Hi I did exactly the same thing as yourself and was a big mistake,I had 5-6 years of worsening symptoms and ended with severe bleeding due to VA I was raw,the flushes like you got worse to literally every few minutes all day every day and bed soaking wet every night.Ive just gone back on hrt at age 60 and within a matter of week it's all stopped.i take one squirt of Oestrogel daily it's a transdermal gel you just rub into thigh so bypasses the liver and vagifem pessaries which you will need at some stage and need to stay on for life as your membranes are drying out in whole body,itchy ears itchy eyes dryness everywhere.with hrt you are simply replacing what your body is no longer producing so don't be scared do your homework by reading up from this site and visit your gp armed with info and printouts if necessary,don't let it rule your life the symptoms are horrible.you need a good quality of life so good luck but def don't be scared of hrt.xx