Get me off this rollercoaster!!HELP

I need some advice, I have one ovary left, hyst was about 4 1/2 mos. ago. I had my hormone levels tested about 3 weeks ago, it was all 'normal'. Dr. changed my meds from prozac to zoloft 75 mg a day. I am having hot flashes at least a few times a day. I am irritable, moody, dry-itchy skin, tired and HOT! Does anyone have any experience with black cohosh or estroven or any OTC I could use? The pharmacist said I needed to check with my dr. before using anything because it may affect the zoloft, but my dr. doesn't seem to think I need hormones, I talked to Pete at college pharmacy and he said it sounds as tho I need estrogen, test, and progesteron. I am looking for another dr. but in the meantime I need something to help me! Any suggestions, any dr. I call can't take me for months cuz I am a new patient to them.

The best thing I've found supported by the research is black cohosh. It's the only thing I've located that seems better than a placebo for all the symptoms on the Kupperman index, which include the moods and the hot flashes. Black cohosh does not seem to have interactions with other drugs. I took it while on Wellbutrin, an antidepressant and didn't notice anything. There's more on it at http://www.hormonejungle.com

Eating soy protein would be good--some tofu, even better miso and tempeh, but concentrated pills of isoflavones are not better than placebo and are dangerous to your thyroid gland. Vitamin E might help, but I'd make sure it's NATURAL vitamin E. Synthetic forms are not better than a placebo, but there are signs that naturally occurring forms of vitamin E help (d-alpha whatsis vs. dl-alpha whatsis on the label).

Of course the placebo effect in the Jungle is huge, so just taking action might help. Exercise is supposed to help both hot flashes and mood. And vitamin B6.

You could consider trying progesterone cream. Progesterone 900 from GNC stores is one that you can find readily (there's also a kind in the hystersisters store). Make sure it's one of the kinds tsted by Aeron Labs. Some people have found the cream alone helps. I'd start cautiously and see what happens.

Thank you so much Trish, I just started OTC Pro-gest cream about two days ago, maybe that will help, I used it right after my hyst and it seemed to help. Maybe I should give it a few days before I get into the black cohosh, which is what I would like to try for the hot flashes. So many symptoms are the same for progesterone and estrogen levels, it is so confusing and frustrating! Again thank you so much for your help.

One nice thing about bio-identical progesterone is the adrenal glands can convert it to other things--like estradiol for instance and testosterone, so with ovaries, it just might be enough of a boost. Sure hope so!

The over-the-counter brand of One-A-Day Vitamins has a "Metapause" formula - contains calcium, Vit E, Soy Isoflaves and black cohoch...I have been on this for over a week and things are looking upward for the relief of flashes. This seems to be an answer for me. Good Luck.

Thank you Abby,
I've seen this in the store and forgot all about them! I really appreciate you taking the time to reply, somehow is makes me feel better just to know someone cares and I'm not alone! Maybe this along with the progest will be my answer!