So, when you went on the HRT, were you having certain symptoms and that's why you went to the doctor, what symptoms were they? 

Oh yes, terrible flushes but I was only about 45, I think, when it started. And I was having pains in my legs, I was feeling quite tired and quite down and then I went on to HRT, which I didn't really want to do but it really helped. And then after a year of taking HRT I decided to take a herbal remedy which is called Wild Yam Root which really helped me and I stopped taking HRT after that, yes. 

I mean I've seen myself that the herbal extract works because I stopped taking HRT and I took this and it worked for me. And I presume there aren't, I don't think there are any side-effects but, hopefully, there isn't. But whereas when you take conventional medicines there always seems to be a list of other side-effects and I don't want those. 

Do you ever advise other women who you know that are taking HRT to try the herbal one?  

Yes, I do always. And in fact my other sister-in-law rang me the other day because she wanted to stop HRT and asked me where to buy this. 

Did it work equally as well as the HRT?  

Yes it did, yes it did. And in fact, I stopped HRT and the reason I started this Wild Yam was because I was putting on a lot of weight and it was all kind of a water retention weight. I mean I didn't look overly fat but I just felt very heavy and when I stopped HRT, I hope you don't mind me saying this, but I just did not stop going to the toilet for days and days, it was just continuous. So I had all this water retention and I never did get that with the herbal extract, so that's one of the reasons I was looking for something else. And I did actually ... 

So your stomach always felt a bit bloated?

Yes, and my legs. I was, in fact I looked quite bloated most of the time.