Dear Pharmacist,
I have a friend who is taking HRT and she loves it. I’m over sixty and I’ve never taken it and I still get hot flashes and lots of really annoying stuff. Can I start taking it now?
There is no hard and fast rule or age that hormone replacement therapy (HRT, also known as HT) is not appropriate. What you must do is have a frank discussion with your doctor. Before making your appointment, keep a journal and document the frequency and severity of your hot flashes and other “annoying stuff”.
Be ready to tell your doctor about how this is negatively impacting your quality of life. Your doctor can then decide, based upon your medical history, whether or not HRT will be appropriate for you. HRT can be started after 60 in patients with no contraindications to it. Your doctor will start you at a low dose and monitor your outcome. Keep up that symptom journal!
Readers! Send your questions to deborah@vergowoman.com. They will be answered by a female pharmacist with over thirty years of clinical pharmacy experience.
