Yes I hear you re the feeling sad even if you don’t want to pursue it.
Just to add tho that modern transdermal HRT doesn’t cause breast cancer (it’s a natural hormone that is being replaced, like insulin and it’s body identical) and there’s no limit either in how long you can take it. Again think of insulin - no one says oh you need to come off insulin because you’ve been on it a few years now.
I can’t help feeling they wouldn’t be saying it to men…
This thread was started as a vent from someone who was feeling sad about hearing stuff about HRT so I think you should ask yourself if posting on this particular thread is either kind or considerate as you are one of the people who have sparked the need for it. You could start your own thread which people could choose to read or not.
The fact that you’re comparing HRT to insulin shows that you don’t know what you don’t know and there’s no point anyone trying to explain it to you because you sound like you’re just regurgitating what you have read.
I am posting on two threads on here so hadn’t noticed this is the other one.
I use the insulin reference as that is the example Dr Louise Newson uses to bring home the fact that this is only about replacing depleted hormones and also to point out that so many women are gaslit into being told they can’t have HRT after hormone positive breast cancer and I think it’s important that they know it’s about personal choice.
That is what I meant about regurgitating ideas because it’s an absurd comparison and it’s misleading. Nobody ever fell into a coma simply because they didn’t take HRT but it can and unfortunately occasionally does happen to people with too much or not enough / no Insulin in their systems. As a Doctor she should know better than to make that comparison and you might want to consider if she is really credible before repeating her views .
I think there needs to be discussion about the risks/benefits of HRT for breast cancer survivors. However I couldn’t take any doctor seriously who suggests HRT doesn’t present a risk for those with hormone receptor positive cancer! It doesn’t matter that’s it’s bio identical. Any amount of oestrogen in the body is a risk factor. Sadly for me this means a medical menopause (induced with injections) as I’m under 50. Obviously there are risks to treatment as well as oestrogen provides certain benefits. It’s a balancing act.
In the interests of full disclosure, I am considering whether to continue the ovary suppression as the I’m not sure the side effects are worth the potential benefit. However it would be foolish to think that this would be risk free.
I didn’t suggest anyone ever fell into a coma from not having oestrogen but then I don’t use hyperbole for effect and I’m not rude either.
Dr Louise Newson is an eminent menopause specialist. Ok I get you don’t want to take HRT but as @greenqueen says it’s perfectly valid to discuss risks and benefits of taking it after breast cancer and women shouldn’t be gaslit into being told they “can’t” have it
Bio identical hormones aren’t licensed in the UK. Body identical hormones are however, just for clarity.
For anyone wanting to read more on the subject I’d read Oestrogen Matters by Avrum Bluming. There are also a number of podcasts with Dani Binington, Dr Tina Peers and Professor Dame Lesley Regan (the latter who is a professor of gynaecology at Imperial College, London)
Both Tina and Lesley talk about their breast cancer and going on HRT afterwards. There are risks to AIs and risks to HRT but it’s important women are giving the choice
I can’t offer any words of wisdom I’m 52 feel exactly the same was still having my periods before chemo and surgery with no sign of menopause- I hardly recognise myself anymore and I’m so jealous and insert lots of swear words… about those who benefit from HRT and also feel better for writing it down x
I can recommend the book ‘Oestrogen Matters’ by Avrum Bluming. This same Doctor helped to persuade the medical community 30 odd years ago that lumpectomies were a viable option and few surgeons were willing to risk it at the time. He presents the evidence around HRT for women with breast cancer. It’s not as clear cut as the industry will have you believe, it’s important to dig into the research and make decisions based on actual evidence, and your own personal well being.
I took HRT before I was diagnosed with breast cancer which was ER+ and had a mastectomy and reconstruction in October 2025. I have to say before I took HRT I was struggling really badly with brain fog, concentration issues an severe anxiety. As soon as I started HRT these symptoms pretty much disappeared and I was managing, it made me feel ‘normal‘ again.
But when my dosage was adjusted due to my periods being all over the place, 3 months later I found my first lump. Noone will say it was the HRT that caused my cancer but every oncologist, cancer nurse and my surgeon all had the same expression when I told them. More tests need to be done before prescribing HRT especially with family history, as I didn’t know that ER+ is on both sides of my family so more likely to develop it. I feel sad that there will be more and more ladies getting ER+ cancer due to more and more taking HRT.
Thank you so much for this! I was diagnosed with triple negative in December and have done 4 chemos so far, and honestly, the guidance that they’ll take me off my HRT is what I’m finding most depressing about this whole process. I’m 45 and have been on it for 2-3 years and it’s changed my life. I would take the risk of BC reoccurrence over stopping it, especially as the studies suggesting there is a risk are so weak and mostly statistically insignificant. I’m halfway through Oestrogen Matters and plan to draft a letter with my arguments for whatever health professional I need to convince. I’m glad you were able to get a doctor to bypass the bog-standard, outdated guidance. I’d also like to draw people’s attention to this Experts call for change of heart on hormone replacement therapy after breast cancer | UCL News - UCL – University College London. It looks like there’s a real movement in the medical community to revisit this guidance as the current studies are so flawed. But nothing happens quickly, so in the meantime, we’ll have to be our own advocates
For those interested in becoming part of a new, comprehensive trial of the risks of HRT after breast cancer to replace the problematic WHI trial on which the current guidance is based, it’s possible to sign up using the link below.
Sorry to hear of your diagnosis but there is no evidence that modern transdermal HRT causes breast cancer.
All the old data is based on synthetic progestogen not the body identical progesterone you can get nowadays.
It can feed cancer when you’ve got it but isn’t going to cause it
Thanks Fiona.
My GP referred me to the local NHS menopause clinic as he didn’t feel confident to continue prescribing for me. They wrote to him saying he could prescribe for me and mine was ER8/8 & PR 8/8.
You should have a much better chance of getting it being triple negative surely? Fingers crossed for you.
You might want to join the FB group HRT After Breast Cancer
Hi, I have to say from my own experience, I do believe HRT exasperated the BC in me. I too was have to say ‘saved’ by HRT. But I now know I have family history of ER receptor BC and it grows in oestrogen. My HRT was increased 4 months before I found my first lump which came up extremely fast followed by the second invasive lump only 2 weeks after. It seems a bit of a strong coincidence that my BC came up so fast so must have been the increase in the oestrogen level? My surgeon, oncologist and BC nurse would not openly say it was the HRT but the looks on their faces and that I am not allowed any HRT or anything that mimics oestrogen says it all to me. But I know everyone is different but with the increase in women taking HRT now and the increase in women getting ER+ cancer its seems like it really, really needs looking into. I now have to just live with and manage my menopausal symptoms through exercise and through my diet which isn’t easy but I would rather do that than go through the last 6 months again. I go back to work tomorrow and worried about how my brain will perform as I have a demanding job, so will see how it goes.
Wishing you well for your return to work tomorrow @roses4 . Cancer and it’s treatments come u der the Disabilities Act and they are obliged to give you Reasonable Adjustments . I already had these in place following retinal vein occlusions in 2019 so didn’t need anything further .
However although may not feel like quite the same person as you were before BC even if you may not always feel it you are strong to have to got back to this stage of returning to work. Don’t forget that xx
Thank you @JoanneN. I am actually a HR Advisor specialising in Employment Relations issues. I found out yesterday that non of our management are in as they are ALL off sick 
so I will be creating my own phased return to work plan and following it until one of them comes back to work LOL. Sounds like something is going on but shouldn’t be surprised HR are the worst at managing themselves 
x
I’m sure you will do a great job of managing your return to work yourself ! I’m sure you will be kind to yourself🤣 . They’re probably all struggling with seasonal illnesses or January blues . Xx
LOL I will probably do a better job Xx
Probably .
Don’t let them stick you with the work of the ones who are off sick xx
LOL I’m sure they will try and I definitely will be saying nope! X