Hi All! Well I guess I could say I weaned myself,with the help of my doctor.off HRTs. I tried a great variety from the onset of my menopause at 50. Tried Prempro pills first then premarin cream, vagifem suppositories, Combi Patch, and finally Femhrt,also garden variety health food store over counter progestone creams, phyto proleif order by mail. Yep you name it I tried it to fight the bad hot flashes night sweats,insomnia, heart palpitations. Just plain fatigue worn out menopausal lady. So now at 55 I think I have run the race , analyzed that each had its good and bad effects on me but in general doc agreed I must be allergic to estrogen products synthetic or otherwise.So I decided to quit altogether no more trials and errors. My flashes were pretty bad at first withdrawl wise, then lessened. I have only mild ones now, not to say they won't return with a vengeance. But my heart palps did lead me to a echocardiogram . Mitral valve prolapse as I may have mentio9ned in previous thread. Fibromyalgia plagues me from my bouts with insomnia, advil or motrim suffices for now. Do to my run down sleepless conditon and teaching and cold weather and bronchitis, well now I have pneumonia and a suspicious lung xray (non smoker) so must go to a pulmonary specialist on Tues. Ruled out blood clot from a blood test so either scar tissue or hopefully not some malignant growth. Oh well aging is certainly not boring, eventful yes. Wouldn't or couldn't have it any other way. Sunflower_55

I have been using an estrogen gel for several months. It does help moisturize the vaginal tissues. I used it daily for I think a week, then cut back to a maintenance dose of once a week. I noticed a difference after a few weeks. The gel is a bit messy as it liquifies quicker than the cream, but I had a reaction to the cream. I get the gel from a compounding pharmacy. The gel doesn't tackle my other symptoms, the main one being hotflashes, so I take a low oral dose of estradiol daily. The only side effect is breast sensitivity(from the oral med), but I can live with that. I can't live with the hotflashes. I've been on HRT for several years. I tried many types of estrogen after trying natural remedies(and other meds)first with no success. I get my blood tests done regularly and take the lowest dose that stops my symptoms. I would go ahead and try the cream to see if it helps. Just pay attention to how your body reacts and let your doctor know how it's going.

If a lurker can add a tip - I learned as a long time boater (small vessel though - 24 ft.) If you take Gravol (dramamine) right before you go to bed at night, the part that makes you drowsy is gone from your system by morning, but the anti-nausea part lasts. Learn that from our family doctor who was also a boater/fisherman. Always gave my one carsick daughter a Gravol the night before and that way she didn't spend the whole trip sleeping. Jane

I use the patch, but that's because I get horrible motion sickness. The slightest amount of turbulence will on a flight will make me sick; I have to wear the patch every time I fly. I also have the acupressure bands and take ginger during the trip. I still usually feel a little queasy even with all that. I was sick the entire time during our first and only cruise and was wearing the patch and taking dramamine. Glenda, if you don't usually get sick during other cruises then you'll probably be fine with what you're doing.