No. Current guidance does not set an arbitrary duration, and the five-year rule that still circulates is not supported by any current position statement. The decision is reviewed annually against your symptoms and your risk picture.
When to consider it
Los Angeles patient guide: reasons that actually apply
Rather than assume, we reduce the dose and watch what returns, which is the only reliable way to answer this question for a Los Angeles patient. Symptoms having genuinely resolved is the most common reason, and the way to find out is a trial reduction rather than assumption. Many women discover their symptoms were still there and hormone therapy was quietly doing its job.
A change in your risk picture matters: a new diagnosis, a clot, or a breast cancer diagnosis in the family all warrant re-weighing the decision rather than continuing on autopilot.
Simply reaching an age, or a number of years on treatment, is not on its own a clinical reason. Neither is a relative's opinion, though it is a fine reason to come and talk it through. More on that in breast cancer and hrt, hormone replacement therapy and blood clot and stroke risk for the rest of it. If a birthday or a relative's opinion prompted the question, it is still worth raising at a Los Angeles appointment, where the reasoning can be worked through properly.
