Misery with the menopause. Any tips on dealing with flushes and night sweats?

carbonel

I took Prozac for a couple of months about three times a year for the first couple of years of my menopause and I have to say it made all the difference to sweats and mood swings.
I haven't taken it for about two years now, I take Soya Isoflavone capsules, Vitamin B6, Evening Primrose oil capsules daily which keeps the symptoms to manageable for me. :T
I would suggest that you try different things and see what works for you. I don't think there is a 'cure-all' or somebody would have found it by now!
I decided that I could put up with the symptoms rather than use HRT which has caused one colleague to have a stroke, and another to have DVT's. I know sweats are the pits, but better than serious illness.

robster1964

dorry wrote: »

robster, :wave:

I have been suffering like you since , I was 39, I was thrown into 'perimenopause' when I stopped taking the pill, the estrogen dropped and voila, you have the hot flushes. I was literally driven mad, by the them and had alot of other symtoms to, including, anxiety, insomina and tiredness.

I went to the gp and he said I was to young!! He didn't offer any comfort or support at all. Out of desperation, I went to local family planning clinic, where I met the most amazing gp, she is a specialist in gyn things, she told me that I was in perimenopause, you can develop the symtoms, 10 years before the onset of true menopause :eek: She recommeded the yasmin pill, as I was having horrendous pmt as well, as everything else. You can get this pill on prescription from gp, but they may try to put you off, as it costs them more than the ordinary pill.

I have learnt a massive amount about perimenopause, since, I am now 44 and still taking the yasmin and thankfully, not suffering at all!!

pm me if you want more details about yasmin;)

I also go on www.powersurge.com forums, where the ladies on the forum, know everything about peri!!

hth xx

:eek: :eek: Yikes 10 years before the true menopause. Grief, think my family will have disowned me by then. Great advice though babe, never heard of it but will get on the trail..... Thank you so much!

dorry_2

Magenta_Wolves wrote: »

I've been in peri now for about 2 years (I'm 44) and last year the night sweats were making my life miserable, no heating on until hubby came home from work, I would open the bedroom window even though there was frost on the floor - you know the sort of thing! I went to my docs and we both decided that HRT wasn't the way forward, but he suggested prozac even though I wasn't depressed and only mildly wanting to kill everyone around me (their fault - obviously not mine!).

Apparently one of the side effects is that it reduces somethiing that causes night sweats and hot flashes. I've been on it about 10 months now and I think it is wonderful!! The night sweats have completely gone (after about 6 weeks) and I only have the odd hot flash. In fact I'm sitting here now thinking about putting the heating on for the winter - something that certainly wouldn't have happened last year. I know that lots of people have a negative view of prozac but in my case it's been a wonder drug, whether it would work the same way in someone who needed it for depression I don't know, but it's an option worth considering. Good luck

magenta, you made me laugh, I was exactly the same with my flushes, Hubby used to go balsistic, It woudl be snowing and I would have the bedroom window open:eek: , not good for the marriage, as he then started sleeping downstairs cos he was that cold:p

I did try an antidepressant, but it made my restless legs 10 times worse, couldn't sleep for it :eek: which was no good as I love to sleep!!

My hot flushes used to interfere with my life that much, I couldn't go to work at one point, as everytime I went into a meeting, I would get a hot flush and then the anxiety would be there. This is not good when you spend your life at meetings, as I do ( I am a social worker!!)

The releif I got when I started taking the yasmin was life saving for me (IKNWIM) Everyone needs to weigh the pro and cons of taking any meds, everyone is different and it all needs to be weighed up carefully:D

holstar

Have you tried taking oestrogen? My mum is in the peri-but-almost-full-menopause stage and finds taking oestrogen supplements has helped.
She gets them from H&B but only when they have sales on...think they are quite expensive when full-price.

missprint

Hello all,

Hot flushes are the bane of my life too, two years since menopause and still stewing in my own juices at regular (and usually embarassing) intervals throughout the day. I was glad to be rid of the debilitating migraines I've suffered from all my life though, and as they have ceased I can link them to previous oestrogen levels. I read somewhere that boys who were exposed to high levels of lavender (as in shampoos and soaps) could develop breasts because of the oestrogen in lavender so I tried applying a little lavender oil on my skin at night. I really think it helped with the night sweats, but I had to stop because the migraines came back. It might be a useful tip for others though.

shykins

another thought i had is that i have pretty much stopped drinking caffiene and that has reduced my sweats almost completely... if i have a coffee which isnt decaff i can immediately get a flush day or night

the worst thing i find about the meno is that i have the most awful CRAFT (cant remember a fuffin thing!!).... its so embarassing when u completely forget things mid sentence and cant remember the names of things like ummm book... yes really i had to ask my friend what those things are called that u read.. dduuuh!!!

x

Bennifred

shykins wrote: »

another thought i had is that i have pretty much stopped drinking caffiene and that has reduced my sweats almost completely... if i have a coffee which isnt decaff i can immediately get a flush day or night

the worst thing i find about the meno is that i have the most awful CRAFT (cant remember a fuffin thing!!).... its so embarassing when u completely forget things mid sentence and cant remember the names of things like ummm book... yes really i had to ask my friend what those things are called that u read.. dduuuh!!!

x

Oh, me too!!:o My memory has got so bad I have seriously worried about early onset Alzeimers - OH and kids get exasperated with me, and at work I must sound like a total air-head sometimes! And I'm not even menopausal yet, according to my GP.............:eek: :eek:

shopndrop

shykins wrote: »

another thought i had is that i have pretty much stopped drinking caffiene and that has reduced my sweats almost completely... if i have a coffee which isnt decaff i can immediately get a flush day or night

x

Totally agree about the coffee. I now only drink decaff and notice immediate increase in sweats if I have caffeine.

moneysaving_pharmacist

Black cohosh has been associated with liver damage, so probably best to avoid. See for example http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/5191434.stm

There is a lack of evidence regarding the benefits and risks of complementary therapy, so they can't really be recomended. Some herbal products have oestrogenic effects and we don't know what the long term effects of these on breast and endometrial tissue is - long term unopposed oestrogen is bad news if you have not had a hysterectomy.

HRT is the most effective treatment for hot flushes. Which product should be used depends on the individual - have they had a hysterectomy or not? HRT is absolutely essential in women who have had an early menopause (usually surgical) to give protection against osteoporosis. There are risks with HRT, such as increased risk of breast cancer, endometrial cancer, stroke and blood clots. However, the absolute increase in risk is small - less than that associated with smoking or being very overweight.

If you are suffering with the menopause speak to your GP. If you are not happy with your GP ask them to refer you to someone who specialises in treating women at menopause.

For more information look at http://www.cks.library.nhs.uk/menopause/patient_information
For more detailed information go to http://www.cks.library.nhs.uk/menopause/in_depth
(aimed at doctors/pharmacists, but not too heavy on technical terms)

shykins

i have to say i took black cohosh with no problems and i also know people who have taking HRt and it hasnt helped with their flushes.

there are 2 sides to every story and as every woman is different what works for one is not necessarily going to work for another and thats the problem

in actual fact we are all peri menopausal and until our periods stop we wont actually be in the menopause..... see how i remembered that but couldnt remember what a book was called lol

i figure as we have had the periods and crap all the time why cant the men deal with this part of it??

bennifred when it happens now i just laugh and say well wait til u are going thru this.. its all u can do really

x