Losing weight in menopause is hard—regain control with Noom + HRT^Rx

Many people notice improvements in menopause symptoms fairly quickly—reporting fewer hot flashes, weight loss, improved mood, and better sleep—often within weeks.

Common side effects can occur, such as bloating, tenderness in the breasts, and temporary vaginal bleeding or spotting. Noom’s clinicians are here to help you manage side effects, which could include tailoring your prescription. Side effects can be similar to what’s experienced at certain times during the menstrual cycle, in pregnancy, or with the use of hormonal contraceptives like birth control pills.

HRT can include patches, creams, gels, sprays, and/or pills. Patches, creams, gels, and sprays deliver hormones gradually through the skin while pills are taken orally. Patches typically require just one or two changes per week, while the other forms are generally taken daily.

Hormone replacement therapy has been shown to improve metabolic health in menopausal women, including insulin sensitivity and fasting glucose. It has additionally been shown to improve healthy body composition and fat distribution, improving visceral adiposity.

When your hormone levels are unbalanced, it can also make weight loss extra difficult. Research shows that hormone balancing can provide symptom relief and amplify weight loss achieved with Noom’s proven behavior-change approach.

Please visit noom.com/med/how-to-use-hrt.

HRT is primarily recommended for people with moderate to severe symptoms, but can also be a good option for those with mild symptoms.

Even with a healthy diet, hormonal fluctuations can cause weight gain during menopause due to changes in your metabolism. Lowered estrogen levels can also cause fat tissue to increase around the abdomen—even if you don’t gain weight.

HRT is often recommended for the shortest time necessary to manage your symptoms, and you can stop at any time. Be sure to consult your clinician about the best way to taper off to avoid any abrupt changes.

Unfortunately for women’s health, there remains conflicting information in the market about breast cancer risk and HRT, so it’s important to know the facts. There was a controversial study that ended in 2002, known as the Women’s Health Initiative (WHI), that many consider to have been flawed. This study caused a lot of concern around HRT treatment because it reported a link between HRT and breast cancer, which many now believe does not exist or is not applicable to today’s treatment methods. As a result of the study, millions of women (and their doctors) abandoned effective HRT treatment nearly overnight. Since then, we have heard from many researchers, including some involved in the WHI, who believe this study overstated the risks, was misleading, and failed to bring attention to the overall benefits of HRT for most women.

For instance, it was found that women in the WHI study who used estrogen-only HRT (prescribed to patients without a uterus) actually showed a reduced risk of breast cancer. And overall, the data showed no increase in cancer deaths for women on HRT. A more recent study from the UK found that women who used estrogen-only HRT and women who used estrogen with bioidentical progesterone (the modern treatment that Noom and many other providers prescribe today) had no increased risk of breast cancer at all.

Finally, a comprehensive analysis of many studies, including the WHI’s own data, showed that HRT reduces mortality risk (deaths from any cause) when HRT is initiated within 10 years of menopause and/or under 60 years of age.