HRT

[Guest guest]

Hello, all

I have just visited a new gyn after a move, and one of the things I discussed

with him was

my suspicion that I am in early menopause. I just turned 40 last month & have

had

" perimenopause " symptoms for 3 or 4 years now, and have not had a period since

March.

If the blood tests he took confirm this, he wants to put me on a low dose

estrogen patch,

which will " by-pass the liver " . He said (very emphatically, twice during our 15

minute

conversation) " If you do not treat this now, I believe you will experience

significant health

problems in 10 years "

He said that the studies that show increased risks for cancer with HRT have

been done on

post-menopausal women in their 60s, and are not relevant to me - a young person

who

should have treatment to replace the normal estrogen my body should be producing

until

I reach the age where it would be natural to go through menopause. This

argument

makes a lot of sense to me. Of course there are risks, but he thinks the risk

of not getting

treatment is much greater. (By the way, I can live with the hot flashes and

other symptoms

I am experiencing. I would not be doing HRT for relief of symptoms. But I

certainly want

to avoid " serious health problems down the road " .

He said the patch will not be harmful to my liver because it is absorbed through

the skin.

I realize that anything absorbed through the skin still has to be processed by

the liver, but

I do believe that the patch will be much easier on the liver than the oral

pills. I am still

going to run this by my liver specialist before I do it, but I am just wondering

if anyone

else here has experience with HRT & knows how it might affect PSC. Also, I have

wondered all this time whether PSC in any way caused my early menopause.

Debbie in Atlanta

dx 2007- early stage small-duct PSC