For those with severe perimenopausal symptoms such as hot flushes or insomnia, HRT can seem like a life saver. Others may have heard of possible links with breast cancer and other types of cancer, and prefer to deal with symptoms and risks with alternative therapies. Whatever your feelings about HRT, it s important to remain open-minded. Similarly, if you start using it when you enter perimenopause, that doesn t commit you to using it indefinitely. The length of time you will take HRT will depend on why you re using it.
Women using it to control symptoms generally take hormones for less than five years.
Women using HRT to prevent long-term problems, such as osteoporosis, usually need HRT for considerably longer.