Hi pricey
I can sympathise as I am in a similar situation, with also a demanding job, and similar age etc. I came off HRT for 4 months and after seeing a meno consultant I was placed on the gel and 100mg Utrogestan daily, having recently switched to inserting rather than oral. Everyone is different, but for me I just could not live with the hot sweats at work or the night sweats which meant I got no sleep so made work even worse! The rest of the symptoms actually improved, but the lack of sleep was a killer.
However, and this won't help you so apologies, i?m finding the continuous progesterone very hard to take due to its side effects, but limited options due to patches. Previously I was very happy on Femonston 2/10, so thinking of trying Femonston conti as a sub as there seems to be little hope for supply of patches at the moment for a ?new starter? and I must be better suited to the Femonston Progesterone. The other thing I would asd with inserting is that it's a pain as the little tablets are very fiddly, and you can't use vagifem at the same time. - swings and roundabouts.
Best of luck