This is a great site for helping us cope, and the support here is tremendous. But I would like to know what is working for ladies out there by symptoms WITHOUT HRT. ( I am not an hrt candidate as I have already had Stage 0 breast cancer) .. so here goes

what works for

1. body aches

2. internal shaking

3. hot flashes

4. headaches

5. GERD or LPR

6. Fatigue

7. Anxiety

8. Depression

Please add any other symptoms to this list that you are looking for relief from

I'll tell you what has been working for me in terms of fatigue, aches & tingling.

First of all my doc ran all kinds of tests which all came back clear but he did mention in passing that he thought I might be short of iron. So I went out and bought some Floradix. It is a herbal/mineral tonic, calling itself "Liquid Iron Formula" and I remember it helping me some years back.

Ladies it is a magic potion! I knew it would take a week or so to kick in and sure enough that is how it happened. I've been on it two weeks now and feel so much better in terms of energy and in turn that helps with dealing with the muscle aches and so on.

At my lowest point, I could hardly stand to play my bass, I do half an hour practice each day (minimum) and had to sit in a chair to do it, then after starting on the magic potion I was able to stand for a few minutes and now for the whole session and sometimes longer.

The other good thing that has happened is that I have continued going to see my excellent chiro. She gave me such a thorough working over last Thursday, she detected a huge subluxation on my lower spine and another on my right shoulder, and worked them through, after that (even though I felt like a wet lettuce) I could stand up straight and my husband asked if I had high heels on because I seemed six inches taller. Took a few days for it to work away the aches - and they're not entirely gone - but the benefit it did have was to let my body know what "right" posture feels like so that I notice now when I sit wrong or do something that contributes to muscle aches and pains - and correct it. Been under huge stress at work and that was all contributing. Now I get up from my computer every half an hour or so and "walk tall" for a few minutes so as not to let the stress build up again.

There's still aches but they are much more bearable... started period as well and moving to a different part of the hormone clock may also be helping.

Go for the Floradix though!! BREAKFAST OF CHAMPIONS!

I used the Floradix for one month and didn't notice much change at all. My ferritin was 31 and low so I used it. It's also quite expensive, so I switched to another iron supplement and take that every day. I still don't notice much difference for pain at all. And I went to a chiro for 16 visits, 3x a week and I noticed some small benefit, but today I sit here with another muscle spasm and all I did was walk two steps. It's a bit better now that I sat on the ice, but I think when I was making my son's bacon and I got skiked with the grease, I froze up for a second and that must have caused this spasm to happen.

Didgens:

I can't say for sure what to use as nothing much worked for me and I'm on the bios now a year and still have anxiety, pain, no libido, low energy, very dry skin, low body temps, loss of interest type of depression. There was one supplement I tried that helped a little with mood swings and that was Oona1. I found it at the Vitamin Shoppe and used it for several months before switching to the bios. I noticed some mild relief using that.