Why would a care plan recommend hormone replacement therapy if some say it is not safe?
Mixed messages about hormone therapy call for more questions to your clinician, not fewer.
Make the care plan state its reasons
Your clinician judges whether hormone therapy fits your case. A care plan that recommends it should say, in plain words, what it expects to help and which risks it weighed. Have that reasoning in hand before treatment starts.
Read the hormone care plan like a consent form
Two statements can both stand: some sources urge caution, and a plan recommends treatment anyway. Ask the clinician which details of your history explain the difference.
Work through the plan line by line:
- Find the reason the plan gives for recommending hormone therapy for you.
- Find the risks it lists, and ask which ones touch your own history.
- Find what the plan says to do if you have side effects.
- Ask how often the plan is reviewed and who decides to continue or stop.
Question any recommendation that cannot be explained in a few plain sentences.
Read the MedlinePlus health topic on hormone therapy for menopause, the NYU Langone news page on facts about menopause and hormone therapy, and the Menopause Society press release on ongoing individualized hormone therapy. Bring whichever you read to the clinician, and ask what it means for your plan.
Get the recommendation explained in a few sentences
- Have the clinician state the reason for the recommendation in two or three sentences.
- Ask which warnings you have heard apply to you and which do not.
- Ask what alternatives were considered.
- Ask for the plan's review date.
Return to the plan document when claims conflict
When you hear conflicting claims, go back to the plan document. Have the person who wrote your plan walk you through it line by line.