BellaOnline Forums Health and Fitness Menopause Hot Flashes

I'm starting to have hot flashes at night which can make sleeping very challenging. We all know how important it is to sleep well in order to function well during the day

Looking at various websites, it appears that stress is the #1 trigger for hot flashes. That is, if I can reduce stress levels, the hot flashes will diminish as well! A win-win! So it definitely seems key to get more yoga and meditation into my life.

It also seems like caffeine / chocolate trigger them and I did have sugar-free chocolate pudding last night. So I won't have any tonight and see how that does!

Check the ingredients on your chocolate pudding, it probably has cocoa in it instead of chocolate :-)

I'm having a whole slew of peri-menopausal symptoms:
Hot flashes/Cold flashes
lightheadedness/dizziness/nausea
Wanting to cry a lot
Irregular periods

There's more, but I would say the flashing and wanting to cry all the time are the most troubling for me.

My gyn gave me Lo Loestrin FE, a very low does birth control, to help with the irregular periods and other symptoms. His instructions were if it helps keep taking it if I want to, if it doesn't help or I feel worse stop taking it.

Well, it really didn't improve my symptoms and it did kill off my libido. So, I just took the first pack of pills and didn't start up the next one.

Some ideas from my friends for relief are:

Estraven
Vitamins made especially for menopause
Black Cohash

so I will start looking into those.

I'm really not interested in hormone replacement therapy. Fortunately, I work from home so I can put up with more symptoms than if I were working outside my home.

I have started to walk with my beginning goal of 30 mins at least 3 times a week. Immediately, I have noticed a remarkable improvement in my mood - I feel happier. Whenever I started walking before, I didn't have that result so this is interesting to me.

I also have too much weight on due to being in front of my computer all day every day. I'm sure if I can get even 20 pounds off, I'll simply feel that much better :-)

Within the past week, my husband put his hand on me and realized I was sweaty. He was surprised & I was like "told you". I wake up at night with my hair soaked in sweat, my pillow is wet, and of course, I'm totally covered with sweat. I just toss my part of the covers toward the middle of the bed and fall back to sleep - until I'm freezing cold! LOLs

Like you, I'm not giving up my coffee. I only had two cups in the morning. As for the stress, well I have two teenaged girls and work several jobs from home. Unless I get rid of everyone in my home, the stress will remain :-)

I'm waiting another 10 days or so and then I'll try some vitamins or something. If I come across something that seems to help, I'll definitely mention it here.

I did read somewhere that the symptoms can last anywhere from a few years to 8 or more years.

I'm at the starting stages...I didn't mind too much during the winter - though some wondered why I was still wearing tank tops...lol..., it's getting worse as it gets warmer out.

Many women have benefited from using natural progesterone cream for these and other menopausal symptoms. This is because chemicals in our food and the environment (and sometimes lifestyle factors) cause hormone imbalances leading to what is called "estrogen dominance". Some very prevalent chemicals simulate the effects of estrogen, sometimes much stronger and longer lasting than what the body makes.

Dr. John Lee did groundbreaking studies on the benefits of natural progesterone, and wrote some good books about it.

There are natural remedies, herbs, nutrition, and lifestyle changes that can bring hormones back into balance. You can go to Dr. Mercola's website and do searches on "hot flashes" and "estrogen dominance" to find many articles with helpful information. There are lots of other sources as well. I check Dr. Mercola's site often for health issues because he compiles articles, shows sources and studies, and follows the articles with his professional opinions.

Cheers!

I'm going to do my best to see it through naturally. Well that's the plan for today anyway....LOL....

I don't think that means you have to "tough it out". These things can usually be alleviated when you have a fuller understanding of how it developed and take some simple steps to remedy it.

I had good results with progesterone cream, and so have other women I know. It is also helpful for people who are not in menopause or even perimenopause, but have developed symptoms of hormone imbalances.

Cheers!

Yep! I get night sweats too. This morning I woke up all tangled and stuck in the sheets.

Sabira, is that cream oil free? Since I moved to Miami, I have found when I use things like sun screens with oil in them I break out in a heat rash. Yuck!

I used Emerita Pro-Gest cream, which does have vitamin E, safflower seed, and sweet almond oils in the ingredients. But you use a very small amount, and I wouldn't assume all oils will give you that reaction. For instance, I find organic virgin coconut oil to be incredibly soothing and healing to my skin, and I use it liberally on hot, sweaty days. It has some natural anti-fungal and anti-bacterial properties. I can slather it on to reduce pimples and unclog pores.

If all oils must be avoided, there are other kinds of natural progesterone products sold in health food stores. Maybe one of them will work for you. Or you can get it compounded at a pharmacy.

Cheers!

I find that here in Miami I break out in a heat rash with sunscreens that contain oils. I suspect it's because the oil isn't allowing me to sweat freely.

And, I still feel like [censored] off that birth control pill. I think I'll go over to Wal-greens and try an otc remedy and see if that works.

LOL, Jeanne I see you got [censored] but I think I know what you said Girl, it is cool today, actually have a sweater on but stay tune for tomorrow - may be hot again. Let me know how it goes with the otc remedy - thanks for sharing. It helps to have other women to bounce stuff off...

I wrote c r a p. Geez! I didn't know that word was on our censored list.

Well anyway, I have been dragging all week. No hot/cold flashes, but I'm exhausted to the point of tears and feel really down. I wake up in the morning and I feel like I haven't sleep, but I swear I slept all night. I can barely get any work done at all.

This evening I picked up some Estroven Energy - let's see if that helps me feel any better. Will give it a month. If that doesn't work, I'll try the next thing on the Walgreens shelf.

After that, I'll start getting things off the internet. Lastly, I'll just ask my doctor for prozac :-)

In general I try to stay away from all medications because I've read so many books that describe how the side effects of medications are far worse than the symptoms. For example they talk about how a lot of the cholesterol lowering medication gets into the brain and damages your brain cells. There's all sorts of things doctors don't know yet. Our rates of Alzheimer's is jumping through the roof and in many ways it relates to our uses of medications and pesticides. So I'm doing my best to avoid all of those things as much as I can.

Now that being said, I do feel strongly that eating healthy and being healthy is critical in having a body that can handle life's changes. So you could look at that as a form of "medication" - taking vitamin C, taking vitamin E and so on. You're doing it naturally. So I do accept that. I suppose I think that nature and good food does that job better than scientists can.

So I definitely agree in that sense that eating a lot of processed food for example could damage your health because it includes chemicals your body wouldn't normally ingest in those quantities. So just "eating food" in general isn't the answer, it needs to be (in my plan) fresh, healthy food.

I do definitely find that when I reduce caffeine from all sources that I sleep better and that my body is more even keel in presenting symptoms. When I am serene - regardless of what the world around me is doing - I feel better. So I think part of this is the mantra of knowing what you can't change, accepting that you can't change it, and finding a way to be perfectly content in that situation.

I can't change my neighbor's screaming kids. One could say "I live in a stressful situation" because of it. But stress is within a person's brain. It is only stressful if I choose to let it be stressful. It can be perfectly serene if I make that choice.

Most sunscreens are formulated with some mineral oil, etc., that may tend to clog things up. The tiny amount of progesterone cream in the dose applied per day is not likely to be a problem.

Cheers!

Hi Jeanne,

I took a look at the Estroven Energy ingredients. They look good. If it doesn't work, it may still be that you would benefit from some of the ingredient(s) in stronger amounts, or as a part of your actual food. Lisa is right about fresh, unprocessed foods. You get lots of beneficial nutrients, enzymes, etc., that work together for optimal results.

Your body is designed to heal and to maintain optimal health.

Vitamin D has been shown recently to prevent depression. The best way to get it is via sunlight, but if you need to, you can get it as a supplement. It has now been shown that most of the population is deficient in vitamin D, and the toxic dose is much, much, much higher than was previously believed. There is tons of new info on the many benefits of having adequate vitamin D.

Did you take a look at those links I posted before? The info there can lead to a good understanding of why you have the symptoms, and easy ways to change the causes while nurturing yourself (which you deserve).

I had quick, very good results from natural progesterone cream (available in many health food stores and online OTC), and a good diet.

If I might hazard a guess - I think you may have these symptoms not just because of menopause, but also due to needing some nutrients that have been missing in your diet, possibly combined with needing to reduce some "anti-nutrients" i.e. foods that deplete your health in various ways.

If you haven't explored these natural options much, there is a whole world of goodness waiting for you there. You may find that partaking of the things you need is actually very enjoyable, as well as effective.

I think getting enough sleep and some moderate exercise you enjoy is also immensely helpful, and they work in tandem. Moderate exercise helps you sleep, and sleep helps you have energy to be active.

I have had challenges to getting enough sleep through most of my life. I went through a long period when I had constant aches, so long that I was used to it. It interfered with my sleeping, but I didn't even know I could feel different. This seems to have been alleviated by getting more potassium in my diet.

I also unwind and sleep way better if I am lucky enough to get some massages... whenever I can, I get my feet, neck, shoulders and back rubbed.

Plus you can get feel-good-chemistry from natural foods. For instance, check out organic dark chocolate info and Resveratol in Chocolate and Anandamide

Taking prozac drugs a person into accepting what is wrong, instead of getting free of it. And sometimes it has bad psychological/emotional side effects for some people.

Wishing you all the best!

Sabira -

That's part of my concern with taking drugs - that I would be masking an important symptom instead of addressing a problem. It would be like my house had a fire alarm going and I was putting a muffler over the alarm. I want to figure out why the alarm is going off and fix the underlying problem.

You are welcome, Angela! :-)

Cheers!

Hi Lisa - I feel the same way. And I have often found this concern to be justified.


Are you referring to statin drugs? My Ron takes a statin drug, and is trying to decide whether to stop it, or heed his doctor's urging and increase it. We have read a lot of info on the problems associated with statins, but not about it damaging brain cells. Are you referring to statins? Regardless which drugs you are referring to, do you have links to info on this? We want to be well informed.

Thanks!

The estroven is an all natural supplement. Seriously, if I go to my doctor the way I'm feeling now I bet I'd end up on prozac or something similar. This week I've been absolutely exhausted and want to cry all the time despite sleeping well all week.

I've also dealing with a lot of physical pain for the past two weeks which I'm sure is playing a part in the emotions.

I do get enough sleep most of the time - I try for 8 hours a night :-)

I get enough Vitamin D. That was tested for at the GYN about 2 months ago. I'm outside in the sun at my daughter's bus stop for about 45 mins a day Mon - Fri.

I have started to walk about 30 mins a day 3 times a week. That is definitely helping me feel better. I didn't walk this week since I was waiting for a blister to heal up. It opened up on Monday (about the size of a quarter), but I got about 30 mins of walking in on that day. I will be back out walking this coming Monday.

The pain I have been having is:
my feet, from walking
both sciatic nerves acting up - maybe from walking
shoulders & back pain - husband is hogging the bed again which forces me into odd positions.

A lot of the above pain is mostly gone now. It's unusual all of that happens at one time.


I have been trying to eat better - adding in apples and celery to start. Have been limiting my butter to 2 tablespoons a day - I could marry butter I love it so much :-)

I've started working on my garden in front of my townhouse unit. That makes me happy as well.

I really don't want to go on HRT or prozac, etc if I can avoid it. Thus, working on making small changes over time hoping I will feel better overall and lose some weight.

I am finding that my symptoms are running in cycles. I haven't had any hot/cold flashes for a good week, but now I have no energy and want to cry. Has anyone found that their symptoms run in cycles?

So, I'm writing out this list so you all know where I'm at. Suggestions are welcome. :-)

Hi Everyone:

This is SO AWESOME - just what I have been BEGGING for since last year

Happy Mother's Day to you all and I hope you have a very SPECIAL day with not too much heat (lol). Sorry, a little menopause humor there...

UPDATE on me after reading yours...

We now have cable at the house, part of the internet package deal and we are back to having the bedroom TV on (which I do not watch/lol). Ladies, I am so not into having it on all night. Anyway, that was night #1, stay tuned for tonight #2. So here I am, been up since 5:30am, tired as heck and dreading the alarm going off this morning at 6am (yep, get a half hour extra sleep on the weekends/lol). Tired and really want to go sleep on the floor in the extra bed = no bed. But trying to deal with this. After reading Lisa's post, I am inspired to stay in the bedroom and somehow LEARN to go sleep with it on ALL night. The funny part, he is just like my baby brother and daughter = they are ASLEEP and the TV IS ON But let me TURN it off & they jackknife awake.

Thanks for sharing ladies...

I dream all the time so I am definitely in a deep sleep. Lately my husband is totally hogging the bed to the point of I have barely enough room if I sleep on my side and one leg is partially off the bed. Takes me hours to get him to move back to his side. I've talked to him several times about this. I don't have another place to sleep in our home - unless you count the backseat of my car which at this point would be more comfortable.

If it's sleep apnea I would assume I would be tired all the time - every day, right? This weird fatigue seems to happen roughly every four weeks. I currently don't have medical insurance so any testing is out of the question for now.

I think I am going to track my symptoms and see if they are cyclical. I do feel somewhat better today. My mood is a little more happy today.

Back in the days when I had periods, every 4 weeks, I would be completely worn out just before my period.

Yep! I remember having that the day or two before I would get my period I would be exhausted and if I started crying I would cry all day. What a mess.

This fatigue I get now is like that but is lasting longer - like a week instead of a day. I was just looking at a list menopausal symptoms again and the fatigue I'm experiencing is what they are describing.

Today, when I was taking my shower I felt like I might throw up. I bet the fatigue is on it's way out for a round of intermittent nausea. heh.

I need to put together a spreadsheet and start tracking this along with my "cycle". Should be interesting to see how things line up.

I think you are totally right and your doctor will suggest mood stabilizers. It might not be a bad idea. Or at least you can ask for an 'as needed' item like Ativan/Lorazepam.

Have you tried the Rescue Remedy that you use for Hannah? It should help you as well, in an as needed fashion. It's not a nice as Ativan but DOES take the edge off. Sometimes that is all one needs.

Hmm. I would have to respectfully disagree here. I can't function without prozac. I do not mean that lightly. By this I mean i actually can't get out of bed, or do a simple thing like make a phone call, or take a shower. It certainly does not make me 'accept' what is wrong. I am constantly working on my inner self, and learning and growing and working on my anxiety/depression.

From the times I have gone off the prozac (by design or not), I go right back into constant frustration, hopelessness and dread. Prozac does NOT make one 'happy.' It only brings me to something approaching functional/neurotypically normal. It is about normalizing brain chemistry.

Hi Jeanne,

I could write a book responding to you. So I will address your posts in sections.

If you love butter, your body is telling you there is something you REALLY NEED there!

Much that we were taught about healthy diet and weight loss has now been proven to be wrong. There is a whole lot being discovered that will dramatically change how we eat and take care of ourselves. It is actually very exciting.

A combination of listening to and responding to what your body is telling you with understanding how it works, can clear up many (if not all) health issues. You are really going to love learning more about this.

I was wondering how best to quickly and helpfully respond here, and hurray! I just received a new article that should open a door - Ori Hofmekler & Dr. Mercola. I have not watched the video yet, because I have to be careful with band width usage here (satellite internet in the boonies). But the text is very informative and I am sure the video is good, too.

More later...

Cheers!

Hi Jilly,

Thank you for telling us about your experience with prozac. I apologize if my comment caused you any uncomfortable feelings, and I appreciate you speaking up about it.

I realize (thank you for reminding me) that we are all different, and this means prozac (and other psychiatric meds) can be perfect for some people.

I have been through depressed periods in my life, and I have had counseling, and tried a depression drug that was prescribed which wasn't right for me (I threw it away after 1 day). I did well with taking Sam-e, though. I used that for perhaps a year, and stopped when it wasn't needed.

I ultimately discovered that I am much more resilient and upbeat if I can get more sleep and pace myself. I had been living in a state of constant responsibilities and demands. It was a hectic pace of routinely always scraping by at the last minute, working terribly hard (all-night marathons to get things ready, etc.) and then feeling apologetic for not having accomplished more. And I did it to myself, though I didn't see that at the time. So for me, depression was a symptom of my lifestyle, of the demands I had placed on myself, or trapped myself within.

I am always looking for ways to be independent of meds. I tend to look for alternatives that come from within and/or from nature and are inherently accessible. For instance, I avoid taking antibiotics unless I really need them. So prozac can be in the same category for me. I would take it if I really really needed it. And, like antibiotics, I would try to know how to never need it.

I have known a few people who took prozac regularly (and told me... who knows how many don't mention it). They seemed to me to be trapped in lifestyles that went against their natures. It seemed to me that those particular people took it so they could cope with that. They also liked it a lot, and got prozac prescriptions for their children, too. I was concerned about that.

I hope to learn from your responses to all this, and to become a better informed and wiser person. I appreciate you rounding out my knowledge. :-)

Respectfully,

The rescue remedy doesn't seem to work for me at all. I really don't want to be on a mood enhancer or any meds to I have to be weaned off from. Thus, I'll work my way through the shelf at Walgreens and maybe something will be helpful there.

My daughter, Hannah, is on prozac. I'm not an advocate of medicating children, but this is definitely helping her with her anxiety from her Asperger's. Perhaps when she is older and on her own she will be able to go off the prozac and be happy. For now, I'm going to keep her on it for the time being.

Wow, you ladies have been busy. And I presume you all had an AWESOME "Mother's Day"...

Me, got stuck with his family, but I was good - had to step away for some ALONE time a few times to avoid getting into our car and using my "spare" key to take off(lol). While I appreciate how close they ALL are, it is a "love-hate" routine - one minute they are all hugging on each other, the next minute they are cursing each other out

But I survived and I am at the library, could use the laptop at home - but NEEDED to get out and see other folks today. Yes, he finally went back to work but I did not want to hang around until he did and say something "smart" = when I am stressed or tired, my MOUTH gets me in TROUBLE!!!!

Yes, Jeanne let us know how your chart goes. That is a very wise thing to do. That is what I did when my cycles started to get irregular = that is when I figured out I was pre-menopause. Hey, did not have a mom or sisters to chat about this with (lol). But I have kept my daughter (age 24) abreast of my travels so that hopefully she will be spared alot of what I went through to finally hook up with you guys. While we may not be able to ELIMINATE the process, it does help to know how other women are handling their process.

UPDATE: Still HOT!!!

But hanging in there to see how it goes with the summer. Thank goodness we now have electric. Was dreading going into summer without any, but God was good and we back in business. YipppEEEEE!

ok, I set up my spreadsheet to track my symptoms. We'll see if any cycles pop up.

Today, I feel much much better. I've been extremely down and did a lot of crying the past ten days. Of course, my family (except my aspie girl, Hannah) basically blowing off Mother's Day wasn't helpful. I suspected my other daughter & husband weren't going to do anything, so I made up my own plans in case they ignored the holiday. So I took myself to a movie Sunday afternoon. :-)

Hope everyone else had a nice Mother's Day.

Jeanne, you deserve a great Mother's Day. This is the first year that my sons (24 & 28) have really bestirred themselves. Some kids aren't self-starters.

I'm glad you made your own fun. Hope you had a good movie day.

Connie (who is really, truly grateful for Jeanne-my spammie buddy!)

I've been using progesterone cream (non-prescription) for several years. You can buy it at Whole Foods. I buy it online because I need a fragrance free option. I also take Vitex to help regulate my periods (sporadically -- I take it following a too-soon period, for instance & it works better if you take it regularly.) But, for the most part, I'm still regular. You can buy this most anywhere in tincture or pills (I take pills).

I highly recommend reading "What your Doctor May Not Tell you Abot Perimenopause". Lots of info in the book, lots of recommended natural supplements -- geared to specific ailments.

Also, for the hot flashes (I've only had less than a dozen true "flashes" over the past few years--miserable, nausea-inducing glimpses of hell). I've always been hot-natured, though. And, now, particularly at night, I get hot. Not sweating, usually, I just like it to be COLD when I sleep (67 degrees, please).

So, what can help is one of those blue-gel ice packs you can get at the drugstore. Put it around your neck or even under your pillowcase (not directly on skin if it's frozen). Even not frozen, it's a little cool and helps a bit. I saw this on some news program recently and tried it--love it!

Definitely worth trying the progesterone cream. The book explains why very well and I think it helps me a lot.

Thanks Deb! Good to know it's at Whole Foods. There is one a few miles from my home. I'm feeling good today and starting to catch up on things now.

Deb - thanks for stopping by and helping us out

Jeanne - GLAD to see you are having a BETTER day

I had a hysterectomy 2 1/2 years ago (I still have my ovaries) and I am 40. I know even a total vaginal hysterectomy can trigger earlier menapause. I have wicked hot flashes at night. I too wake up with a soaked pillow and sometimes have to change clothes. UGH! I am having an FSH test later this month.

LOL Alissa, I just asked you about those hot flashes and night sweats in the site where we talked about "fibroids"...

What is a FSH test?

Thanks,

FSH is a test to measure how well your ovaries are working to help determine if you may be in Menapause. The problem is that the #'s fluctuate, so you could get different readings every week. UGH!

Interesting, never heard of this test. I just thought once you did not have a monthly for a year, you were considered being in complete menopause. But I guess with you having a hysterectomy(did I spell this right/lol), it would be hard to tell. Let us know how it goes if you feel up to sharing.

Hi Lisa, You have found the cause of hot flashes, stress, however, let me share the solution. When you go into menopause, your adrenal glands take over the task of providing the hormones, that used to come from your sex organs. Stress exhausts your adrenal glands, so they can't deliver the hormones your body is screaming for. I have helped women stop hot flashes in a month by taking the Adrenal Glandulars. If your favorite vitamin store doesn't carry them, send me an e-mail at astarte@ageproofyourbodyastrologically.com for a store that does.

Help!

I had the test for menopause two years ago and I was menopausal. I thought my menopause had finished, but this week, about every hour or two, I am flushing and I really do not feel well today. Why would I suddenly start getting hot flushes?

I took myself off of hormone replacement over a year ago because it actually made me feel suicidal and gave me really heavy periods every month! I have not had another period since. This is the first time I have had hot flushes and it is very confusing.

Why would they start up now? Silly question but could the fact I haven't eaten meat for over a month be contributing to these flushes?

I am not stressed, I am feeling very healthy and until this week it has not happened to me.

Linda:

I am hoping Tammy surfaces to help you on this subject as I wish I knew. I did not have any luck with getting any help from her, but with you being another editor that may get her to respond.

Have you asked your ob/gyn?

Thanks for sharing with us

Besides the herbs used for menopause, I heard that using herbs to clean up our liver really helps. I used Milk Thistle and it did take a few weeks before I started noticing that it helped. I just kept taking it to keep my liver clean and it makes a big difference.

Personally I am looking forward to the cooler temps. The nights have gone down to 50 and I keep my windows open, hoping to catch a breeze. (The days are still in the 80's so the house has not had the opportunity to cool down - so I'm still using my fams)

Hot flashes are one of the most common symptoms of menopause. It is also one of the most irritating and burdensome symptoms that affect menopausal women. Hormone replacement therapy is still the best treatment for menopausal symptoms. However, many women choose not to undergo hormone replacement therapy because it increases the risk of heart disease and breast cancer. Also, many women prefer natural treatment to minimize side effects.