I raised 5 children. I was pretty busy, folks. If I had hot flashes, or other symptoms, I don't know. I had so many headaches, stomach aches, etc. Perhaps I was blessed to not have the hot flashes. But then, I was always so cold natured that a hot flash may have felt normal to me.
Anyway, when I was about 45 my doctor put me on hormone replacement for other reasons. It was also suppose to: be good for my heart (I had symptoms and family history of HD), be good for the bones, be good for the skin, be good for the hair. He didn't say, but I guess be good for all "what ails" you. I took it 20 years and the scare came along. So I stopped. No issues with stopping. They did say it didn't really help with an edge on heart disease as previously thought.
So my take on hormone replacement...... if that is all that will help your symptoms, take it but only for as long as you absolutely need it. Otherwise, treat it with natural means and there have been a couple great links in the thread. Also, avoid sugar as much as possible - generates heat
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