What is Kliovance?
Kliovance is a pill used in hormone replacement therapy. If you’re going through the menopause and it’s been a year or more since your last natural period, it can help to relieve symptoms like hot flushes and mood swings. It also helps to reduce your risk of osteoporosis, which can rise during the menopause.
Because it’s a combined HRT, which means there are two types of hormones in it, Kliovance is for women with an ‘intact uterus’ (which is a clinical way of saying ‘haven’t had a hysterectomy’).
Kliovance is very similar to another type of HRT pill called Kliofem. The main difference is the dose: Kliovance is basically half the dose of Kliofem, so is better for women who have a higher than usual sensitivity to hormones.
How does Kliovance work?
There are two hormones in Kliovance: estradiol and norethisterone. These are an oestrogen and progestogen, and taking Kliovance basically helps to top up your hormone levels as they fall during the menopause.
More specifically, it’s falling oestrogen levels that need replacing when you go through the menopause. When your oestrogen levels naturally drop, this is when you get symptoms like hot flush and mood swings, and your bones can become progressively weaker.
The reason progesterone is given as well is because it helps to balance out the effects of oestrogen in the body. If there’s too much ‘unopposed’ oestrogen in your system, your risk of problems in your womb lining, including cancer, increases. So it’s included in combined HRT as a way of keeping oestrogen in check.
In women taking both estradiol and norethisterone acetate against estradiol alone, the risk of the womb lining becoming unusually thick (endometrial hyperplasia) was much lower in comparative studies. [1]
Who is Kliovance for?
You can take Kliovance if you’ve not had a hysterectomy, and you’ve not had a natural period for at least a year. It’s a combined continuous HRT, which is what you’ll take if you’re ‘postmenopausal’. If you’re ‘perimenopausal’ (so if you had your last menstrual period less than a year ago’) you’ll normally be recommended sequential HRT instead. In sequential HRT, the hormones delivered in the pill change throughout the month. In continuous HRT, they stay the same.
Kliovance might also be helpful for you if you’ve tried HRT pills with a slightly higher dose and had side effects, because it’s a lighter dose.
Basically, Kliovance is a lower dose version of Kliofem. So if you’ve taken Kliofem and it generally worked well for you, but you had mild side effects, switching to Kliovance may help you get the right balance.
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