A Dec. 30, 2003 Associated Press article stated that about one quarter of women who stopped taking hormone replacement therapy because of its risks wind up resuming HRT because of menopause misery.

This article verifies what we have been saying all along; "No treatment is NOT an option." Women need an alternative treatment to hormone replacement therapy. Otherwise, their lives can be quite miserable.

Almost daily we receive an email, phone call or forum post from a cranky, depressed, sleep-deprived and/or over-heated woman in a desperate search for something - anything - that will put the brakes on menopause symptoms without the use of synthetic hormone replacement therapy.

We not only advocate staying away from synthetic hormone replacement therapy, we advocate finding healthy, effective alternative treatment options to hormone replacement therapy. We advocate bringing your hormones in balance by using estrogen-building nutritional support and progesterone cream treatment as an alternative for hormone replacement therapy. In this newsletter we provide a step-by-step guide to getting off hormone replacement therapy without making your life miserable. This plan as outlined is near foolproof. Of course, you should discuss medication alternatives with your regular health care provider.

In the first month you will begin to slowly wean yourself off synthetic hormones while introducing the hormone replacement therapy replacements. The purpose behind slowly tapering off hormone replacement therapy is two-fold. First, you can avoid drug withdraw by taking the slow approach. Second, slowly weaning yourself off hormone replacement therapy provides the necessary time for the alternatives to take hold. It typically takes a month or two for the natural alternative elements to solidly work through your body.

Below the following schedule is a description of each product listed:

Month 1:

• Decrease your dose of hormone replacement therapy by half. You can do this by requesting a new prescription from your physician or by physically cutting the pills in half.

• Begin using an organic, natural, USP progesterone cream like Return to Eden progesterone cream.

• Begin using a nutritional menopause support product like Preserve.

Month 2:

• Decrease your dose of hormone replacement therapy by half again. Again, you can either request a new prescription or cut the pills in half yourself.

• Continue your new regime of menopause nutritional support products and progesterone cream.

Month 3:

• Decrease your dose of hormone replacement therapy by half again or stop altogether.

• Continue taking menopause nutritional suport products and natural progesterone cream.

Month 4:

• If you still experience menopause symptoms, begin taking the Return to Eden estrogen cream. Although most women find that their menopause symptoms are adequately adressed with progesterone cream and nutritional support, this option usually knocks out any remaining menopause symptoms in women who do need supplemental estrogen. Using a natural estrogen cream like Return to Eden's Triest cream is safe and effective because the estrogen is bioidentical to what a woman's body naturally makes. You will use the estrogen alongside the progesterone for balance and to avoid estrogen dominance.

For an in-depth view of the benefits of natural progesterone, read "What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Menopause: The Breakthrough Book on Natural Progesterone" by the late John R. Lee, M.D., an international authority and pioneer in the use of natural progesterone cream and natural hormone balance.

Diet and exercise also play an incredible crucial role in how well your body fares through the changes of menopause.