An individual patient is always advised to consult their own physician. I take .625 mg per day and have been for the past 11 years. There may be a slightly increased risk for the first year of use, then the risk drops. Most physicians would strongly recommend estrogen use to decrease vascular disease. I'm curious though about its history and where I might find more information about it on the internet.
Side effects are usually constipation and dry mouth.
There were few actual problems, just legal ones. I have listed the medication I currently take and I will soon be starting Lipitor to control cholesterol. The best current drug to decrease cardiovascular disease is estrogen. Women still die most frequently from this class of problems, not cancer or other problems. A very good study was done on nurses which showed both an increase in longevity and an increase in quality of life in women taking estrogen.