Menopausal symptoms after cessation of hormone replacement therapy.
OBJECTIVE
To determine the prevalence of recurrent menopausal symptoms among post-menopausal women who discontinued hormone replacement therapy (HRT) after the publication of the women's health initiative (WHI) study and to describe the therapeutic strategies employed to address these symptoms.


METHODS
Retrospective analysis of 1000 post-menopausal women seen consecutively at an internal medicine practice from January 2004 to May 2004.


RESULTS
Among 1000 post-menopausal women, 205 (21%) had discontinued HRT due to the WHI results. Menopausal symptoms were present in 91/205 (44%) women, with 52/205 (25%) having vasomotor symptoms, 51/205 (25%) urogenital complaints, and 10/205 (5%) mood-related symptoms. Out of the 91 symptomatic women, only 55 (60%) received therapy to relieve their symptoms. The most commonly employed treatments were topical estrogen in 33/91 (36%) women, complementary therapies in 18/91 (20%) women, and venlafaxine in 13/91 (14%) women. Among complementary therapies, the most frequent were black cohosh used by 8/91 (9%) women and soy by 7/91 (8%) women.


CONCLUSIONS
Many post-menopausal women developed typical menopausal symptoms after discontinuation of HRT, with vasomotor and urogenital complaints being the most commonly reported. Topical estrogen, complementary therapies, and venlafaxine were the most usual treatments for menopausal symptoms. However, a large number of symptomatic women remained untreated.
Ness
Jose
J
Department of Internal Medicine, University of Iowa College of Medicine, 200 Hawkins Drive, Iowa City, IA 52242, USA. jose-ness@uiowa.edu
Aronow
Wilbert S
WS
Beck
Gwen
G
D000287:Administration, Topical; D000368:Aged; D001294:Attitude to Health; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D000529:Complementary Therapies; D003511:Cyclohexanols / Q000627:therapeutic use; D015914:Estrogen Replacement Therapy / Q000009:adverse effects*; D004967:Estrogens / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000627:therapeutic use; D005260:Female; D019584:Hot Flashes / Q000139:chemically induced* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000628:therapy; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D017698:Postmenopause; D015995:Prevalence; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D055502:Secondary Prevention; D017367:Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors / Q000627:therapeutic use; D013375:Substance Withdrawal Syndrome / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology* / Q000628:therapy; D000069470:Venlafaxine Hydrochloride
D003511:Cyclohexanols; D004967:Estrogens; D017367:Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors; D000069470:Venlafaxine Hydrochloride