Vasomotor symptoms usually reappear after cessation of postmenopausal hormone therapy

Abstract

(218 words)Objective: To investigate to what extent vasomotor symptoms reappeared after cessation of postmenopausal hormone therapy (HT) in women who started HT due to hot flashes. Design:A cross-sectional postal survey. A validated questionnaire was sent to all women, 53-54 years old, living in Linköping, Sweden (n=1,733) including questions about menopause, HT and vasomotor symptoms. Pearsons chi-square test and logistic regression were used for statistical analyses.Results: Response rate after one reminder was 77.3 %. After omitting incomplete answers 72.9 % remained for analysis. In all 319 (25.3 %) women were current users of HT, 242 (19.2 %) previous users and 702 (55.6 %) were never users. Of the 242 previous users 165 (69 %) women stated that they had vasomotor symptoms before starting HT. Vasomotor symptoms recurred after cessation of HT in 143 of these 165 women (87 %). We found no significant difference in symptom recurrence in comparisons of the three groups based on usage of HT for 0-1, 2-4 or 5 years or more. Conclusions:The majority of women who had vasomotor symptoms when they initiated HT reported recurrence of symptoms after cessation of HT (87 %), although the flashes were usually reported to be less frequent and bothersome than before HT. Effective and safe treatment approaches for women with recurrence of vasomotor symptoms are needed.

Vitamin D levels and menopause-related symptoms

“…Current treatments for menopause-related symptoms, such as menopausal hormone therapy, antidepressants, and anticonvulsants, may have significant side effects and serious long-term adverse consequences (21-23) . After discontinuing treatment, symptoms may recur or even develop de novo (24; 25) . Recognizing the possible mechanisms underlying menopause-related symptoms may lead to the development of new therapeutic strategies.…”

A randomized controlled study of taper-down or abrupt discontinuation of hormone therapy in women treated for vasomotor symptoms

“…Ness and colleagues 19 reported similar results indicating that 40 % of the women below 65 years of age experienced vasomotor symptoms after discontinuation of HT. In a cross-sectional population-based study performed in Linköping, Sweden, 87 % of women age 53 -54 who initiated HT due to vasomotor symptoms experienced such symptoms when they discontinued HT, although more than half experienced less distressing symptoms than before they had started HT 33 . Grady and co-workers 17 reported, in a cross-sectional study, that 30 % of the women, who stopped HT experienced troublesome vasomotor symptoms that began about 1 week after discontinuation HT in line with our results with recurrence after 7-8 days.…”

Calcium and vitamin D supplementation do not influence menopause-related symptoms: Results of the Women's Health Initiative Trial

“…[8] In addition, after treatment is discontinued, these symptoms may recur or even develop de novo. [9–11] It is therefore important to investigate possible determinants of menopause-related symptoms so that new therapies can be developed.…”