If you are hoping to start or are already on HRTs then you might be wondering how long before you can see the effects of HRT on yourself. Well Dr Debamalya Sanyal will answer.
How long?
Generally, Dr Debmalya Sanyal says, it will take about 2 years for you to see the full effects of HRT. That is the average timeline.
When do I stop?
Of late, it has been advised for cis-women in foreign countries to take HRT after their menopause to maintain their bone health and heart health. Transwomen might also benefit from this so is there an age when we should stop our HRT intake?
Dr Sanyal says, “So the data with regards to cardiovascular and bone health, I was reviewing one of the papers and it was a European Network metaanalysis of multiple countries, where we have data in the middle term and short term which is 10 years of data and it is being suggested that both testosterone and estrogen in trans folx are safe in terms of cardiovascular risks and overall health. This up to 10 years, we do not have data beyond ten years. This is the International data.”
With regards to estrogen, the data comes from post-menopausal women and it has been seen that after 10 years, say at the age of 60, the hormones might be harmful to cardiovascular systems. So it is preferable to use below 60 years and up to 10 years which is about, estimating it from the normal age of menopause which is about 45-50 so till 55-60 years is what is generally preferred so that is the timeline I would say. So in transwomen, the age of 55-60 is where we can use. But obviously, after 50 using transdermal patches is preferred because that is much safer once the chance of cardiovascular disease increases. So that becomes the safer option and even after 45 years we generally tend to decrease the dosage of estrogen so that it becomes much safer.
