Hi ladies, so this is a subject I have seen confusing a LOT of you. I like to call it the French pause, not to be confused with 'le Pause', a famous (and contentious) French parenting technique! So I've made a video explaining.
So the French pause is the advice that from day 25 to the end of the month you stop taking all your HRT. This assumes you are using the calendar month with your hormone replacement therapy, starting the 1st of the month as day one of your cycle. And from the 25th to the last day of the month, whether that is the 28th, 30th, 31st, or occasionally the 29th, you take no meds. As in nothing. No oestrogen, no progesterone, no testosterone.
If you don't use the calendar but mark your own cycle, then you can do the same, on the last few days of your cycle.
Why would the gynaecologists in France say to do that?
Why don't UK and USA docs suggest it?
It is good or bad to do the pause?
All addressed in the video! Enjoy. Note I have a very special guest who decide to join me... a friend's dog!
*PLEASE NOTE I briefly touch on how if you are on cyclical HRT and only taking progesterone for part of the month these days can vary in length and forgot to mention in the video THIS ALSO RELATES TO PAUSE. You see French docs say do the pause, then also prescribe progesterone for 10 days of the month. But then many English-speaking women choose NOT to do it, without telling their gynaecologist or doctor! Who would have then had the chance to tell you without the pause you need more progesterone. As you are taking more oestrogen. The point of the progesterone is to keep the lining of your womb thickening which would raise your risk of certain cancers. If you are not pausing your oestrogen then you will need at least 12 to 14 days of progesterone, not ten!
p.s. If you are confused by what I am talking about when I say 'continuous' and 'cyclical' I do go into depth on that in 'le book'.