Many women are faced with the problem: What do you do when your health requires you to stop taking your hormone therapy? Many specialists would simply say, stop your medication and in essence, deal with it.
Your gynecologist or family practitioner could no doubt offer more advice than that..
The time of menopause is also the time of increase risk of stroke, heart attacks, cancers, and blood clots or DVT ( deep vein thrombosis).
Estrogen and progesterone can cause inflammation of blood vessel walls, thus helping to cause stroke, blood clots, and heart attacks.
Estrogen can fuel a breast cancer or other cancers of the female organs.
Since having one cancer places you at risk for any other cancer, it makes sense to discontinue estrogen for any cancer a woman may experience.
So what do you do when you are told to suddenly stop the therapy which is helping you feel sane and in control? There are many other therapies which are safe and can help control symptoms, but first you should check with your medical provider.
One thing which will be vital for controlling the symptoms of menopause is a healthy life style.
Because of how food is metabolized during this time, it is important to limit foods high in sugar as this can lead to fatigue and sometimes fuel hot flashes.
It is also important to limit caffeine and alcohol as these items can trigger hot flashes both daytime and nighttime.
Alcohol also causes difficulty with sleep mostly due to the sugar content.
We all know a bad night sleeping can lead to

• fatigue, which leads to
• low energy and avoidance of exercise,
• leads to convenient food choices for comfort and ease of preparation.
  
• lack of sex drive
• difficulty concentrating
• all of the above leading to low self esteem and possibly depression over lack of control

How do you gain control of all this? 1.
A diet high in antioxidants helps.
This means fresh fruits and vegetables, brightly colored or deep leafy green.
2.
Consuming less sugar, caffeine, and alcohol.
3.
If you are sensitive, a diet low in dairy.
If you are not sure how dairy sensitive you are, stop all dairy for 1-2 months and see how you feel.
You may have more energy, less respiratory problems and skin problems.
4.
Exercise of any kind that gets your heart beating faster and uses your muscles in a way not normally used in your average day.
5.
For medical help when the above measures are not enough, there is Clonidine or Effexor (low dose) which can help with hot flashes.
There are sleep aids which are generally safe for short periods of time.
6.
Doing cross word puzzles or other memory type games can help some with "brain fog", as does some low dose antidepressants if applicable.
Herbal products should be used with extreme caution if they contain soy or black cohosh; these products can theoretically be irritating to blood vessel walls as they are estrogen like in their action.
These are measures you can take to control your symptoms, nothing may be as completely relieving as hormone replacement therapy.
Talk to your medical provider to get advice targeted to your health situation.