Forgive me if my message is a little disjointed, I just lost my second baby and had to have another D&C and am not quite "with it" yet.

I know someone who refused to do the HRT thing because of concerns over the risks of it, and I seem to recall her mentioning the cream form of progesterone. She recommended it to me to help w/ ovulation and it really worked, and she told me that she had used it too, but I think it was during menopause that she used it. (The dr had given me the pill form of artificial Progesterone to help my body ovulate and I hated the very harsh side effects. The natural form cream had none of those side effects, was very easy to use, and the container was still not empty after the few months I used it. My first D&C seemed to jump-start regulating my ovulation,making the cream unnecessary.) (I am unsure of what one needs to replace during menopause so I apologize in advance if I misunderstood what she was telling me and progesterone is not needed then.)

I paid a hefty price at a health store for the cream but recently saw it at a WalMart in the vitamin section. I didn't look at it closely so I don't know if the quality was the same as what I had used or not.

The same woman recommended the book "What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Menopause" by Dr. John Lee. (Yes, I wrote that down; you never know when info like that may come in handy for someone. Case in point--this message!)

Hope this is of some help.

Hi Lisa, There's also another book by Dr. Lee -What Your Doctor May not Tell you About Premenopause. I don't know how old you are but this might be more appropiate. I saw a mid-wife for my annual this yr and told her some of my symptoms-night sweats, fatigue, short term memory problems, decreased sex drive- and she recommended a salivia test-more accurate than blood. It tested my progesterone, estrogen and testosterone levels and I'm sadly lacking in the progesterone. She prescribed a cream. I just started on it and hopefully it will help. She said that the cream with natural progesterone is best. What we have to deal with as we mature(I refuse to say "get old") Good Luck and I hope you get the power surges under control. Debi

follow this link:

Here is a link that might be useful: menopause forum

I'm so sorry for your loss, Alex.
I appreciate you all taking time to respond.
There's alot I need to learn about what's going on right now --- thanks for the book recommendations.
The only physical symptoms I've had are the 'flashes' and mostly I'm finding them kinda interesting / entertaining (if somewhat annoying :)

I'm trying to catch 'max temp swing' during a 'flash', hard to do unless you walk around with a thermometer in your pocket :)
The Estroven hasn't kicked in yet.

LISA

Lisa, my hot flashes started when I was about 42. I took evening primrose capsules and they REALLY helped. My mother had taken them too and neither of us ever had HRT.

DON'T take HRT!!!!

My grandmother recently had a lumpectomy for a cancerous tumor, during which they also found malignant cells in her lymph nodes.
We have no cancer in our family as far back as anybody knows. She is a healthy eater, an exerciser, and she lives in the country.
But she WAS on HRT.

We had this conversation at work a few weeks ago and someone suggested Black Cohosh as an alternative to HRT. Here's a link which may help you. http://www.menopause-black-cohosh.org/

Alex, I'm very sorry for your losses also. Hopefully if you keep trying you will have a healthy baby soon.

Nancy