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HRT

Category: Medicines

Type

Involuntary

Introduction and description

Hormone replacement therapy (HRT), despite the name therapy is actually a pharmaceutical. It is a type of drug based on synthetic chemicals similar to but not the same as the body’s own hormones – principally those of the ‘sex’ hormones of androgen, testosterone, progesterone and estrogen. The main types of uses are as follows:

Menopause - drugs that are intended to supplement the diminished circulating estrogen and progesterone hormones, at the time of the menopause. The main types of hormones involved are estrogens, progesterone or progestins.
Transgender supplementation – people are given the hormone associated with the gender that the patient identifies with (notably testosterone for trans men and estrogen for trans women).
Androgen replacement therapy - (andropausal and ergogenic use) is a hormone treatment prescribed to counter the effects of ‘male hypogonadism’.

We will be concentrating in this section on the type of HRT used to deal with the symptoms of the menopause, as it is by far the most well known and used, as well as producing the most hallucinations.

Side effects

The following paragraphs are derived principally from the eHealthme web site and the statistics gathered from the Adverse Drug reports submitted by doctors to the FDA and SEDA. Where we have been able, we have also provided papers from PubMed to provide more detail.

Cancer

The 4th edition of the European Code against Cancer recommends limiting - or avoiding when possible - the use of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) because of the increased risk of cancer, nevertheless acknowledging that prescription of HRT may be indicated under certain medical conditions. Current evidence shows that HRT, generally prescribed as menopausal hormone therapy, is associated with an increased risk of cancers of the breast, endometrium, and ovary, with the risk pattern depending on factors such as the type of therapy (oestrogen-only or combined oestrogen-progestogen), duration of treatment, and initiation according to the time of menopause. Carcinogenicity has also been established for anti-neoplastic agents used in cancer therapy, immunosuppressants, oestrogen-progestogen contraceptives, and tamoxifen. PMID: 26390952

If we now turn to the eHealthme site, we find that not only do the statistics support this recommendation, but there is quite overwhelming evidence that breast cancer in particular and HRT are linked:

Breast Cancer in Vivelle (233 reports)
Breast Cancer Female in Vagifem (101 reports)
Breast Cancer Metastatic in Provera (2,441 reports)
Breast Cancer in Provera (13,094 reports)
Breast Cancer Female in Provera (10,589 reports)
Breast Cancer in Prometrium (439 reports)
Breast Cancer Female in Prometrium (163 reports)
Breast Cancer in Progesterone (230 reports)
Breast Cancer in Prempro (14,615 reports)
Breast Cancer Female in Prempro (7,036 reports)
Breast Cancer Metastatic in Prempro (3,277 reports)
Breast Cancer in Premarin (16,031 reports)
Breast Cancer Female in Premarin (10,035 reports)
Breast Cancer Metastatic in Premarin (3,212 reports)
Breast Cancer in Ogen (564 reports)
Breast Cancer Female in Ogen (485 reports)
Breast Cancer Metastatic in Ogen (108 reports)
Breast Cancer Female in Medroxyprogesterone acetate (3,816 reports)
Breast Cancer in Medroxyprogesterone acetate (2,719 reports)
Breast Cancer Metastatic in Medroxyprogesterone acetate (849 reports)
Ovarian Cancer in Medroxyprogesterone acetate (237 reports)
Breast Cancer In Situ in Medroxyprogesterone acetate (178 reports)
Breast Cancer in Menest (70 reports)
Breast Cancer Female in Menest (38 reports)
Breast Cancer in Femring (18 reports)
Breast Cancer in Femhrt (435 reports)
Breast Cancer Female in Femhrt (235 reports)
Breast Cancer Metastatic in Femhrt (85 reports)
Breast Cancer Female in Estropipate (196 reports)
Breast Cancer in Estropipate (192 reports)
Breast Cancer Metastatic in Estropipate (52 reports)
Breast Cancer in Estring (70 reports)
Breast Cancer in Estratab (297 reports)
Breast Cancer Female in Estratab (267 reports)
Breast Cancer Metastatic in Estratab (48 reports)
Breast Cancer Female in Estradiol (1,472 reports)
Breast Cancer in Estradiol (415 reports)
Breast Cancer in Estraderm (792 reports)
Breast Cancer Female in Estraderm (387 reports)
Breast Lump in Estraderm (214 reports)
Breast Cancer in Estrace (1,878 reports)
Breast Cancer Female in Estrace (970 reports)
Breast Cancer Female in Esterified estrogens (7 reports)
Breast Cancer in Combipatch (252 reports)
Breast Lump in Combipatch (63 reports)
Breast Cancer Female in Combipatch (81 reports)
Breast Cancer in Climara (383 reports)
Breast Cancer Female in Climara (338 reports)
Breast Cancer Female in Cenestin (192 reports)
Breast Cancer in Cenestin (165 reports)
Breast Cancer Female in Alora (10 reports)
Breast Cancer in Alora (8 reports)
Breast Pain in Alora (5 reports)
Breast Cancer in Activella (436 reports)
Breast Cancer Female in Activella (230 reports)
Breast Cancer Metastatic in Activella (80 reports)

Heart disease

Drugs.com
Estrogen-containing products should not be used to prevent heart disease. Estrogen given with another hormone (progestin) for replacement therapy can infrequently cause heart disease (eg, heart attacks), stroke, serious blood clots in the legs or lungs (pulmonary embolism/deep vein thrombosis), and dementia. These risks appear to depend on the length of time the drug is used and the amount of estrogen per dose.

All the hormones – progesterone, estrogen, and testosterone and the other androgens are made from cholesterol.

During the menopause there can be wild fluctuations in the hormones of the body, an excess and then a deficiency as the body attempts to adjust to the new role the woman is to take – a granny and not a mum. All the pharmaceutical preparations are made to be taken daily or on a regular basis, not on an as needed basis. All healers use the as needed approach and use plants.

By adding an excess of hormones via the HRT, and as long as we are in good repair - in effect no cell rebuilding work is needed - we are inevitably going to have an excess of cholesterol in our blood stream. And this may be one occasion when the increased cholesterol - which is not there for a purpose such as cell repair - may indeed cause atherosclerosis. The statistics from eHealthme show that various forms of heart disease are indeed a consequence of using HRT

High Blood Pressure in Alora (5 reports)
Blood Pressure Management in Cenestin (62 reports)
High Blood Pressure in Cenestin (61 reports)
High Blood Pressure in Combipatch (67 reports)
Blood Pressure Management in Combipatch (67 reports)
Chest Pain in Estrace (358 reports)
Blood Pressure Management in Estrace (354 reports)
High Blood Pressure in Estrace (353 reports)
High Blood Pressure in Estraderm (232 reports)
Breathing Difficulty in Estraderm (228 reports)
Blood Pressure Management in Estraderm (219 reports)
Chest Pain in Estraderm (213 reports)
Breathing Difficulty in Estratab (54 reports)
Blood Pressure Management in Estratab (47 reports)
High Blood Pressure in Estratab (47 reports)
Chest Pain in Estratab (46 reports)
High Blood Pressure in Femhrt (77 reports)
High Blood Pressure in Menest (42 reports)
High Blood Pressure in Ogen (89 reports)
Blood Pressure Management in Ogen (89 reports)
High Blood Pressure in Progesterone (156 reports)
Chest Pain in Vagifem (91 reports)
Chest Pain in Vivelle (191 reports)
Chest Pain in Vivelle-dot (104 reports)
High Blood Pressure in Premarin (2,382 reports)
Chest Pain in Premarin (2,754 reports)
Stroke in Prempro (919 reports)
High Blood Pressure in Prempro (727 reports)
Heart Attack in Prempro (720 reports)

Gallstones

There is some research evidence that both contraceptives and HRT can give you gallstones:

Chronic application of third generation progestagens as contraceptives or hormone replacement therapy (HRT) could influence the serum lipid profile, and consequently the bile and gallstone composition…. Aims: To determinate components of serum, bile and gallstones in women of reproductive age or postmenopausal women using hormonal third generation for at least two years. ..... Our observations confirm that the chronic use of oral contraceptives and hormone replacement therapy cause an increase in bile lithogenity. PMID: 25413941

lithogenicity means 'Promoting the formation of calculi'.

Osteoporosis and other joint disorders

It is unclear whether the pharmaceutical itself is acting simply as a toxin and an irritant or whether it has disrupted the system that replaces and manages the bones, but HRT does not appear to help those with osteoporosis or rheumatoid arthritis, it causes, for example:

Osteonecrosis Of Jaw in Activella (36 reports)
Muscle Aches in Delestrogen (29 reports)
Spinal Osteoarthritis in Delestrogen (28 reports)
Rheumatoid Arthritis in Estrasorb (3 reports)
Upper Limb Fracture in Estrasorb (3 reports)
Back Pain in Estring (58 reports) and Femring (9 reports); and Back Injury in Evamist (9 reports)
Osteoporosis in Evamist (10 reports)
Spinal Compression Fracture in Evamist (9 reports)
Bone Loss in Evamist (9 reports)
Joint Pain in Menest (29 reports) and Vagifem (91 reports)

Furthermore pain is quite a common side effect. The type of pain is not always specified but pain is a side-effect, for example:

Pain in Activella (74 reports), Cenestin (80 reports), Combipatch (93 reports), Estraderm (209 reports), Estrasorb (4 reports), Estrace (357 reports), Vivelle-dot (136 reports), Vivelle (232 reports), Vagifem (92 reports), Prometrium (182 reports), Progesterone (189 reports), Premarin (2,695 reports) etc etc

Ineffective

There appear to be numerous cases where HRT is ineffective, we will not list all the drugs but as an example these are cases where the drug actually added to the menopause effects as opposed to alleviate them, for example:

Drug Ineffective in Alora (5 reports), Vivelle-dot (125 reports), Vivelle (190 reports), Enjuvia (13 reports), Estradiol (163 reports), Estring (186 reports), Esterified estrogens (6 reports)
Hot Flush in Climara (552 reports), Vivelle (201 reports), Vivelle-dot (139 reports), Combipatch (84 reports)
Insomnia in Alora (6 reports), Enjuvia (7 reports)
Fatigue and weakness in Cenestin (67 reports), Cenestin (53 reports), Delestrogen (36 reports), Enjuvia (17 reports), Esterified estrogens (9 reports), Estradiol (166 reports), Estradiol (129 reports), Estrasorb (9 reports), Estrace (402 reports)
Sweating Increased in Esterified estrogens (7 reports)
Stress And Anxiety in Activella (77 reports), Alora (5 reports), Cenestin (65 reports), Climara (217 reports), Combipatch (77 reports), Esterified estrogens (6 reports), Estrace (340 reports), Estradiol (122 reports), Estratab (45 reports), Estraderm (275 reports)
Depression in Activella (41 reports), Alora (8 reports), Climara (259 reports), Combipatch (70 reports), Estraderm (274 reports), Estratab (55 reports), Delestrogen (36 reports)

Headaches and dizziness are extremely common side effects, there is hair loss, and memory loss. There are occasionally rashes as well as Diarrhoea and Nausea[ in Activella (48 reports), Alora (8 reports), Cenestin (78 reports), Climara (223 reports), Esterified estrogens (8 reports), Estrace (464 reports), Estradiol (183 reports), Estratab (49 reports) etc etc]

These latter symptoms are more indicative of poisoning.

Deaths

Using the eHealthme web site statistics the following are the figures for deaths:

Activella - On Feb, 16, 2016: 1,221 people reported to have side effects when taking Activella. Among them, 6 people (0.49%) have Death
Cenestin - On Feb, 10, 2016: 1,072 people reported to have side effects when taking Cenestin. Among them, 3 people (0.28%) have Death
Climara - On Feb, 21, 2016: 5,228 people reported to have side effects when taking Climara. Among them, 5 people (0.10%) have Death
Estrace - On Feb, 7, 2016: 7,968 people reported to have side effects when taking Estrace. Among them, 50 people (0.63%) have Death
Estraderm - On Feb, 21, 2016: 3,100 people reported to have side effects when taking Estraderm. Among them, 13 people (0.42%) have Death
Estradiol - On Feb, 21, 2016: 4,449 people reported to have side effects when taking Estradiol. Among them, 11 people (0.25%) have Death
Estradiol valerate - On Feb, 21, 2016: 174 people reported to have side effects when taking Estradiol valerate. Among them, 1 people (0.57%) has Death
Estratab - On Feb, 11, 2016: 1,367 people reported to have side effects when taking Estratab. Among them, 6 people (0.44%) have Death
Estring - On Feb, 21, 2016: 1,285 people reported to have side effects when taking Estring. Among them, 2 people (0.16%) have Death
Estrogel - On Feb, 21, 2016: 275 people reported to have side effects when taking Estrogel. Among them, 2 people (0.73%) have Death
Estropipate - On Feb, 3, 2016: 1,232 people reported to have side effects when taking Estropipate. Among them, 3 people (0.24%) have Death
Femhrt - On Feb, 21, 2016: 1,707 people reported to have side effects when taking Femhrt. Among them, 8 people (0.47%) have Death
Femring - On Jan, 31, 2016: 143 people reported to have side effects when taking Femring. Among them, 1 people (0.70%) has Death
MPA - On Feb, 14, 2016: 9,737 people reported to have side effects when taking Medroxyprogesterone acetate. Among them, 12 people (0.12%) have Death
Ogen - On Feb, 21, 2016: 2,408 people reported to have side effects when taking Ogen. Among them, 8 people (0.33%) have Death
Premarin - On Feb, 14, 2016: 69,896 people reported to have side effects when taking Premarin. Among them, 271 people (0.39%) have Death
Premphase - On Feb, 21, 2016: 2,050 people reported to have side effects when taking Premphase. Among them, 10 people (0.49%) have Death
Prempro - On Jan, 22, 2016: 37,498 people reported to have side effects when taking Prempro. Among them, 65 people (0.17%) have Death
Progesterone - On Feb, 21, 2016: 4,329 people reported to have side effects when taking Progesterone. Among them, 6 people (0.14%) have Death
Prometrium - On Feb, 21, 2016: 3,423 people reported to have side effects when taking Prometrium. Among them, 5 people (0.15%) have Death
Provera - On Feb, 21, 2016: 43,992 people reported to have side effects when taking Provera. Among them, 82 people (0.19%) have Death
Vagifem - On Feb, 18, 2016: 1,427 people reported to have side effects when taking Vagifem. Among them, 8 people (0.56%) have Death
Vivelle - On Feb, 6, 2016: 2,753 people reported to have side effects when taking Vivelle. Among them, 14 people (0.51%) have Death
Vivelle-dot - On Feb, 1, 2016: 1,292 people reported to have side effects when taking Vivelle-dot. Among them, 1 people (0.08%) has Death

Summary

Using the figures supplied by eHealthme compiled from the Adverse Drug reports submitted by doctors to the FDA and SEDA, figures which only apply to the USA and do not include the rest of the world, the totals as of Febrary 2016, were as follows:

Adverse side effects no of people 209, 124

No of deaths 593 [excluding those from breast cancer]

How it works

Why the hallucinations? These are all synthetic drugs and appear to be poisoning people, hence the hallucinations are caused by poisoning.

References and further reading

Cancer Epidemiol. 2015 Dec;39 Suppl 1:S107-19. doi: 10.1016/j.canep.2015.08.003. Epub 2015 Sep 26. European Code against Cancer 4th Edition: Medical exposures, including hormone therapy, and cancer. Friis S1, Kesminiene A2, Espina C2, Auvinen A3, Straif K2, Schüz J4.
HRT increases risk of blood clots and stroke, finds new analysis. Hawkes N. BMJ. 2015 Mar 10;350:h1336. doi: 10.1136/bmj.h1336. PMID: 25757611
Minerva Endocrinol. 2014 Nov 21. The effect of chronic estrogen application on bile and gallstone composition in women with cholelithiasis. Sieron D1, Czerny B, Sieron-Stoltny K, Karasiewicz M, Bogacz A, Seremak-Mrozikiewicz A, Kotrych D, Boron D, Mrozikiewicz PM. 1Cancer Center and Institute of Oncology, Gliwice Branch, Gliwice, Poland - aniabogacz23@o2.pl.

Please note that the majority of healing observations are listed under the menopause section. They are principally plant based and use natural chemicals and phytoestrogens - natural estrogens in plants that can be taken as and when needed. Many of these are in food, so you can simply eat your way to health!

Observations

The following table has been compiled by using the figures of hallucinations submitted to the FDA and SEDA by doctors and recorded on eHealthme. The figures were correct as at early 2016 and apply to the USA only. The links take you to the eHealthme site where the current side -effects can be found

Drug	No of hallucinations	Type
Activella also sold as Estracomb, Kliofem and Novofem	0	Combination drug of estradiol and norethisterone acetate
Alora	1	Estrogen only
Cenestin	2	Estrogen only
Climara and climara pro	14	Estrogen only
Combipatch	0	Combination of estradiol and norethindrone (transdermal)
Delestrogen – other names includeEstradiol valerate, Altadiol, Deladiol, Estraval, many others	1	Estrogen only
Enjuvia	0	Estrogen only
Esterified estrogens	0	Estrogen only
Estrace	14	Estrogen only
Estraderm	7	Estrogen only
Estratab	3	Estrogen only
Estradiol	18	Estrogen only
Estrasorb	0	Estrogen only
Estring	7	ditto
Estrogel	0	Estrogen only
Estropipate	16	Estrogen plus piperazine
Evamist - Divigel, Elestrin Pump, Estrasorb, EstroGel Pump, Evamist	1	Estrogen only
Femhrt	2	Combination of ethinyl estradiol and norethindrone. Ethinyl estradiol is a form of estrogen
Femring	0	a low-dose estradiol-acetate releasing ring, manufactured from silicone elastomer, for the relief of hot flashes and vaginal atrophy associated with menopause
Menest	4	Estrogen only
Menostar	1	ditto
MPA	4	progestin
Ogen	6	Estrogen plus piperazine
Premarin	307	Estrogen only
Prempro	49	ditto
Progesterone	12	progesterone
Prometrium	17	progesterone
Provera	72	progestin
Vagifem	3	Estrogen only
Vivelle	19	ditto
Vivelle-dot	15	ditto
[Yasmin - only rarely used as HRT normal use is contraceptive]	27]
TOTAL	632

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Introduction and description