Hot Flushes

[DangerMouse]

Ok ladies, please tell me I am not the only one suffering in this department. I have figured it is due to the dreaded flushes that my sleep is so disturbed.

So has anyone found something to successfully manage their flushes. I have not wanted to do any HRT however figure if something doesn't turn around soon that I may have to ask for some estrogen patches or something.

Has anyone tried acupuncture?

 

[audreyh1]

Not yet! I turned 50 last October, so I don't think it's going to be that much longer for me, but one never knows. I'm very curious about what to expect.

If the flushes are really bad, I may consider HRT. A friend was using bio-identical hormones and said it really helped her. She seemed to think it as a big deal that they were bio-identical. Now that my fibroids have been treated, HRT is an option for me.

Audrey

 

[Moemg]

I started menopause in my 40's and the hot flashes, not sleeping and the mood swings sent me running to the Doctor for the estrogen patch . I took the smallest dose . You also have to take provera with it so your uterine lining does not build up and cause Cancer . Unfortunately the provera can make you extremely cranky ( Think PMS in a pill ) . That is why a lot of people go to those bio -identical hormones . It did help ease me into menopause . I stopped HRT several years ago because I had been on it long enough . My hot flashes did return briefly but more mild and now I am hot flash free and pretty even tempered .

 

[happy2bretired]

I started perimenopause in my mid 40s and now I'm 59 and still have hot flashes. I take nothing for them. I think they might be slowing down a bit - not as many but the ones I do have they tend to be mighty intense.

I can offer no advise except finding something cool to lay on. The back of the neck is a good cooling off area. I turn my pillow over when I get one at night and the cool underside of the pillow helps some. Then I might scoot over to the other side of the bed, where it's also nice and cool. I go low tech all the way.

 

[Orchidflower]

Didn't have them myself, but I can say to you, "God bless!" Rough way to go I understand.

 

[ksr]

I went through menopause fairly young (43) and was fortunate to not suffer from them. However, most of my friends are in their 50's and deal with hot flashes regularly. A couple of them swear by an herbal product - Remifemin.

 

[Alan]

When I saw the thread title "Hot Flushes", my first reaction was to suggest checking the water supply on the toilet

We had a problem just like this at work once, and it turned out to be a steam leak close to the water pipe feeding the toilets in the bathroom. Let me tell you, there were no pimples on any bottoms in my department that winter

 

[audreyh1]

Oh Alan! Your imagery! Thank goodness no pictures in your post.

Audrey

 

[Alan]

Oh Alan! Your imagery! Thank goodness no pictures in your post.

Audrey

When it first happened all the plastic bits in the cisterns melted and had to be replaced with brass flushing mechanisms. It took about 10 weeks to get the problem resolved and then the hot flushes stopped.

 

[Cruisinthru]

Toooo Much Information!

Back on topic. I have suffered with hot flashes for two years since I stopped the HRT. I started HRT at about 48 due to flashes, etc. I am now 60 and still have them. I can't use the patch since I am in the pool several times a week.

I have found that they are much better if I am careful with my diet. If I avoid spicey foods and red wine (that's the killer!) they are not to intense. I still have them, but not the drenching kind.

When I have one in the middle of the night I usually get a cool drink of water and they go away. I guess after all this time I am just used to living with them.

 

[Moemg]

After I got off the patch I used an Estrogen cream for awhile that delivers just a slight amount of estrogen . I also tried the estrogen ring .It's a ring that you insert every three months for a small supply of estrogen . It just was not comfortable so I nixed that one . I also dressed in layers that I could remove when the flashes started .

 

[DangerMouse]

I really didn't want to start down the path of HRT or to use anything. I thought I could just suck it up and get on with it and eventually things would get better. I did think about doing the Bio-Identical, however I don't really want to get on that treadmill either.

The flushes during the day don't bother me that much, I'm lucky in that they seem to only affect my torso, so no brightening of the face to contend with. It's just the inability to sleep thru the night that is killing me. Interesting to see that diet can have an effect. I'll remember to lay off the spicy foods. I also consider myself lucky in that I don't get the night sweats as that must be hard to cope with.

 

[W2R]

Not yet! I turned 50 last October, so I don't think it's going to be that much longer for me, but one never knows.

I'll be turning 62 in June, and I haven't ever had even the slightest sign of the hot flashes many women describe. I am sure they must be real because I know real, sensible, intelligent women who suffered terribly from hot flashes. Guess I'm luckier than I ever suspected.

DangerMouse, I hope you find a solution to this difficulty. I can only suggest seeing your doctor and doing whatever he/she recommends.

 

[FinanceDude]

After I got off the patch I used an Estrogen cream for awhile that delivers just a slight amount of estrogen . I also tried the estrogen ring .It's a ring that you insert every three months for a small supply of estrogen . It just was not comfortable so I nixed that one . I also dressed in layers that I could remove when the flashes started .

Hey Moe, what about the recent studies that showed increased estrogen intake led to higher instances of breast cancer? Is that only for pre-menopausal women?

 

[Alan]

Hey Moe, what about the recent studies that showed increased estrogen intake led to higher instances of breast cancer? Is that only for pre-menopausal women?

Go on, make her day.

 

[Bestwifeever]

When I saw the thread title "Hot Flushes", my first reaction was to suggest checking the water supply on the toilet

We had a problem just like this at work once, and it turned out to be a steam leak close to the water pipe feeding the toilets in the bathroom. Let me tell you, there were no pimples on any bottoms in my department that winter

For some reason I was expecting to hear another tale of romantic mishaps involving piping hot toilets from our intrepid dater Alan...

I think HRT is going to be like coffee--some research says it's good for you, some says it's bad. And the findings will flip flop occasionally. But here's what the NIH has on its website: NIH - Menopausal Hormone Therapy Information

 

[freebird5825]

Age 51.5 and just started those wonderful instant steamy experiences. They only last about 5 minutes maximum. So far...
If not in bed, I do the clothing peel thing (without stripper music )and drink some ice water and use a cool cloth on those...um...special spots.
If in bed and too lazy to get up for a drink and/or dampened cloth, I throw off the covers and the overhead fan does the cooling w*rk for me. Aaaahhhhhhh...

 

[happy2bretired]

Another reason I like 4 seasons. Stepping outside without a coat, on a 0 degree winter night, is heaven when having a hot flash.

 

[Moemg]

Hey Moe, what about the recent studies that showed increased estrogen intake led to higher instances of breast cancer? Is that only for pre-menopausal women?

No,It is for both and I did worry about it but since I have no family history of breast Cancer and menopause was making me crazy I opted for HRT !

 

[TromboneAl]

DW has been off the estrogen for one year now, and still has about 5-6 hot flashes per day. When she snuggles up in bed I start silently counting down from 13, and by the time I get to zero she's in full sweaty flash mode. She recently tried vitamin E and found no relief. She drinks no red wine and never has spicy food. She has about two cups of coffee per day. She has a small handheld battery-powered fan that gets plenty of use.

 

[Orchidflower]

You would think hot flashes happen to women who aren't healthy, but not true. One of the healthiest women I ever knew had the worst hot flashes I ever heard about accompanied with crying jags and all sorts of horrible mood swings. It is really rough on these women. Thank heaven it only lasts usually 1-3 years I hear.

 

[Tesaje]

Been there, done that, and all done now. pretty much. At about 49 I started them. Black Cohosh and progesterone cream helped for about 2 years, then that made them worse - quit using it and now I mostly never get any.

There's a lot of variation in who does or doesn't get them.

 

[Martha]

It is what it is and varies among women.

When it is the worst for me I drink a glass of icy cold water, which helps. Now that I am 55 they are about gone.

Acupuncture is theoretically bogus and suspect as a help for anything except maybe pain. Unless you believe it and then you may get some placebo effect. Even the help for pain may very well be placebo. (Sorry, I have this thing about acupuncture, chiropractic and some other alternative therapies).

 

[IndependentlyPoor]

I am on hormone therapy for prostate cancer. It causes hot flashes, so I can sympathize with the women here. When I first heard about hot flashes, I assumed that it was a neurological thing: that the sufferer felt hot, but there wasn't any real heat transfer taking place.

Well, that proved to be a crock. I get hot flashes so intense that my glasses fog up. There is a huge transfer of heat from the body core to the surface.

I agree that the only thing to do is to cool down. I lie down on a tile floor if possible.

Mine, at least, are not random. I get one every night when dropping off to sleep. It jolts me to a wide awake state and delays sleep for 1/2 hour or so.

Hormone therapy like I take suppresses testosterone. Isn't it odd that sex hormones for both men and women are linked to the body temperature regulation system?

 

[DangerMouse]

Yeah the problem is you drop off to sleep, have a hot flash and kick off the covers. Fall back to sleep then wake up because you are cold. It's a never ending cycle.

I would love to have a hammock bed suspended over a swimming pool. When I have a hot flash I could lower myself in the water to cool down.