What are the risks of hormone replacement therapy?
Risk is a question to settle with your prescriber at the start of hormone therapy, not after a worrying sign. Here is how to get that answer.
Who can name your hormone therapy risks
The risks that matter are the ones that apply to you, and the physician prescribing the therapy is the one to name them. Ask which signs to watch for and which of them mean calling at once.
Three groups for hormone therapy signs
At the first visit, ask your prescriber to sort the signs for your prescription into three groups: what can wait for the next visit, what needs a same-day call to the prescribing office, and what means calling emergency services. Write the groups down.
Ask who will prescribe it and who will monitor you. If anyone offers hormones without asking about your history, stop there and look for another prescriber.
If you want the guidance behind the questions
The reading starts with professional society guidance and then checks it against regulators. Three sources speak to hormone therapy directly:
- If menopause symptoms are why you are considering it, read the ACOG announcement expanding recommendations for the management of menopause symptoms.
- If you want risks and benefits laid side by side, read the PMC narrative review that weighs menopausal hormone therapy risks against its benefits.
- If the prescription is testosterone for a man, read the PMC review of the risks of testosterone replacement therapy in men, which covers a different hormone and a different group of patients.
Take any of them to your physician if you want to go through the findings together.
A risk log for the first months
Ahead of the first prescription, write down your medicines and health history and ask your physician to go through the risks that fit you. Once you start, keep a short log of what you notice. If a change leaves you unsure, call your physician instead of holding it for the next visit.
Weighing risk is the prescriber's job
Weighing these risks against your history is work for the physician who has examined you and holds your records.