I am seven years out and still get very aggressive hot flashes - about every 1/2 hour. Sometimes I get a break for a couple of hours, then the cycle starts again.
About 3 years ago I started taking progesteron. I am ER-. This killed the hot flashes almost completely down to 2 a day. Once in the morning......and once after I have a shower. Very predictable.
There is a
minority school of thought that says that progesteron without estrogen is sufficient - and in fact superior to the HRT's. There is very limited research indicating that ER- MIGHT be able to take progesterone with impunity. But no direct research as the legal risk at this point to directly investigate for the pharmaceuticals is too high. So this choice hasn't been directly explored for risk factors.
Another positive outcome is that taking progesteron REALY resolved some of my memory issues. Although this isn't an indicated outcome - I recently discovered research with mice indicates that
progesterone improves their memory abilities.
I know I am not a mouse, but it certainly worked for me! In fact if I skip a day - I can tell.