Hi - I'm not quite there yet (just turned 43), but I read Dr. John Lee's book What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Pre-Menopause , and I believe he also has a similarly titled book about Menopause. He provides research citations re. using natural progesterone cream rather than HRT for pre- and during menopause. It may even help prevent breast cancer, which was a big plus for me since my grandmother died from that. You might want to give it a read. With all the scary studies recently about HRT causing higher cancer rates, I hope to avoid it completely (as my mother has). I am already using the natural progesterone cream and find that it eliminates all my pre-menstrual symptoms such as sore breasts. YMMV, but the book was an eye-opener for me.
Good luck!
Emily