Hormone Replacement Therapy

• Do not stop taking your medication without checking with your healthcare professional.
• You should take this medication after food.

There are different types of HRT and the way to take these medications depends on the HRT that you have been prescribed. Some brands have different coloured tablets which have to be taken in a certain order.

The following are some commonly used HRT regimens: 

• Estrogen only HRT e.g. Premarin® / Estrofem® / Progynova®
• You should take one tablet daily without break, preferably at the same time every day.
• If you have an intact uterus and are still menstruating, your doctor would prescribe a separate progestogen hormone as well to take for a specific duration (usually 10 – 14 days) each month. In this case, you will experience a withdrawal bleed (menses) after finishing the progestogen tablets.

• Continuous combined therapy e.g. Activelle®, Femoston® Conti 1/5
• You should take one tablet daily without break, preferably at the same time every day.

• Continuous Estrogen and Cyclic Progestogen Therapy e.g. Femoston® 1/10 and Femoston® 2/10
• These types of medications usually have 14 tablets containing estrogen-only, and 14 tablets containing estrogen and progestogen, in one pack.
• You must take the tablets in the correct order.
  
• Take one tablet daily without break, preferably at the same time every day.
• When a pack is finished, the next pack should be started without any break.
• You will experience a withdrawal bleed (menses) once a month after completion of each pack.

• Triphasic therapy e.g. Trisequens®
• These types of medications contain estrogen-only tablets and combined estrogen and progestogen tablets in varying doses, in one pack.
  
• You must take the tablets in the correct order.
  
• You should take one tablet daily without break, preferably at the same time every day.
• When a pack is finished, the next pack should be started without any break.
• You will experience a withdrawal bleed (menses) once a month.

• Cyclic Estrogen and Progestogen e.g. Progyluton®
• These types of medications contain estrogen-only tablets and combined estrogen and progestogen tablets, in one pack.
  
• You must take the tablets in the correct order.
  
• You should take one tablet daily for 21 days in a row, preferably at the same time every day. After completion of the pack, there will be 7 days where you do not need to take any tablets (7-day tablet-free interval), during which you will experience withdrawal bleeding (menses).
  
• Start taking your next pack of medication after the 7-day tablet-free days, even if you are still having menses.
  

• Take the missed dose as soon as you remember. Then take your next dose at the usual time. Do not take two doses to make up for the missed dose.
• You may have vaginal bleeding or spotting if you forget to take more than 1 tablet. Please ask your doctor for advice.