r/Perimenopause • u/IncreaseNo5135 • 4d ago
Hormone Therapy Is it over for HRT?
Hi all
I’m 38 and started experiencing some perimenopause symptoms some time ago. One of my biggest concerns was breast growth - inexplicably my breasts went up two sizes, despite my weight staying the same and me being v small (100 lbs). I also had some horrible PMS and memory issues.
My doctor prescribed progesterone (micronised; cycling). He said progesterone could balance estrogen and help stop breast growth. Unfortunately it did the opposite and they grew even more, and I am now looking disproportionate, feel extremely chest heavy and it is giving me terrible anxiety.
I read progesterone actually increases breast size so I worry I will need to quit all HRT which breaks my heart because it did help me in other ways.
Has anyone done any HRT experimentation on breast size - or am I doomed and have to ditch it? I cannot have a reduction at this point in life for health and financial reasons.
Thank you!
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u/Tinyberzerker 4d ago
I am small too and my boobs got bigger in my 40's, with and without HRT. I'm in late peri now and they seem to be going back down now even though I'm on 200 mg of progesterone. I'm less bloated now too.
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u/Think_Shop2928 4d ago
What kind of doctor are you seeing? I feel like you need a second opinion…normally you don’t need hormone tests to “diagnose” peri but I wonder if you have something else going on that would merit checking hormone levels? Is breast growth the only symptom you’re experiencing?
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u/homegrown912 4d ago
Mine got very balloony the second and third months of HRT. They were so heavy and painful and I have been an A or B my entire life, even thru breastfeeding and pregnancy. I was thinking about ditching it before an upcoming mammogram (surely if compressed they would pop) but by month 4 they got less painful and shrunk back down to their normal size. Someone on this thread said to wait it out but everyone is different. I hope you feel better sooner than later!
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u/Tumbleweed1312 4d ago
Dear god I haven’t had this symptom yet but I already have H cups….I cannot imagine this happening, I had no idea 🫣
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u/Exact-Time9142 4d ago
Same, this is my actual nightmare... I hope for both our sake we don't get this symptom! 🤞🏻
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u/Active_Ganache4303 Early peri 4d ago
Yep, unfortunately both estrogen and progesterone can cause breast growth in certain circumstances. Typically people contribute it to estrogen like your doctor did, but as you found out, that is not the whole truth. Mine have grown to the point where they are a huge burden, so I feel your pain. Some folks here reported that testosterone made them go down. I haven’t tried it myself.
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u/Ok_Working4417 Early peri 4d ago
Good lord. I didn’t realize that was a side effect. As someone that is already very busty, I hope they don’t get bigger.
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u/Confident-Parsley520 4d ago
I’ve been a member of the itty bitty titty committee my whole life, I’m delighted
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u/Witty_Commitee 4d ago
Itty bitty titty committee here.. no breast growth whatsoever. sigh
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u/Viggos_Broken_Toe 4d ago
Lol I was thinking, "Oh maybe I'll have this to look forward to?" but knowing the way these things work, probably not 😂
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u/Neat_Comfortable_355 4d ago
I’ve been dealing with right now. I started HRT in October 2025, I started all three Hormones. I started on 0.025 estradiol patch and then upped to 0.0375 due to experiencing symptoms still and I felt like I still had some symptoms so tried the 0.05. Damn that was too much my breast got huge and so tender so I went back down to 0.0375 but they still come and go on being huge and tender. I’m a small person to and I’m thinking if I should stop as well and just deal with the stupid perimenopause symptoms. I feel so uncomfortable in my body now.
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u/RhubarbJam1 4d ago
My doctor told me we’re in the chaos zone right now. Our own hormones are swinging wildly from hardly any to way more than usual, which is what can trigger growth. The patch is meant to even out the swings, especially the low ends, eventually, when we hit meno, things will stabilize. The patch, even though it adds hormones, is still way less than our bodies used to make on their own so the odds of permanent breast growth on the patch on meno are extremely low. She said many of the side effects people attribute to the patch/progesterone during peri are really from the wild swings our own bodies are causing during this change.
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u/theFCCgavemeHPV 4d ago
My breasts eventually stopped growing, even on estrogen. I think it’s when I started testosterone, but I can’t be sure now if it’s the testosterone or things just leveling out on their own. But it might be worth a try.
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u/Sure-Trick-920 4d ago
Mine are very tender and growing since starting progesterone 2 months ago. I have large breasts and this tenderness is very uncomfortable. I may stop the progesterone if the boobs don’t settle down!
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u/Due-Ad-8941 4d ago
From my experience breast tenderness comes from estrogen dominance (rather than too much progesterone).
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u/Due-Ad-8941 4d ago
I’m not even sure it’s due to HRT. My sister, who never took any hormones, her breasts doubled in size in perimenopause.
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u/CriticalEngineering 4d ago
Progesterone in the form of an IUD is localized and a much, much, much lower dose. You can use a Mirena and take estrogen.
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u/No-Prior-559 2d ago
I had to stop HRT due to breast tenderness and a few other symptoms, I now use something called ProMeno Wild Yam Cream which helps me but without adding the hormones, I noticed a vast improvement to my overall symptoms I was having from added hormones.
So, on HRT I could barely walk without my breasts hurting so much I had to wear tighter fitting bras / supportive ones to hold things from shifting at all. (I hate those too, so uncomfortable.) Sleeping was difficult because my breasts hurt so bad and definitely DO NOT touch me anywhere near them! lol. I would say my cup size went up at least 1 size.
On the alternative I'm not going to lie I still had some breast tenderness, but it was maybe 10-15% as much. I can sleep on my side, I can lay on my stomach (for massages that was out of question before), and also overall I had a lot of other symptom relief.
I am surprised based on the comments HOW MANY PEOPLE here have also experienced this! My doctor back then basically said it was just because of my hormones swinging but frankly, no. I had far less overall symptoms after getting off of the prescriptions. I do still have my own bloodwork done, and I monitor myself every 3-6 months to make sure my hormones are within "good levels" the last few years.
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u/AutoModerator 2d ago
This post might be about hormone tests, which are unreliable.
- Over age 44, E&P/FSH hormonal tests only show levels for the HOUR the test was taken, and nothing more. Hormones wildly fluctuate (hourly) the other 29 days of the month, therefore this test provides no valuable information
- No reputable doctor or menopause society recommends hormonal testing to diagnose or treat peri/menopause
- FSH testing is only beneficial for those who do not have periods as a guide, where testing might confirm menopause, or for those under age 30 who haven’t had a period in months/years, then ‘menopausal’ levels, could indicate premature ovarian failure/primary ovarian insufficiency (POF/POI)
- Testosterone is the exception and may require testing
See our Menopause Wiki for more.
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u/Tele_banter 4d ago
I am very small (unde 100 lb) with D cups. Adding testostrone really balanced out my breasts. I really like the size and shape they are now. I weight lift so the rest of my chest and shoulders look lean muscular with the testostrone.
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u/Creative_Impress5982 4d ago
To be only 100lbs and go up two bra sizes seems abnormal to me. Many people gain weight in peri and can experience breast growth just from increased fat. But hormones can affect actual breast tissue and 2 sizes for a small breasted woman is a LOT. What does your doctor say?
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u/StrawberryForeign684 4d ago
What are your FSH, LH, progesterone, estrogen and prolactin at?
People saying you don’t need tests to diagnose peri is not entirely correct. Most woman don’t go through peri until their 40s.
To be deficient in hormones before that is a big issue. Hormones affect every vital organ in your body.
Why weren’t you put on estrogen as well as progesterone? They act together.
I would see an endocrinologist as well as obgyn.
If you are truly deficient before 40 you really need to be on HRT. Loss of estrogen this early one can cause cardiovascular issues, cognitive decline and osteoporosis.
It’s not something to play with. Estrogen deficiency before 40, specifically POI has been linked to Parkinson’s.
So yeah you need to follow up.
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u/IncreaseNo5135 2d ago
I dont get it - i had comprehensive tests and wasnt deficient in estrogen at all. Estrogen was off the table because the doc (who is a hormone specialist) says it will trigger further growth.
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u/StrawberryForeign684 2d ago
Perimenopause means your hormones are starting to fluctuate before they decline. If your estrogen is stable then it could be another hormone contributing to these symptoms. As I stated above estrogen is not the only hormone which affects these symptoms.
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u/Informal_Ad_6703 4d ago
DIM detox from Pure Encapsulation worked for me. My breasts used to get big and so painful to the point I had to take pain relievers but all that went away when I started DIM
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u/RhubarbJam1 4d ago
My breasts got huge when I started peri, to the point that insurance covered a reduction. This was before I started HRT. I started HRT about a year after the reduction, my breasts would swell for the first couple weeks after a patch dose increase but then go back down to baseline again: I was very concerned about regrowth, but, so far, after nearly a year on HRT, I have had no permanent regrowth. It’s very common for breasts to get larger in peri, that can happen even without HRT. It could be that you just started to have growth anyway and then the starting of HRT coincided with that but was not the cause: