@teb thank you so much for sharing your experience! I really envy the position that you are in. I'm diving deeper to transdermal HRT as the door is closing on me... I'm just 10 years past menapause, similar to you when you started HRT. The main concern to me in regards to HRT is cvd risk. Unlike you, I don't have any genetic predisposition, no cvds in 4 generations. But, I have a small positive cac score discovered accidentally.. This tells us the power of epigenetic forces. My ldl would get down to 100 with a heart healthy diet but a small dose of statin brought it to 60, below the target that my cardiologist is happy about. They did CIMT and peripheral vascular screening, came back clear. They checked LPa also and it's at lower part of the normal range. Will be eager to hear what my cardiologist, ob/gyn think of transdermal HRT and my risk. Im going to look into oxidized ldl, which you've been tested. I'm sure that you are aware that target ldl is revised from 130 to 100 as normal, and below 70 if you have 1 risk factor.

Thanks a lot for the suggestion of micronized progesterone! I found this article reviewing cvd risk with estrogen therapy. micronized progesterone is also mentioned and preferred form.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10612533/#:~:text=The%20impact%20of%20estrogen%20may,the%20risk%20of%20cardiovascular%20diseases.
Out of curiosity, do you see a drop of CTx after you start HRT, if it's appropriate for you to disclose? Would monitor btm every 6 mo better than once a year, because you get dexa yearly anyway?

Best,