Hi runningfool
Your doctor is quite wrong to insist you stop HRT due to fibroids - depending on your precsie situation - they are NOT a contra-indication to HRT and you should not have been made to stop as Dotty said! Yes oestrogen can make them grwo but there are ways round this if you need h and would like to continue with HRT.
Here is the info from this website:
Fibroids
Fibroids are benign smooth muscle tumours of the uterine (womb) wall and are dependant on estrogen. They tend to shrink after the menopause but shrinkage may not occur, or they may even increase in size with HRT use. Increase is thought to occur in 25% of HRT users and mainly occurs in the first six months of therapy. There is some evidence that transdermal (patch or gel) but not tablet HRT nor tibolone may promote fibroid growth. [ref 24] Fibroid size can be monitored by regular examinations and sometimes by ultrasound scans. There is some evidence that the use of the progestogen releasing intra-uterine system, Mirena may cause fibroids to reduce in size. Mirena is often used in the perimenopause by women who have heavy periods and/or require contraception and can provide the progestogen part of their HRT.https://www.menopausematters.co.uk/atoz.php#GlossFProgesterone cream won't do anything to help your symptoms - it's far too weak and not strong enough to shrink the fibroids. As you can see from the info a Mirena coil may help to shrink the fibroids and then you can also add oestrogen (patch, pill or gel) to deal with your hot flushes and sweats.
I'm also a bit confused by your saying you bled on Elleste Duet - this is supposed to happen as Dotty said - ie if you take two different types of tablet ie half the month one colour (oestrogen only) and half the month another colour (oestrogen and the progestogen), then you should have a monthly withdrawal bleed. It is only the conti type that is a no-bleed HRT - but even in this case some bleeding or spotting is normal for up to 6 months. If you had not had a period for 3 years then it is usually the conti type would be given anyway...
I wouild certainly look into this before the herbal remedies which really don't work like oestrogen does - mainly placebo effect or perhaps some of them eg Black Cohosh or red Clover have a mild oestrogenic effect.
Hurdity x