Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) also referred to as hormone therapy (HT), is a form of treatment designed to replace one or more female hormones, commonly estrogen and progesterone.

HRT comes in the form of a pill, patch, spray, gel, or implant. Hormone Replacement Therapy is often used to treat menopause symptoms.

Mostly, you will reach the menopause stage between the ages of forty-five and fifty-five where your regular menstruation or menses stops and you no longer produce eggs and give birth to a child.Hormone Replacement Therapy

As you reach your menopause stage, the estrogen and progesterone (the hormones responsible for reproduction) levels in your body decreases and gradually puts an end to your chances of becoming pregnant.

However, the fluctuations of these hormone levels also cause menopause symptoms such as mood swings, hot flushes, excessive sweating, urinal problems, vaginal dryness, vaginal bleeding, sleep disorders, and other symptoms.

Although the menopause stage in females occurs naturally at an age of forty or fifty, having hysterectomy (removal of uterus through surgical method) done at a pre-menopause age can still bring about the menopause. This is known as a surgical menopause.

The occurrence of menopause as a result of a hysterectomy will not develop in every woman who undergone this surgery. Rather, it will occur in cases where both ovaries are removed, or the ovaries fail after the surgery.

In your body, the ovaries generate the hormones such as estrogen, progesterone, and in very little amounts, testosterone for the development of the ovum (egg). So, losing the ovaries or the functioning of the ovaries will interrupt the hormonal system in your body before your body has had time to regulate.

Therefore, a Hormone Replacement Therapy is highly recommended to treat the changes in the hormone system and also the menopause symptoms.

Taking Hormone Replacement Therapy after a hysterectomy is an alternative for you when your both ovaries are removed, although it is not necessary when ovaries are present and functioning.

The sudden development of menopausal symptoms after a hysterectomy can be very upsetting and difficult to overcome. Therefore, you can seek treatment, from a doctor, in the form of hormone replacement therapy.

The symptoms of surgical menopause that you experience will be more severe than the symptoms that you undergo through a natural menopause. So, it is important to consult your doctor and talk about taking Hormone Replacement Therapy.

A Hormone Replacement Therapy is very effective in relieving menopause symptoms. It can prevent further fractures that occur with osteoporosis where other treatments are not suitable.

However, in some rare cases, you can experience side effects with Hormone Replacement Therapy, such as nausea, heart attack, breast cancer, fluid retention, breast enlargement, and discomfort soon after taking HRT.

In cases where if you prefer taking Hormone Replacement Therapy after menopause, then usually you will be prescribed only an estrogen replacement therapy (ERT) because the HRT also increases the progestogen (prescribed to reduce the risk of thickening of the uterus), which is not necessary when you have had a hysterectomy where your uterus is no longer present in the body.

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