Junelynne, I tend to agree with Leigh here. Why take something when you are perfectly healthy now? I started having signs of perimenopause at 39, and when I started having extremely heavy periods for weeks on end, I went on the pill. I'm 44 now. I recently went off the pill (so far so good, no periods, no cramps, no sore boobs, for two months!)...my aim is to go through menopause without a single medication or supplement, unless there is a clear medical reason to do so. My husband is a doctor (radiologist, so he's fairly clueless about primary care) and was a little leery initially. Doctors are just conditioned to prescribe (or take themselves) "something" to "cure" a problem, or perceived problem. I am sure many doctors prescribe meds and procedures because its easy money. Also because many patients will go away feeling uncared for and dissatisfied if all the doctor tells them to do is let nature take its course, or lose weight, exercise & eat right. But many docs are simply inculcated in medical school. I see this with Mick, and his coworkers. (Funny, I am in much better health than him, and I barely ever even take a vitamin--he takes tons, and medicates himself for every little thing.) Anyway...I am also active and eat very well. My mother likewise. She went through meno at 44. She is now 68, does yoga and walk/runs five miles every day. She steadfastly refuses to take anything, and is healthy as a horse. She smoked for over 20 years, and I recently quit. If women are getting osteoporosis more than 50 years ago, its probably because so many people in this country are fat, eat junk, and don't get off their butts to exercise. And because advertising scares them, they take a pill. My .02.

This resumption of symptoms (esp. vasomotor ones like hot flashes) is not unusual when you stop hormones. Tapering off the pills instead of stopping them abruptly may lessen this effect. There are also many non-drug alternatives ranging from deep breathing to fans to dressing in natural fiber layers. Switch to all cotton bedding and nightclothes if you wear anything to sleep in. Leave a fan (ceiling if you have one) on overnight to lessen the number and severity of night sweats. Hot flashes tend to happen in spurts. If you tough it out for a few weeks you may find that they disappear on their own. Of course they may recur but knowing that they are temporary can make it easier to cope with them. Keep a diary of your hot flashes for awhile. See if anything particular - a food, stress, etc. triggers them and then try to avoid the triggers. I found that sugar/dense carbohydrates triggered major hot flashes and night sweats and avoiding those after mid afternoon helped tremendously. Exercise may help. There are many other practical non-drug suggestions on the Menopause and beyond web site. To get to it, go to google and use tishy and menopause and beyond as your search terms. Have you had a hysterectomy? Do you still have your ovaries? I ask because you mention only estrogen and not a progestin. If you've had your ovaries removed, your age might also be a factor in deciding whether or not to stop the hormones entirely.

What do you think of HRT's? Has yer doc talked with you about this? I am so suspicious of male gynos.... they may try hard, but sheeez, I can't tell how it's like to have a penis and prostates and stuff! There are a bunch of herbs to try to make your symptoms better... I use a Menocream that has wild yam extracts... but everyone's different and you'll need to experiment. There has been some rumbling about soy isoflavones, so you may want to read up on that before overdosing on soy. If you are organic minded, Google Susun Weed, she has a whole bunch of stuff on living with menopause.

I was taking .9 Premarin and medroxyprogesterone for 1 and 1/2 years and my doctor stopped the medroxyprogesterone for 10 weeks due to my weepiness. My hot flashes returned, so I was instructed to take the medroxyprogesterone again. Took for 10 days and now having a heavy period after not having had one for 3 years. Can anyone help?