Sorry I can't help you with your question but did want to take the time to welcome you and hope some others out there may be able to help. Glad to see the body is doing well without the hrt. I hope to get there some day also. Welcome Sarah...

I am so sorry you have had this suffering from going off your HRT. I too, have had a sudden onset on terrible symptoms from an inability to be able to buy my HRT lately. I have been on HRT since my hysterectomy in 1991. I started on premrin, changing the strengths until we knew that was not working for me, went to estrace, then patches, then injections; all making me feel like a lab animal, going through too many changes over the years. It was 3 years ago that I read about Estring, and asked my Dr if I could try it. It was PERFECT! No more dryness, no more remembering to take my meds (it lasts 3 months) and most of all, no more worry about the breast cancer threats from all the other ones. This was my magic ring, and the amount that was absorbed into my blood was so insignificant, that I knew I had found the answer to all my problems. I had balanced out perfectly, and needed nothing more than my ring once every 3 months. 2 months ago, I came into a situation that prevented me from being able to buy my estring, and have not been able to buy it yet. Since then, I have entered, SUDDEN, full blown menopause, and this is not a joke. I have become a basket case; emotionally and mentally, physically I cannot sleep, am stressed constantly, and have tension headaches that overwhelm me. I am looking forward to when I can resume buying my estring, and will NEVER go off it again, if I can help it. I do not want to have to go through this again, for any reason. I'm afraid I have lost all quality of life in my state now, and just want to get back to feeling like a normal, and sane woman again. After having found such a safe HRT, I would never even consider the thought of going off it on purpose. I agree that "quality" of life takes precedence over trying to be a model of healthy intake at this stage of the game. I do everything else I can to be healthy, and being ON HRT gives me a far more healthy brain, body, and emotional state of being.

It sounds as though what you are taking is not working for you. There are more hormone choice available to you--the few you have mentioned have not exhausted them. Another way to think of the situation might be that if your doctor is not open to your preferences, to seek another doctor. Your goal should encompass health care that works for you, not your doctor. Here is a link that might be useful: Survivor's Guide to Surgical Menopause

Could you provide some citations for your claim that nervousness while taking estrogen "usually indicates that the estrogen is not counterbalanced by progesterone?" "Bio-identical" hormones pose the same risks and usually the same side effects as the dreaded "synthetic" ones. While a few women have different reactions to different brands or types of these drugs, for most women these reactions are the result of the hormones themselves and occur no matter which brand or type is used. The confusion arises because symptoms tend to wax and wane at irregular intervals for no apparent reason. If you start a new drug at the same time as your problem symptoms are on the wane the improvement will be attributed to the drug. Then when the symptoms recur in 6 months, the patient believes that the drug has 'stopped working." The reality is that the drug never "worked." Hot flashes are annoying and may be very unpleasant. They are, however, entirely benign and will not do you any harm. They will also disappear or at least lessen in severity and frequency with time. Hormone pills OTOH have a host of serious side effects including an increased risk of heart attack, stroke, and pulmonary embolus in at least the first three years after one begins to take the pills. They also increase your risk of gall bladder disease, diabetes and various gyn cancers. The most discouraging part of using hormones to control menopausal signs is the fact that in at least 2/3 of women the signs come back when the pills are stopped, so you get to cope with them anyway. All you've done is delay them, if you are lucky. Many women find that the side effects of the drugs are worse than the signs. For many others the hoped for relief of signs never happens. Weigh your risks and the benefits you hope to gain carefully and then decide which is best for you.