Newbie asks "What is normal"

Hi Sisters!
Totally new to the Hormone Jungle.
I am reading posts about how to know if you need more/less different HRT. My question is this, when it comes to HRT what can I expect as "normal" and what should I be concerned about?
I am guessing since it is considered menopause -even if it is surgical-I should expect hot flashes/night sweats? If this is the case how long should I expect them to be part of my life?
Thanks!

Honestly, I think "normal" is different for every woman. My mother has been on ERT since she had a total hysterectomy 15 years ago. She is almost always hot, with flashes here and there. She just lives with it. Other than that, she's fine. I just had my LAVH/BSO almost 3 weeks ago and was put on the Vivelle Dot 0.075 immediately. Even though I have endo, my dr doesn't think it will fuel the lesions. I haven't had any hot flashes yet. It took about a week for my discharge to start back up. I had a real problem with dryness when I was on Lupron and needed estradiol to help.
I have done lots of internet research on HRT and am completely confused! I have found studies of oral HRT doing a "first pass" through the liver and contributing to higher risk of clots, etc. Transdermal/creams seem to bypass the "first pass" due to it being put directly into the bloodstream. But, while oral HRT helps with increasing your good cholestorol, transdermals do not. Also, in my case, I take Synthroid for hypothyroid. Taking an oral estrogen can bind the thryroid meds, which in turn, my dose will need to be increased. Or so I read. Also, I have read that oral estrogen may lower libido because of related increases in sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG), which decreases free testosterone levels. Again, this is just what I have read on different sites. I'm still needing info, too, as I have a lot of questions.
Hope this helps a little!!

I have been told by the dr that any form of estradiol, whether patch or oral will tie up the thyroxine binding sites, so you have to add progesterone to change the way they bind, allowing your body to be able to use the thyroxine as well as the estrogen.

I believe that there is also a risk of clots, etc with the transdermal estrogen, but more so with the oral kind.

Those of us hypothyroids need to carefully monitor thyroid levels along with the estrogen/prog/test levels to keep all in balance... any of them can throw off the others. And then there's adrenal hormones too...............

Hi. I went through natural menopause years after my hysterectomy (kept ovaries). I had severe hot flashes and night sweats when I went through menopause. This went on for 7 months and was relieved only by getting on estrogen replacement, which I've been on for 10 years.

On the original Vivelle big estrogen patch (which we can't get anymore; the company pushes their Vivelle Dot patch now), I had no hot flashes or night sweats to speak of, only rarely. For 10 years, heaven. But I've had trouble on the Dot and other patches, because their estrogen delivery is uneven, so I am getting hot flashes when I crash on those patches. I absorb too much from them at once and then they run out of estrogen before it's time to change them.

For most women, I think, if you are getting sufficient estrogen and keeping level steady, you should get hot flashes and sweats only rarely, maybe only when you get overheated in the summer or are under a lot of stress. This was my experience.