I am a non HRT lady and It's been the hardest time of my life, absolutely life changing for me. I knew early on that I couldn't that HRT so I had to educated myself on the natural route by reading and learning. I am not someone who has had an easy ride, its been horrific and at one point I did consider asking to be put into a physiciatric (sorry cant spell it) unit. The anxiety, for me, has been disabling but I now manage it fairly well, I accept I have it, it comes in peaks and then lulls, I am still learning. It doesn't disable me now, I don't fight it, I breath slowly and go with it. Sometimes it lasts 1/2 a day and sometimes it last a week but it does slowly fade but never goes away completely. The hot sweats have been with me on and off for over 2 years, at the moment I can cope with them. The flushes are tame in comparison to the anxiety. I am 50 and my hot headed rages are minimal these days as have learnt how to manage those. The depression is also managed fairly well although always lurking. I have had no option but to do it without HRT it wasn't by choice. For anyone who is suffering at the moment just remember that it wont be forever, its does fade, sometimes it takes a while but it does ease off xxx