Among Friends

[SurferWife]

Thank you EVERYONE for your input & your stories.  I'm hoping the Black Cohosh will help alleviate the symptoms.  Otherwise, my husband will have to trade in his surf boards for snow boards and we are moving to Alaska!  HA! HA!

[crawford5153]

---

@SurferWife wrote:

Thank you EVERYONE for your input & your stories.  I'm hoping the Black Cohosh will help aleviate the symptoms.  Otherwise, my husband will have to trade in his surf boards for snow boards and we are moving to Alaska!  HA! HA!

@SurferWife  You mentioned that Magnesium helps yoiu sleep.  What brand and dosage do you use?  I need to try it desperately as I am at wit's end.

---

[CalminHeart]

---

@CalminHeart wrote:

---

@SurferWife wrote:

-------------------------

I went through menopause without hormone replacement etc and am glad I did.  I found a few tricks to help.

• I kept a wet, cold washcloth in my desk at work.  I'd wet it and put it in my lunch bag each morning.  If I forgot one, I'd keep a handful of cold, wet papertowels from the restroom in my desk.
• I had to stop taking super hot showers as they triggered hot flashes.  I still do a cold/cool rinse at the end.   
• I wore lighter clothing.  I even quit wearing layers because I'd have to take a layer off by the time I got to work.  I avoided wool and polyester fabrics and still don't wear them.  Cotton is the best for me.
• Keep a small fan on your desk at work.  (After I retired, I worked in customer service at a grocery store and they let me have a small fan there too.)
• Find the foods and drinks that trigger your hot flashes.  For me, I had to avoid wine and spicier foods.
• I used to go outside in 20 below zero weather when having a hot flash.  It felt so good!

For me, my body temperature never went back to normal after menopause.  I'm hot most of the time now.  It does save on heating bills in the winter though.  

---

A couple other thoughts.

I use a ceiling fan in the bedroom.  It helped a lot with night sweats.

I have 3 fans in my living area -- ceiling fan, powerful floor fan and weaker level tower fan.  There are times all 3 are running.  But the floor fan is great when I need strong cool air.  The ceiling and tower fan run most of the spring, summer and early fall.

[riley1]

@SurferWife - Oh, gosh those hot flashes were awful. And, I'm always warm anyway and to have that on top of it, ugh.

I was 48 and the hot flashes just kept coming. I always slept in a t-shirt & shorts (even in the cold NJ temps) and would wake up drenched. 

If you are home and get one, ice cubes on the inside part of your wrists help along with a cold cloth on the back of your neck. It's harder when you are out at a restaurant and start sweating - then  you excuse yourself and go to the ladies room and run cold water over your wrists.

Along with all the food items you mentioned (my favs too), stress will also bring them on - at least it did for me.

The hot flashes lasted a LONG time and every now and then I still get them - and this is like 20 years later.

Good Luck.

[Mom2Dogs]

I breezed thru that period of my life....I was mostly difficult..as my husband would say.  Hardly a hot flash, which was good beause there is a history of breast cancer in the family so I could not take anything....I hope your symptoms do not last to long.

[Nightowlz]

@SurferWife 

I feel for you since I have already been there done that. No fun.

Mine started in my early 40's. Mine lasted 10+ yrs but it was worse earlier on. As far as symptoms go you name it I had it.

I used bioidentical progesterone cream compounded at the pharmacy until my doctor retired. After that I could not find any help so I ordered Emerita progesterone cream. I used it for years. 

After I stopped using it I was still having issues. Hormones were so out of whack. I started taking Andrew Lessman's Women's Wellness. Now I'm taking his Ultimate Women's Wellness since it's the same price.

If you want to try either one of those I would get it now while prices are reduced during his visits. The large size is $100 but you take 1 per day so it will last you a year. You could try a smaller bottle now & order the large size during his Nov show.

I don't know if I still need to take this or not but I don't really want to stop & find out. LOL!!!

[Porcelain]

I started peri-menopause last year, with long periods between you know what, and waking up really hot at 4 am. I started taking Amberin mainly to combat the hot flashes because they were bothering my sleep.

Well, after taking it 3 months (with one month at double dose), the hot flashes stopped and now I've been back out of peri-menopause for over a month. I've stopped taking it and I'm back to how I was before peri-menopause. Zero hot flashes. It's kind of amazing.

I also currently take DIM and Calcium Glucoronate to stabilize hormones and make sure the type of estrogen in my system is the healthy kind.

[Katcat1]

@SurferWife  I was on an interview for a job when I felt the hot flash coming on and I was hoping my face did not turn red.  I did not get the job but I was not interested in it anyway after interviewing.  However, talk about embarrassing.  I thought it would be over in a year.  Boy, was I wrong.  I did not take any medicine at woke up with night sweats every night.  I looked like s___ going to work.  Finally, I took a combo pill estrogen and progesterone.  I could not tolerate the progesterone.  So I took nothing until I had a total Hysterectomy and I was given an estrogen patch.  For the first time in 3 or 4 years, I felt normal.  It lasts about 7 or 8 years if I remember correctly.  It totally sucks.  Why do women have to deal with all the stress?  If you can tolerate the medicine take it (if breast cancer is not in your family).  Every woman's symptoms are different.  Like I said I had hot flashes and night sweats and did not feel like myself.  Good luck, you have my sympathy.  Here is the fun part, you will have a tendency to put on weight (just what every woman wants!)  lol

[patbz]

My hormones had one last party when I had my only child at 45.  Immediately after I went into menopause and took premarin for not flashes.  Stayed on drug for five years until news had reports of a connection between Premarin and cancer; I immediately took my self off the drug.  Never again had hot flashes.

[Nancy Drew]

I breezed through it. I was early at 48. I don't smoke, drink, eat bad and get moderate exercise. My sister who used to eat bad (now she doesn't) and smokes had it horrible. Mine was about a year and a half. I did start to gain weight in my stomach so I really have to watch every little thing I eat. Like someone said beats the alternative. Some women would have loved to made it to this age.