Premarin®

What was Premarin?

Premarin was an oestrogen-only hormone replacement therapy that treated symptoms brought on by the menopause, such as hot flushes and night sweats. Both are common problems experienced by women as their hormone levels start to drop.

By supplementing oestrogen, a hormone produced naturally by the body that drops during the menopause, Premarin relieved these symptoms and let you carry on your usual routines in comfort. It could also be used to help prevent osteoporosis, which some women develop after menopause.

Premarin has now been discontinued, but there’s a generic treatment, called Conjugated Oestrogens, which is available and works in the same way.

How did Premarin work?

You reach menopause after 12 consecutive months without having a period. In the build-up to this (known as the perimenopause), the oestrogen levels in your body fall and you produce much less of it. The changes brought on during this hormonal decline vary from person-to-person, but menopausal women can often feel physically and mentally under the weather.

Menopause is a natural process all women go through as they get older. Most women won’t have experienced anything like menopausal symptoms until these hormonal changes start to develop. Also known as vasomotor symptoms, unpleasant physical sensations such as hot flushes, night-sweats and even mental confusion can be alarming and seem difficult to stay on top of.^[1]

Premarin worked by boosting oestrogen levels in your body, and by doing so relieved the discomfort of these symptoms.

Who was Premarin for?

Premarin was for women experiencing hot flushes and sweating as a result of the menopause. Because it was an oestrogen-only treatment, it was usually prescribed to patients who’d had a hysterectomy (surgery to remove some or all of the womb).

If you have an intact uterus (in other words, if you haven’t had a hysterectomy), you’ll normally be recommended combined HRT. But if you did take Premarin in this case, you’d also be prescribed a progestogen alongside it, to make sure your hormones were correctly balanced.

Which doses did Premarin come in?

Premarin came in 0.3mg, 0.625mg, and 1.25mg doses.

It was recommended that you start on the lowest dose that would keep your symptoms in check.

How did you take Premarin?

Premarin tablets were swallowed daily with a glass of water.

How long did you need to use Premarin for?

Menopause symptoms affect women differently, so how long Premarin took to work varied person-to-person. Some women might’ve started to feel relief from their symptoms in less than four weeks, but for others it might’ve taken a little longer.

Although the risks are low, long-term use of hormone replacement therapy (more than ten years) has been associated with an increased risk of breast cancer,^[1] so it’s advisable to only use HRT for as long as you need it.

Why was I prescribed progesterone alongside Premarin?

Premarin was usually prescribed to women who’d had a hysterectomy. This is because using oestrogen-only hormone replacement therapy can increase the risk of your womb lining thickening, which can in turn increase your risk of developing cancer.

If you hadn’t had a hysterectomy, you might’ve been prescribed a separate progestogen tablet or a combined HRT. Your recommended HRT will depend on where you’re up to with your menopause. Sequential HRT like Elleste Duet, for example, treats women still getting their period. Indivina is a medication that combines oestrogen and progesterone in one tablet and is a continuous HRT, for women who’ve had at least three years since their last period.