I've been doing a LOT of research about this - I've been having some awful symptoms for the past 2 years (since turning 40) -- some of which are typical menopause related stuff and some are not, but I suspect all are related to hormonal decline. I've been getting bloodwork and basically, my estrogen and thyroid are both circling the drain --- my last bloodwork showed the estrogen level of a 60 year old (I'm 42! WTH!) I am pursuing bioidentical hormone replacement via cream. I don't have it all figured out yet (I get the feeling that there's a lot of experimenting on yourself til you find the right combo) but from the reading I did, I am pretty confident that this is what I need. Those of you saying you can't take HRT because of pre-existing tendency to blood clots or migraines or whatever might want to investigate the bioidentical stuff via transdermal cream. Blood clots are only an issue when estrogen is taken orally and passes through the liver -- if you are delivering it via skin or patch, there is no increased risk of blood clots (and in fact, your risk of other heart issues goes way down). Migraines are also one of the things that estrogen can help. And even the connection between estrogen and breast cancer is not as cut and dried as I thought -- I feel safe taking the bioidentical estrogen. I have read probably 20 books on the subject of menopause and HRT and the one I found most clear ad helpful is called Screaming to Be Heard by Elizabeth Vliet. I would recommend reading it - it pretty much debunks a lot of the things that I had heard about HRT including the results of that women's health study that caused everyone to abandon HRT -- did you know that whole study was done with synthetic hormones, not bioidentical? And that none of the horrible side effects found in that study have been found in studies that use bioidentical hormones? They are all related to the synthetic stuff like norethidrone and premarin. Because the pharmaceutical companies can't patent a naturally occuring substance and therefore can't make big bucks of bioidentical, there have been few efforts to educate doctors or do controlled studies on bioidentical hormones, but the studies that have been done show amazing benefits without the scary side effects. (Of course, the pharma companies don't want you to know that, because they want you to keep taking your premarin....)

Just adding my ten cents worth, having read everybody's different experiences. I was seeing pink streaks of blood on the toilet paper after urinating, and at first thought it was a urinary tract infection. Antibiotics for that didn't make any difference. Then I tried to determine if it was really urinary, or perhaps vaginal instead. It seemed like it was both which seemed crazy and impossible and scared me half to death. And it was only apparent when I wiped after urinating. It wasn't like I was bleeding like with a period or anything like that. Long story short is doc explained that the urethra and the vagina share a wall, and that as I'm nearly 65 and about 13 years past menopause, it was probably that shared wall that was atrophying (drying out) and causing the light bleeding. Which made sense as my husband had major surgery about a year ago and as he's 78 years old, we just haven't gone back to regular sex which had probably been keeping my vagina well lubricated. Anyway, doc prescribed a pea sized amount of Estrace externally three times a week. I tried that for four weeks and it made no difference at all. I did some research and as I trust the Mayo Clinic, I went with their recommended dosage of 2 grams daily, some just inside the vagina with my finger, the rest externally, for one to two weeks. Halfway through the second week the bleeding had completely gone away. Mayo then says half that dosage for the next one to two weeks, which I'm trying now, and then 1 gram three times a week for three out of every four weeks as a maintenance dose. I'm going to try the pea sized amount three times a week instead and see if symptoms come back - hopefully they won't. I want to use the minimum amount possible, yet keep the problem under control. Only side effect I noticed was when I went to the 2 grams daily, my nipples were very sensitive but that has improved.

I was in the same boat as you are 12 years ago. I went to an herbal store and spoke to the worman who owned it. She suggested Dong Quai. I didn't find chewing on a Dong Quai leaf helped much. Then I tried Solaray's phytoestrogen and that helped quite a bit. I went down to about 6-8 hot flashes a day and waking up to about 1 night sweat/night, sometimes none. I also found that keeping a bottle of cold water in the refrigerator, or a small cooler when I went somewhere, helped a lot. When I felt a hot flash coming on, I would drink probably 6 oz. of the cold water and it seemed to cool me from the inside, making the hot flash less severe. Then I became a Melaleuca customer and tried their EstrAval (contains dried soy extract, dried Dong Quai extract, and Dried Black Cohosh extract). I went down to 1 and sometimes no hot flashes/day, and while I occasionally get hot at night, I rarely have a night sweat. There is nothing to say these products will work for everyone, but I'd try them before I went to a perscription. Both Solaray and Melaleuca have good reputations for safe, effective products. I know Melaleuca is a registered pharmaceutical company the same as Merck and Pfizer.

Yes - I take it. I am Cdn. - I take one 100 mg Prometrium pill a day, plus one pump of Estrogel (the instructions on the pamphlet read 2 pumps but my doctor said just one). I have been on it for nearly 3 years - I didn't hit meno until age 57. There were no health considerations that would have affected my decision to take HRT - and in fact I take it because I was born with extremely dry skin so at 60 it sure hasn't gotten any better and the HRT really helps with this. I am just happy that I am able to take it - I am allergic to so many meds that HRT is all I take. I have very high body acid and do not sweat - the words "hot flash" do not apply - and I do not sweat - not even with the heat we had this summer. I can tell you though that the ability to take an anti-histamine, decongestant, sleeping aid - anything - would be preferable to me. I am one of those that wakes up in the operating room - and also locals wear off in 5 minutes. Procedures themselves do not scare me - it is the waking up part that does - or no freezing. So I will continue with my HRT until I am told otherwise.