I've a similar 'story', last period 11 yrs ago when I was 49. Minor, manageable hot flushes, total loss of libido so I went to Dr after a couple of years and was told I could have HRT but to read up on the risks first. At the time I decided that risks outweighed benefits so just went for Vagifem to help with VA.
Skip forward 9 years and I'd had enough of the sleepless nights that had crept in, the palpitations and extremely dry skin not to mention the still absent libido, plus a lot more positive coverage on the benefits of HRT so I went back to my GP last year and was given Oestrogel and Utrogestan. These helped immediately with the interrupted sleep, hot flushes and palpitations. I started on 2 pumps of gel but symptoms crept back so I upped to 3, I like that the gel is easy to change dose if needed. Sadly libido is still missing, I ask for testosterone each visit but GP can't/won't prescribe, I'm hoping that'll change sometime soon.
So, my message, as a now 60 year old (how'd that happen 😳) and a relative newbie on HRT, is give it a go.