What helped you survive menopause?

BioTe Hormone pellets saved my life.

Estradiol did help me. Perhaps they didn't give you the right dosage. I needed a lot to begin with, and over a few years they gradually tapered me off.

Your doctor. 

I had an IUD. Took it out; haven't had a period in 18 months. I believe the hormones in the iUD helped me get through menopause.

I agree with mom and keithurbanlovinpea- bio-identical hormone pellets are wonderful. I do get estrogen and testosterone every 4 months.  Also I get a "booster" compounded with estradiol and test, along with B12 script to inject monthy. 

My husband’s putting up with my crazy helped before my hysterectomy, but did nothing for the hot flashes. I was using Estroven (OTC) and some nasty estrogen internal cream, neither of which consistently helped because my doctor was reluctant to put me on an oral estrogen replacement due to my mother’s history of both breast and ovarian cancer.

After finding I didn’t have the errant BRCA gene and getting a hysterectomy, my surgeon put me on Estradiol and it has been smooth sailing! In addition to the sweats and mood swings, I had also been having hormone-linked migraines. Those, too, disappeared. (Of course, weight appeared instead, but all in all I am okay with the trade-off)

I had an ovary and fallopian tube removed last year and I think that is speeding up menopause. I skipped 3 periods, then it came back with a vengeance last week. I'm so exhausted. The hot flashes, waking up in the middle of the night, heavy periods have wiped me out. I went from no signs of perimenopause to late stage menopause quickly after the surgery. It's rough. I look at older women a little differently and now consider them warriors.
Op, have you tried over the counter supplements yet? Black cohash has helped with the hot flashes.

Sorry you're going through this. I had a hysterectomy in 2012. I INSTANTLY went into menopause, with hot flashes lasting 24/7. It was truly unbearable, so my GP put me on Estradilol (I'm up to 1mg now), and I use Premarin creme 3x/week. The hot flashes were about 95% diminished, and I go yearly for a mammogram.

I feel lucky. I barely went through anything. Just a few months of being extremely hot at not. I cured that by putting a table fan on my nightstand. There are nights I can't fall asleep or I wake up at 2 a.m. and can't fall back to sleep, but that is the worst.

I had an ovary and fallopian tube removed when I was 35, and started perimenopause at 46. I'm 49 now and really starting to feel it. Very heavy periods, hot flashes, and breast tenderness mostly.

I have had breast tenderness since my late teens and took evening primrose oil to manage it. I had to cut back on the evening primrose a few years ago because of a potential interaction with prescription medications I take now. I take a smaller dose and it helps some with the breast tenderness but it no longer completely manages it. The perimenopause most likely exacerbated it too.

I can't take anything else. I have a complicated medical history and hormone replacement is out of the question. And none of my doctors are comfortable with okaying any alternative remedies. The only reason why I'm still taking any evening primrose is that I'd been on it for so long and it wasn't causing any problems. My doctor would prefer I discontinue it altogether, but without at least a moderate dose, the breast tenderness is too much to just deal with.