recommendation is simply because bone and cardiovascular benefits are more evident when you’re younger, but after that age it’s still possible with the right supervision.
If you're feeling jittery about how late you left it to jump on the bandwagon, let me set your mind to rest.
The timeline looks a bit like this.
In the first three weeks night sweats and hot flashes reduce in intensity. Around 3–6 weeks, mood swings and emotional issues improve. Around 6–12 weeks, vaginal tissues show improvements in lubrication and thickness.
Next come the changes in skin texture and hair thinning. And finally, 1–2 years later, structural benefits such as better bone density appear.
If osteoporosis has already moved in and unpacked its fucking suitcase, HRT can still help protect your bones and may improve bone density, but it can’t magically erase everything that’s already happened.
So my Crone Sisters, if HRT is what you need and want, then don’t be worried about the past and what you've lost.
Just focus on what can be improved!
Oh hang on, did I just become a glass half full person?
Sssh. Just keep it between us.
CRONE-OLOGY COMPLETE