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What Women Are Thinking
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Merlene Robb, 69
Los Angeles, California
HRT use: 15 years and counting
I'm a single woman, and I have to be alert and ready to work. I can't afford to be running down the hall to the ladies' room, having a hot flash or a crying spell. HRT has worked well for me, and I intend to keep taking it.
It all sounds so familiar. The same medical blame game was played with the Pill, which was supposedly behind every calamity to afflict the human species. And now we know the Pill has not so many dangers. So I am very skeptical about the HRT naysayers, despite the test results they quote.
Joyce DiCicco, 56
San Diego, California
HRT use: about 10 years
I am in the process of weaning myself off the hormones. I am having headaches more frequently. The skin seems more saggy. My hair is coarser.
Initially, I was taking HRT for hot flashes. Later, it was for bone loss. I expected at some time my doctor would say, "It's time to stop." But that never happened.
I don't blame the doctors. I just realize I need to ask more questions.
Mae Engel, 72
Gaylord, Michigan
HRT use: 2 years, 1990s
I had read of the possibility of getting breast cancer, but my doctor assured me that the benefits of the drugs outweighed the risk of breast cancer.
Well, he was wrong! After two years, I developed an aggressive cancer, which resulted in a mastectomy and six months of chemotherapy. I was in my 60s, with no family history of breast cancer, and I had had a mammogram on a regular basis. There is no doubt in my mind that the HRT was responsible for my breast cancer.
Hormones do help with mood swings and make you feel better. But I am telling people to really think about whether they want to use them.
J.B., 63
Checotah, Oklahoma
HRT use: 10 years
About two days after I quit, I felt as if I had deflated about 10 percent, and I have no adverse effects. My sense of puffiness is gone. Before, it was like I had 10 percent extra air. Now it feels like my body is back to normal. I love being off hormones.
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