I'm 4 years into menopause, i haven't had a period in 4 years, but I still have about 14 of the 34 symptoms, including the daily barrage of hot flashes accompanied with the sweats, heart palps, and just an overall feeling of not feeling like my old self. I remember when i first started to have hot flashes during peri - I thought it was going to be a cake walk.

I've read that this phase can last 3 - 11 years. alright already, I've endured 4 years, I am now way passed miserable.

If I go on HRT for some years, lets say 3 years, and stop. Will all the symptoms come back and just continue from where they left off or will they be gone?
(pleeeeeeeeease till me they'll be gone)

That, I am afraid is the million dollar question. I think that all the 40,000 members here crave the answer to that one. It is a bit like seeking the Wizard of Oz at the end of the yellow brick road. Trouble is, when we get there, the wizard may well be fake!

The biggest problem is that we do not know where we are in the 'process.' Even though you have had no period for 4 years your body may still not have adjusted to the new order which I believe it has to do for you to feel comfortable again. There is no doubt that if you can tolerate HRT it will successfully mask the symptoms for years if you continue with the medication. Some women find that the hormones play hell with them so that is not an option and others seem very comfortable; but they do have to accept the inherent risks.

Then comes the worry of coming off the medication. I can understand why some women say that they will never come off their medication but as life progresses and other events involved with aging like blood clots and malignancies kick in; they may find that they have no option but to come off the supplementation.
Then comes the next thorny question. When you make the decision to come off the medication will it be a smooth transition or will you have to do the menopause bit all over again.
I have a friend who was on HRT for 12 years ( The GP had forgotten that she was on it! ) In a panic he withdrew her medication suddenly and she was a real mess for several years. That is ignorant and cruel and it is important to wean off these things very gradually and not go cold turkey! The biggest worry with HRT is that it may prolong the inevitable and confuse the body still further leaving the hard work of the change to be done at a later and more fragile age. The other argument might be that if the menopause is highly unpleasant why suffer. Take HRT at the lowest possible dose for a couple of years just to ease the passage.

No-one really knows. The wizard at the end of that menopause road really is fake.


XIII