Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) is a treatment used to boost female hormones as women approach menopause. The menopause is a bit scary for women because we’ve no idea what to expect. Some of us go through it without a hitch, while others have a terrible time. If you’re fortunate enough to have a great doctor, you’re in good hands and hopefully you will sail through it with as little discomfort as possible. I was living in Germany at the beginning of mine and had two wonderful doctors.

Recent reports suggest that the risks of HRT are much less significant than previously thought, and that they are balanced by real benefits. I think it's a great pity that millions of women missed out on having HRT for years because their doctors were suspicious of it. My doctors didn’t try to put me off. They were incredibly sympathetic to my needs and explained the arguments for and against HRT. I decided to try it.

After I’d been on HRT for about a year, I took a break to see how life would be without it. To find out if I really needed HRT, I went for nine months without it.

Whilst on that nine-month break I felt terribly unhappy. There were many times during that period when I just wanted to curl up and die. I felt like an old woman who’d come to the end of her life, and I didn’t feel that life was worth living any more. I realised that it was my lowered hormone levels that were causing this feeling. I wondered if this was what I was going to have to endure for years to come, and, believing at the time that HRT might be harmful, I asked myself a question: did I want quality or quantity of life? The answer was obvious to me.

I went back on HRT, and in a very short time I was feeling great again. I had a zest for life and much more. All of those horrid symptoms disappeared and I got my mojo back. HRT is clearly not for every woman, and I don't know what's around the corner for me, but for now it's working. Maybe one day I will find another alternative that keeps me happy and juicy into my old age.

Love,

Zeeteah xxx