:confused: I'm 56 and have been on Estradiol it seems forever. We lost our health insurance, and so therefore I am looking for an alternative otc or herbal replacement. Have tried soy and still sweating up a storm. HELP! My family will be eternally gratefull! Trust me!:eek:

Maca has been known to balance hormones of either sex quite quickly. This root vegetable contains no hormones but has an adaptogenic function that stimulates the pituitary gland in the brain, which then instructs the body to balance all hormones. The capsules come in 500 or 750mg proportions. Start with one cap per day and increase gradually to 2 grams or more a day depending on the energy levels it gives you. It enhances sexual function as well.

Hi Sk8trr,

Have you asked your doc for a generic for Estrace? -- Less expensive.

I have for yrs. used a compounded bioidentical hormone replacement gel. My doc Rxs the most concentrated form & I use a fraction of it. Does still cost around $200/yr.

There are OTC yam-based progesterones which some say your body can turn into E2, but it doesn't work for me. Black cohosh & red clover are time-honored herbal remedies, but again, for me, a waste of $$. It may depend on metabolism & how far along the meno-curve you are.

Everything I've read about maca says that it raises testosterone levels in both males & females. That will give an energy boost, but I'm not sure it will help night sweats & hot flashes.

Apparently if you "tough it out," eventually the heat dies down ... and all of us on HRT will probably have to go through that some time or other.

Best wishes.

This site has a link on weaning of HRT, I went there to read, didn't check rates.

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Genuine Health (who make Greens +) has a product called Meno +, that helps a bit.

The Medicine Shoppe carries (used to anyway) high quality prescription Progesterone from wild yams it helped my PMS quite a bit but it cost $50 per month when I took it. It was good but I decided that for me the cost of that combined with a small amount of Estrace for post meno was a bit too high.

I wouldn't be without flax seed oil (organic).

Good Luck.

Be careful with soy. Do some research about it. I plan never to touch that stuff again.