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Menopause

Menopause

12/17/2010

Question:

My physcian, surgeon have suggested that I withdraw from using HRT Mind you they have not given any guidelines as to how to do this. I am taking .3 premarin with 2.5 provera one day then the next .6 along with 2.5. How do you taper without totally becoming a nut case. thank you

Answer:

There's no specific plan, but it should be a slow process. Here's what I recommend:

Change every 2-3 weeks, depending on how you feel:
1. skip one day (e.g. Sunday)
2. skip 2 days (e.g. Sunday and Thursday)
3. skip 3 days (e.g. Sunday, Tuesday & Thursday)
4. skip 4 days (e.g. Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday & Saturday)
5. skip 5 days (e.g. Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, & Saturday)
6. Skip six days (e.g. Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, & Saturday).

Then you're off.

If you use this plan for 2 weeks at a time, it would last about 3 months. That's not too long. If it's too fast, you can slow it down to 3 weeks at a time.

Good luck!

For more information:

Go to the Menopause health topic, where you can:

Response by:

Linda A Bernhard, PhD, RN Linda A Bernhard, PhD, RN
Associate Professor Emeritus
College of Nursing
The Ohio State University