Help.. Hot Flashes Driving Me Batty!!!

Been there done that. And still I get them. But I have learned to carry a portable fan and live with it. And I can laugh. If you get a chance, go see Menopause the Musical. It is the best laugh you'll ever have.
L.

Ah yes, the power surges of menopause!
I've been in your boat for almost a year now and have done tons of research and experimentation.
First of all, 2 books worth reading:
The Wisdom of Menopause by Christianne Northrup MD is great but I do not buy into her soy recommendations. (She has financial ties to Revival Soy) Processed soy products are, in my opinion, potentially dangerous.
The Menopausal Years by Susun Weed is another very informative and empowering book.
Feminine Healing: A Woman's Guide to a Healthy Body, Mind, and Spirit: by Jason Elias is another insightful book. Jason is my acupuncturist, he is in Croton and New Paltz NY

I recommend finding a good acupuncturist in your area to help support your kidney yin. I had excellent results over the years using acupuncture to reduce menstral/peri menopausal issues.
Another great trick is Nettles. I drink two cups of Nettle tea a day, it helped reduce my hot flashes significantly.
Vitamin E supplementation will help the flashes, also Borage Oil or Evening Primrose Oil.

Once again, I would advise staying away from large doses of refined soy products. I've seen enough breast/ovarian cancer to make me very very suspicious of soy. I have read the Whole Soy Story: The Dark Side of America's Favorite Health Food By Kaayla T. Daniel

Hope this helps!
s :)

Welcome to the wonderful worldof pre-menopause! I have been experiencing the same problem for the past 8 years....sorry, better to be truthful. There are supplements that you coul try such as Black Cohosh, I was not able to ake it due to high blood pressure but I have been told it works great. You could also tell your doctor and he could prescribe Hormone replacement therapy. I myself just dealt with it, they do subside after a while and now i only get them when in a stressful situation or i am nervous. I thought the night sweats were worse....i don't think i slept through the night for about 3 years! But thannkfully they have stopped completely. Just a matter of time, it does eventually slow down. Good luck.

Hi A.,

I can understand what you are going through and it stinks to have hot flashes. I just turned 50 last week. I suffered from hot flashes for a long time as I had a total hysterectomy a few years ago.

I started taking this product estraval which has soy, don quai, and black cohosh and it has worked very well for me. I can't live without it! I love the products from this company so much that I started my own referral business. If you would like to hear more about the product, you can email me or call me at ###-###-####.

Have a great day!
K.

HI A.,
I am interested to find out what advice people give you. I haven't hit that stage yet.
Good Luck
J.

Dear A.,

Try Remifemin...it's a natural hormone replacement OTC med., and works very effectively.

K.

Hi A.
Talk to the GYN.
They can drive you batty. I thought I was going nuts and my twins were only 5. Had to get it undercontrol.

Different things help but mostly time.
Research some natural things, like leaving the spices alone, and watching out for alcohol and caffeine.

Write me
God bless
K. -- SAHM 38 years 4 kids 37, 32(he made us grandparents for the first time in July) and twins 18(they went to college last week)
We homeschooled them for 9 years.

Sounds to me you need to see your OBGYN right away. You could be going through the change but 45 is still pretty young and for the symptoms to come on so fast and strong.

A.,

If you would like some information on natural approaches to dealing with menapause and hot flashes, I'd be happy to share my information with you. I have the info in PDF form, so I just need an e-mail addresss I can send them to.

Soy is a great base that everyone should be taking! Congrats!

Good luck,
T.

Soy never worked for me, was on estrogen for awhile till a car accident came along and so many pinched nerves spiked my b/p to stroke levels. I use nothing, still have hot flashes, the worst is in the summer, when I am never cool at all. This is going on for 8 years, but the hot flashes aren't as bad as they were. I take nothing but my vitamins, fish oil, potassium, and of course my prescriptions. I feel for you, cause I went thru this when my girls were still so young and I was 50. Only thing I could do was pray for hot flashes in the winter, lol. I did read many times that sex is a great alternative because it raises your estrogen levels, but I was divorced then. If you find a cure, let me know, I hate these things, tho they are not as often as before. Good luck

Well A. welcome to the club (LOL). You can go to the GYN doctor and they can prescribe something for you. However you must be careful with some of the hormones you take. The pharmacist can suggest something also. I just let it happen. I haven't taken anything yet, but if they become worse I will.

All the best to you

Magnesium is suppose to help regulate your hormones. Also check out www.Mothernature.com I think blck cohosh is suppose to help too.

I went through the same thing at age 40...it was awful except I never got my period again which I do not miss the difficulties I had with that for years...
Anyway, I started off with going to the doctor. Had blood tests done and yes, I had early menopose which also effected my cholesterol levels. (((which happened to be just fine for my yearly medical check up several months before.....the doctor stated that it was related to the menopause....that this was common.))))
The doctor put me on a serious med for the monopose. I started it and the flushes stopped several days later but I also began reading up on the medication I was on and didn't like finding out that cancer was on the list of side effects.....so I went to the health food store and got natural herbs for this. They had a full formula for Menopause...in it are things called "Black Cohosh" and "Chaparral" which can also be gotten seperatly. I bought the full formula... and called my doctor telling him I'm going off his med and why and announced that I'm going to be taking the herbs for this instead....he yelled but I told him I'll talk to him again with the results. I stop the medication and started the herbs and took them for 6 months before going back to the doctor and when I stopped taking them, I never got a flush again....the doctor at that point was still insisting I had to be on his medication and didn't want to hear how the herb did help but I stuck to my guns and called him a fool and Yelled "the herb helped...pass the info on to other patience giving them a choice instead of ending up having to treat them for cancer..." but it went in one ear and out the other. Anyway, During all that time I had also put myself on a cholesterol diet to try to get my levels down. This was agreed on with the doctor before trying medications for it. Was tested again but the diet did nothing to help...I tried harder with the diet, but still no results. So the doctor then started me on medication for this but I had to be taken off of it due to having many of the side effects. So I went back to the health food store and got herbs for this...The next blood test showed it help but wasn't fast enough for the doctor. He wanted to try another medication for this and I went along with it. To make a long story short....I'm now 61 years old and have changed my doctors several times since...turns out I have had serious side effects from all the cholesterol medications and can't take them at all. Although I continue on with herbs for this, I take my daily vits, exercise daily with Pilates and walk a lot, and still eat a cholesterol diet...my levels are still high. I know longer worry about it and told my doctor what will be will be.....and everytime I see him I ask if a new med has come out for me to try for this....but so far not. When a new med. does comes out for this, I will in fact try it.

You need to decide on taking the medication Vs. herbs for the Menopause problem....do re-reach on both.
Keep in mind everyone's history is different and everyone's body reacts differently to medications and herbs...nothing is set on stone what will work for anyone.

Go see your gyn and let her know. You are not to young for menopause. If your dr says you are try a different dr. You should have blood work done to see where ALL your hormone levels are.I was 22 when the hot flashes and night sweats started for me. NO ONE would even discuss it with me. My mother was going through menopause and she and I had all the same problems. Thankfully my body figured out what it was doing and I have 2 beautiful daughters but still have a hormone imbalance that causes wonderful side effects. It may be just an imbalance or menopause but find out! A.

My mother-in-law swears by peppermint oil. You dab it on the back of your neck. She gets it at the pharmacy at Wal-Mart - they usually have to order it for her but it's cheaper than buying the tiny bottles that you would use in baking or candymaking.