First,,,if this is in the wrong place I appologise, still trying to get used to this forum

Please feel free to PM me with any suggestions, I really don't want to take HRT but I need a few things clearing up before finally making up my mind ( I would much prefer a natural remedy that works)

I don;t know if it's true but I have read that its not a good idea to take HRT if any family members have died from breast cancer or have suffered from osteoporosis, well my Granmother on my Dad's side died from Breast cancer before I was born and my Granmother on my mom's side had severe osteo, my mom seems to have it to, she is still going through testing to confirm it, but I know my sister has it ( she is 3 years younger than me ) I show no signs of either of these.

I have been looking at alternative meds, I think the odds are stacked against me with HRT and I have no wish to compound them, I really don'y like the odds I am seeing

If anyone can recomend anything that they have used and know works or point me to a website that may help I would be so grateful, I know my sis is probably going to take HRT, but then she lives in the UK and then NEVER recomend anything but that, dosen't matter what the family history is, I'm honestly scared for her.

I've been taking Macafem for a while but its not as good as I had hoped, now looking at Menoquil which is supposed to be better, if anyone has had any experience of either of these please PM me I would love to hear from you.

Again not sure of the rules here so forgive me if I have broken any, I just need some advice

Hi Leanne,

Welcome! I agree that it's a hard decision to make, using hormones is a risk, but depending on your quality of life, that can factor in as well. I can only give you some idea's which is from my own experience. I am now 51yrs old and am almost to my first full year w/o a period. I started suffering peri at about age 46ish.

I live in the the U.S., my first choice was to try natural methods. I used over-the-counter things like Estroven, which has the "black cohosh" in it. It helped some....but not for long. Most of the time it will be trial and error, there is no magic pill, which is sad.

I guess it depends also on what you are experiencing? Which symptom is really bad right now? For me it was things like hot flashes, moods, crazy periods and extreme irritability and fatigue. For the fatigue I found that ginseng helped, plus a good quality supplement with some added B12. I did natural "juicing" and drank a glass everyday.

But, eventually I did cave and started on the bioidentical hormones. Just a bit of the estrogen made me feel more like my old self, it was amazing. Now that I am almost postmenopause, I am tapering down to the lowest level that I can manage on.

I also think that I eat better quality of foods now, I pay attention to things like too much sugar or fat intake.

Good luck with everything!

Juliann