HRT crisis: What the shortages mean for thousands of women in the UK

HRT shortages have caused a rising panic among the one million women in the UK who use the treatment to manage perimenopause symptoms 

Demand for HRT – hormone replacement therapy – has gone up by 30 per cent over the past five years due to the increased awareness through mainstream media, better education and GP confidence in prescribing treatments.

However, the recent shortages are extremely worrying for many women dealing with perimenopause and menopause symptoms.

Dr Nicky Keay, member of the British Menopause Society and chief medical officer at the hormone testing company Forth, says that as concerning as it is, shortage of hormone replacement therapy is not a new problem.

“Supply issues have not been resolved since the last shortage a few years ago. HRT is a prescribed medication that in common with many medications required to maintain long term health and therefore, needs to be taken continuously.”

Due to shortages, women are advised to switch to different alternatives. However, Keay warns that there is a downside to this.

“Consistency is important with HRT and every woman has her own unique hormone orchestra,” she explains. “They often spend time working with their prescriber to personalise the type and dose of HRT.

“It is recommended that women are given a three-month supply max to combat supply issues, which is already a common process. So, I would highly recommend women taking HRT to get a prepaid NHS prescription.”

Menopause campaigners have also warned of a further surge in demand for already stretched HRT supplies as a result of Davina McCall’s Channel 4 documentary on menopause.

Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) ministers hope that the lessons learnt from supplying millions of coronavirus vaccines rapidly throughout the UK will be soon applied to HRT product shortages.

Despite the rising awareness of perimenopause and menopause leading to more women being prescribed HRT, Keay says that there is still a black hole when it comes to hormone testing and understanding the importance of HRT.

Along with Forth’s female founder, Sarah Bolt, Dr Keay started developing a female hormone test called MyFORM that combines blood analysis with mathematically modelling and clinical expertise to map a woman’s hormones across her entire cycle.

“A product like this will allow women to visually see how their hormones are fluctuating and allow them to understand why they might be experiencing certain knock-on effects on the journey to perimenopause and menopause,” Dr Nicky Keay points out.

During perimenopause, oestrogen and progesterone levels decline as the ovaries become less responsive to the control hormones which rise to trigger a response from the ovaries. Helping women gain a deeper understanding of their hormones will help them make more informed decisions around treatment and HRT.

For more information, visit forthwithlife.co.uk.