Asthma and Menopause

[Pebbles33]

Hi

Has anyone’s Asthma become worse around or after menopause? What treatments have helped?

[Pipsqueak77]

Hi Pebbles33

Yes definately!

Unfortunately no matter how many times I mention hormones as a trigger to my hospital team they just gloss over it….🤔

So I’m afraid I don’t have any fantastic ideas to help as I’m on the same quest. I do find that the usual severe asthma meds all do their job but as to whether there is any hormonal input that would help, I’m in the dark 🤷‍♂️

I’m interested to hear others ideas too….

Good Luck 😊👍

[Patk1 in reply to Pipsqueak77]

I would talk to gp about hrt options. Personally aft hysterectomy I was thrown into menopause,but none of the various types helped me.surprisingly I found supplements black cohosh + agnus castus really helped with severe sweating.many years on Ive restarted black cohosh as still had sweats.its stopped them again x

[Pipsqueak77 in reply to Patk1]

Thanks for the info… yes I had been wondering about hrt but if I’m honest I just don’t really want any more meds/side effects to add to my already rather large list! I might have to though…🤔

😊👍

[MMBJI]

Yes, I believe peri-menopause to have been a factor in my 10 yr decline in my asthma control . No- one believed me - that I was in peri-menopause nor a relationship to my asthma. I was 46yrs old when I had my last period. HRT has helped a little I think. I strongly believe that there has to be a relationship between the drying out of other areas of skin and mucous membranes to lung linings and airways.

[Emily-G]

Me too, hormones have played up my asthma all through my life.

My consultant wrote to my gp asking for them to consider starting me on HRT which really helped me a lot.

I hope you find something that helps you

Emily

[My_fairy]

yes in our experience hormones do play a part in asthma control I strongly believe so as my daughters asthma has gotten so much worse in teens and my sons as he’s about to hit his teen… however it depends on what type of asthma is it… severe asthma will be a lot worse but asthma control certainly is hard in this period … I don’t know if there’s any Hormonal treatment to help… she has been suggested the pill by gynaecology to regulate her menstrual heavy bleeding and pain also irregular but she doesn’t want to take it as yet would prefer to keep it natural…

[Mandevilla in reply to My_fairy]

I went on the pill age 30 as I ran out of other options, and to be honest, I regret not doing it earlier as I feel like I missed out on so much during my teens and 20s due to the pain and anaemia. Excessive pain and bleeding is often caused by an abnormal level of hormones anyway, so in one way, it's already 'unnatural'. Obviously, your daughter needs to make her own decision as to what she is comfortable with, but it might be worth considering, even if she just tries it for a couple of months to see if the difference is worth it. (Also worth considering that, just as with asthma, some types of pill work better than others - I was lucky and hit the right one for me first time, but I have a friend who had to try 3 or 4 to get one that worked for her)

[My_fairy in reply to Mandevilla]

Thanks for your reply and sharing your experience….

[Mandevilla]

It's difficult for me to tell as my asthma got really bad after Covid, which also played havoc with my hormones, so pointing to a 'first cause' is difficult. But there is definitely some kind of hormonal link - I'm still getting occasional periods, and I've noticed that if I need Ventolin for no obvious reason (e.g. I can't point to a trigger which has caused the problem) I usually start a period within 24 hours!

[Lysistrata Administrator Community Ambassador]

I'm not menopausal yet but there are known, researched links to hormones, particularly female hormones. It seems to be why so many more adult women have asthma and severe asthma than men, whereas more boys than girls have it before puberty. There's also research on how it can change or appear around the menopause (same with pregnancy - some women get worse when they're pregnant, some women get better, for some it doesn't change). And for some women they get worse regularly around their periods each month.

You may find this page helpful: asthmaandlung.org.uk/condit...

This is well known enough that I am not impressed at doctors ignoring it, or claiming it's not an issue. It's not really brand new information at this point, but my impression is it still gets glossed over like Pipsqueak77 says, too often.

ALUK have written a report around this too: asthmaandlung.org.uk/resear...

[Patk1 in reply to Lysistrata]

V interesting, thanku Lysistrata x

[Poobah]

Hormones have definitely impacted my asthma from my teens onwards, including the menopause. And then post menopause I have to be super careful about weight - suddenly visceral fat is so easy to acquire around the tummy and that can be problematic too as it produces hormones that can be very tricky for my asthma type. I thought the end of my periods was brilliant, but there's a sting in the tail. NB I couldn't use HRT patches as they caused hives. I only took HRT in tablet form for around 2 years.

The answer is supposedly avoiding sugar and processed carbs, taking daily moderate exercise and a huge dollop of discipline. I'm not saying I do this regularly, but when I do, it certainly helps.

[ReedB]

My asthma is definitely related to my hormones. I've always had allergies but at age 21 asthma started too. I'm 38 now and my asthma hasn't been very well controlled the last couple of years. I think Covid and the viruses my kids bring home from school haven't helped but I do think hormones have again, played a part. I started Hrt last June following worsening peri menopause symptoms. I think it's helping a little.

[Patk1 in reply to ReedB]

If u wanted to try supplements,I found black cohosh- which I still take as it relieves sweats,and agnus castus.i found them much more effective than all of the forms of hrt post hysterectomy+ ovary removal .also for pmt symptoms gp recommended evening primrose oil - I was skeptical but it really helped x

[ReedB in reply to Patk1]

Thanks. I've found the Hrt to help massively with peri symptoms in general. I can function again now! The asthma is still unruly but the one thing I don't get anymore is chest pain. I find Vitamin D and magnesium helps x

[ReedB]

I will add that my allergy and asthma consultants are both female. My allergy consultant in particular is very interested in the link being hormones and allergies/asthma. I'm hoping she may shed some light next time I see her. If I learn anything helpful I'll pass on the info 😊