Newgirl wrote: Hi Carorees, please be vary careful with HRT,I took it for about 2 years,but have also gone through breast cancer,is there a connection?? The answer is,there could be,I took it because the symptoms were so bad day and night,if you take it,don't think you need to take it for a long time,after 6 months you need to come off it to see how your body copes. Can I ask what made you decide to go on HRT in the first place,you also said you have put it off for a while.
Hi @Newgirl
There is a link between a high carb diet/high blood glucose/high insulin (insulin resistance) and breast cancer. Also stress and cancer. As some breast cancers are hormone sensitive, then there is an increased risk with oestrogen replacement (and if you start periods young and are exposed to more oestrogen than later starters).
So, my rationale for starting HRT was that I've significantly lowered my BC risk by losing 40kg and eating low carb and fasting. The biggest risk to my health now, I believe, is that I have not had more than 3-4 hours of uninterrupted sleep in the last 7+ years since I entered menopause. The links between poor sleep and ill health are very strong. Getting less than 6 hours sleep a night has been shown to affect gene expression detrimentally, to increase insulin resistance, may contribute to early aging (due to shortening telomere lengths) is associated with higher weight, increased risk of Alzheimers, . I believe that the lack of sleep is raising cortisol which means my waking blood glucose is higher than I'd like (usually between 5 and 5.5 mmol/litre) and prolonged periods of high blood glucose is damaging to the blood vessels, makes cholesterol more atherogenic and in turn raises cortisol and insulin. So, I believe that the risks from HRT are outweighed by the poor sleep. My plan is to see if HRT will sort out my sleep and correct the chronic high cortisol. I would then aim to start to wean myself off as you have suggested. I have optimised everything else I can do to promote a better night's sleep with attention to vitamins and minerals (e.g., vitamin D, vitamin B, magnesium), having a blue-light filter on my phone, getting outdoors in the mornings etc etc. After 7 years of bad sleep, waking up every 2 hours with a hot flush, and then waking up for good at around 5am, I had just had enough! Incidentally, the pattern of cortisol release overnight is for mini peaks every couple of hours rising to a big peak at around 5am.
Here's a great review of how poor quality sleep worsens so many health outcomes:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4340787/ Did you experience the same weight gain issues that I've noticed? I am presuming it is mostly water as my waist is only slightly increased but my boobs have grown a couple of inches!