What HRT did for me

Menopause - hardly able to function

"Within a very short space of time - around three months - I went from being a very competent individual to hardly being able to function. I had to leave my job as a call centre manager because the anxiety, depression, and fatigue were so debilitating."

When the mother of two teenagers first approached her GP about her symptoms, she was prescribed antidepressants. At this point, the doctors hadn't identified that it was menopause.

"My symptoms got worse - I wasn't sleeping, I had migraines at least twice a week, I kept getting UTIs, every joint in my body hurt, and my brain fog was so bad I worried I had the onset of dementia."

Starting HRT

Six months after her periods stopped - which Louise initially attributed to the stress her body felt from being unwell - a GP diagnosed Louise as menopausal and started her on HRT.

"Best day ever! Within three days, my brain fog lifted. Gradually over the next year, many of my other symptoms eased. None ever went away completely, but at least I could now get up in the mornings and try to live a little."

Finding the best form of HRT for me

"When I was post-menopausal - over a year had passed since my last period - my memory and concentration still weren't great, so trying to remember to take the HRT tablets every day was an issue. I asked if there was any other type of HRT I could have and was given a patch that you change twice a week. However, I found the patches didn't stick well to my skin and within a few weeks my symptoms got worse again.

"My GP practice didn't have a stronger patch. Instead, they could offer the tablet I had been on but in a stronger dose. I have now been on this for over six years.

"Thankfully, the higher dose helped with my memory and many of my terrible symptoms have been erased - the fatigue, poor sleep, joint pains, UTIs, brain fog, and after about two years, my anxiety lifted."

HRT has been life-changing

"My husband will tell you, I became a shadow of my former self before HRT - I wouldn't leave the house and had no joy in my life. Thankfully, this joy has returned. I will never be my younger self, but am okay with that I have embraced the new me. Doing things like eating healthily and exercising on a daily basis also help."

HRT limitations and lessons

While HRT has been an overall positive experience for Louise, like for many women, it hasn't been a completely straightforward journey or fix-all solution.

Louise points out that:

• She still gets some bad symptoms, including weekly migraines and a sore vagina.

• The HRT tablet doesn't tend to be the best form of HRT for people with these symptoms, but her GP practice in Northern Ireland isn't able to offer all options, such as other gels, creams, and patches.

• Weighing up cost against quality of life can be tricky - a private menopause specialist may provide more HRT options but this can be expensive. In Northern Ireland, there is also only one specialist and travel could be difficult.