I joined because I’m now joint POA for my 58 year old sister. She had a major stroke just over 4 years ago. She is now in a care home as she needs 24/7 care. She cannot walk and is on a peg feed. Together with my sister-in-law, we’re trying to work on many outstanding issues on behalf of my sister - menopause and thyroid being 2 of them.
We’ve gotten to the point where we’re taking her for private blood tests to check her hormone levels for thyroid issues and menopause. Her doctor has refused to test her for menopause, explaining that she cannot be given HRT because of the high risk of stroke. It’s taken a long, long time to just get this answer. So, while we now understand, for me it’s not acceptable to say it’s the be-all and end-all. We’re sure that many of her emotional and mood fluctuations could be caused by menopausal hormones. Surely antidepressants are not the only answer? So now we’re trying to find information on menopause treatments/medication that can be used for someone who’s had a stroke (and has type 2 diabetes).
I live abroad and here I use cream that is made by a local pharmacist. I think it’s classed as ‘bioidentical HRT’ (BHRT). Can anyone give any advice or pointers on this topic?
Welcome to the community, I’m sorry to hear about your sisters stroke.
We have some information on our website about women and stroke which has a section about the menopause, you may find it helpful to have a read through. If you can get your sister an appointment with a menopause clinic they would probably be best to help rather than a GP, a GP should be able to refer your sister to a menopause clinic.
I hope you’ll find this community helpful as you’re navigating this. If you need anything whilst you’re using the Online Community, please don’t hesitate to tag me using the @ symbol and my username.
Hi & welcome to the community @FormySIster. Sorry to hear of your sisters stroke.
I was taken off HRT as soon as I had my stroke as was told it would put me at increased risk. This seems to be pretty standard.
I am aware of others though who have been given patches instead of tablets and as you say there are creams too. A lot though will depend on the type of stroke, severity of stroke and what type of hormone she would need. For example I had a hysterectomy so had to have a progesterone only HRT.
Some of your sisters symptoms could be menopause related. There is definitely a crossover on some of the cognitive side of things.
I will make enquiries re the Menopause clinic. I’m not confident, however, if a referral from the doctor will happen, as the feedback from him so far, seems very negative and narrow minded. But we shall see. Once we’ve more information to hand perhaps the conversation will be more positive.
The only thing I can offer is to let you know in case you have not already done this, there are many posts on this forum that reference the menopause. Whether they answer your questions I cannot say, but you can check them out.
Use the search function as shown in the screen print.
