Bawdy, have you looked into food intolerances? Eliminating certain foods (and adding more fat) was my "magic bullet". I was stalled out a year ago in perimenopause when someone on here recommended Dr. Elson Haas' book called the False Fat Diet about how food intolerances cause inflamation and "false fat". It sounded outlandish at first, but I was willing to try anything.

Low carb (30-40g ECC/day) + avoiding foods I am intolerant of has made it very easy for me to lose weight while eating more food and more fat than ever before in my 35 years of dieting (1800 calories instead of 1100-1400 pre-menopause, and now 65% good fats with some coconut oil every day). By completely avoiding my most problematic foods, wheat and soy, and keeping casein (milk protein common in lower fat milks and cheeses and things with added "milk solids") as low as possible, I was able to reach my goal after a steady weight loss - the last 10 lbs actually came off faster than on any low carb or high carb diet I've been on, even though I was in the transition to menopause. I am officially in menopause now, but with virtually no symptoms, and these are the only things I have changed in the past year. Eating more fat seems best for keeping my hormones (including thyroid) balanced. After more than a decade of having borderline low thyroid, I am now normal.

In retrospect I see that many of the hot flashes I had in the past were caused by foods I am intolerant of (soy, sunflower seeds) or work-related stress. Now I only get warm flashes if I eat a lot of coconut oil at one sitting.

FWIW, I was on thyroid meds and tried progesterone cream 3 years ago but quit after a few months because individually and together they seemed to cause spotting, bloating, cramps & bad moods. Soy caused similar symptoms, so I reduced my intake back them, which helped, but I completely cut it out last summer, which was even better. It may just be me, but HRT & thyroid drugs made my perimenopausal symptoms worse, not better, so I haven't touched them in over 2 years. I wonder if these foreign substances cause inflamation like certain foods do in certain people?

I've been taking Ca+Mg+VitD pills before bed for several years, so I don't usually have a problem sleeping. Switching from a 2:1 to a 1:1 Ca/Mg content, which I did ~8 mos ago, seems to help even more. My mood is mellow all day now, whereas I was an irritable b!tch for most of the last 40 years.