I am 48 years old and have been experiencing perimenopause symptoms for about six months. I have not had a period for six months. My primary complaint is hot flashes. I get at least one or two every hour and double that at night. It s interrupting my sleep and I am miserable sweaty all day. My OB/GYN is recommending LoLoestrin FE, but I have been reading many negative reviews about it. Most of the complaints cite nausea, break-through bleeding, acne, moodiness and weight gain. Seems like out of the frying pain and into the fire, trading one set of symptoms for others. Why can t I just go on HRT at this point? (And then, are the symptoms of HRT any less?)