Hot Flashes

[scorpio48]

I'm 48 and experiencing Hot Flashes that are out of control. Does anyone have any suggestions on what really works? There so embarassing I can't take it any more. I don't have health insurance so I can't go to my doctor.

Thanks for your help!

[minniepauz]

The best thing to do is put "hot flash remedies" in the search feature above and you'll see a lot of what women have tried before. It's never the same thing for everyone unfortunately, but you might want to try some of the ideas.

[gracious granny]

Hi, and I am so sorry you are having such a hard time:( I am 3 years post menopausal and I am one of the lucky ones in that I never had much trouble with hot flashes/night sweats, my biggest problem was and still is that I am freezing cold all the time. Have you tried any natural remedies?
I have tried Hormone replacement 2X and it just did not agee with me but 1 thing that has helped is black cohosh. I take 80 mg a day. You can buy it in generic brands or in some name brands (Estroven, Remmifemin (sp?). I haven't had any side effects but you can research it online and see if you think it would be right for you. Good Luck!

[scorpio48]

I am so tired of wasting money, I've been to the doctor and been taking vitamins and nothing is helping me. I do not have health insurance and need suggestions on what I should purchase to help me with the following:

*Irritability
*Mood Swings
*Hot Flashes
*Weight Gain
*Fuzzy Thinking
*Tired all the time (all I want to do is sleep)
*Body feels sore and tight (tension)

I have to force myself to get going in the morning.

Thank you.

[SLee]

Not sure I can be of much help. I was 47 when this started as well - now 50. I have not been without Evening Primrose Oil for over 15 YRS. When I started with it, it was for PMS. I take a 1300 mg. capsule 2 X's/day. You must experiment. Black Cohosh can be helpful to some. I got very engrossed in natural or bio-identical progesterone and I do believe that in the beginning, it helped me. My hot flashes and night sweats got SO out of control a year ago that I cancelled a family vacation. I just didn't see the point. The family was pissed. OH WELL...just as I cannot describe childbirth - I cannot describe peri-menopause - you'd just have to be there:) Good luck. I'll keep thinking on this. I've tried everything and don't want to steer you wrong, but I have some thoughts and I will be posting them in a seperate topic.

[gorgeousfluffpot]

I didn't find anything that really worked for me, and it was embarrassing as hell! At many business meetings I would suddenly see my reflection in a mirror, bright red, and people looking at me thinking "wonder if she's a secret drinkers". Whilst the broken nights and intense heat are awful, it was the embarrassment more than anything.
My advice - tell people, but in a jokey sense. Just say, at the start of any meeting/meal/occasion - "I'm at that stage in life when I'm having a few hot moments so do excuse me if I turn bright red on you". And then make a joke about does anyone have a fire extinguisher handy.

It will break the ice, and forewarn people. And, actually, most people will be fairly sympathetic. You mentioned the embarrassment, and this tackles it head on. Drink plenty of water, run your wrists under cool water, carry a Spanish fan (oooh looks very exotic, much better than those nasty battery-operated things ... it gives you a Continental air !). Wear only cotton, and layers. You won't be able to wear any synthetics/lurex/artificials for ages because when you hot-flush in those then you really DO burst into flames!

Have sympathy for me, though. I'm still having those hot moments but have somehow got roped into doing a party-turn for about 80 people this weekend - a belly dance in public would you believe. Went to the fancy dress shop and found a lovely outfit but it is NYLON (eeek!!! Double-eeeekkk!!). So, not only am I throwing my (a few stone) overweight carcass around, exposing my middle aged and rather flabby belly whilst lumbering about trying to look seductive, I am also doing this in what will be a very hot venue and also wearing a nylon outfit. If I hot-flush during that then they will DEFINITELY have to call out the fire engines!

[minniepauz]

I want to see pictures, GFP!!!

[gorgeousfluffpot]

that's a possibility - someone is threatening to video it and put it on YouTube!!! If they do I shall post the link ...

Like I say, four minutes of looning around and lifetime of embarrassment afterwards ....

[KarenR]

You are a hero though...at least you are willing to put yourself out there and do it!!!!

[gorgeousfluffpot]

hey it was a hoot, cheers and wolfwhistles all around - thank goodness, I dreaded lumbering out on stage to a shocked silence as 80 partygoers wondered who'd dressed up the elephant!!! Actually, a couple of glasses of red wine beforehand helped considerably.

If anyone's interested, here's some photos, or at least a link to some photos:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/7664857@N05/

there's a few of them, thankfully at a distance!

I shall now have to spend the next year in false nose and glasses to avoid being recognised !

[minniepauz]

You look FABULOUS in the pics!! Good job, kiddo!! and thanks for sharing the pics with us!

[gorgeousfluffpot]

thanks, Dee, as you can see the stage was dangerously close to the pool and I had a nightmare of doing an energetic and exotic spin, displaying the sensuality of the womanly form combined with the mysterious undulations of the Egyptian dance ...... and then losing balance and falling with a big SPLOOOOSH ! into the pool! Narrowly avoided it although that may have lent a certain something to my act, don't you think? !!!!

[MusicTeach]

I had been having the WORST hot flashes/night sweats ever. One night, in desperation, I kepta tally sheet by my bed and throughout the night tallied 20 severe sweats. I have tried everything. I am 53, and I had been in perimenopause for at least 15 years . During the last 2 years I have had the terible night sweats and morning hot flashes. I would seriously visuaize myself jumping from my bedroom wondow into a snowbank and seeing steam rise. I tried everything. I sent away for a special "wicking' pillowcase...didn't work. I ordered a "wicking" nightgown. I liked it, but it didnt help. I have tried borage oil, fish oil, evening primrose oil, black cohosh. Nothing worked. My gynecologist prescribed Gabapentin, 300 mg. about 3 hours before bed. She said that this was not a medication that was specifically meant for night sweats, but it had been accidentally discovered that it helped. She told me that the only side effect that I might see was a swelling of the fingers and toes. I was on the lowest dose. The first night that I took it, I slept through the night with no night sweats and no side effects. When I woke up in the morning, I almost cried in relief. I stayed on it for around 3 months, but I did notice that the swelling in my hands and feet was bothering me, so I decided to stop it. I immediatley went back to the severe hot flashes. Next I tried the natural supplement Menoquil and it has worked like a charm. I am almost finished with my first month of being on the supplement and I was so shocked that it worked, since no other natural supplement had.

[minniepauz]

You are the perfect example of what I've been telling women for 15 years....you have to educate yourself, then you have to experiment to find what is going to work for you. It's never easy, but when you're suffering as much as you were there's no giving up!! So glad you've found something that is helping!

Thank you for joining our forum and sharing your experiences!!

As always, please remember that different products work differently for each of us so if you decide to try something that has been recommended, go at it with the idea that this may not work for you or it may work for awhile and then stop. Also make sure you consider other medicine or herbals you may be taking. Talk with your doctor or do some research online before you start adding something new to your regimen.

[sherryokie]

Hey Georgeousfluff - I went to your belly dance pictures! You did great - an inspiration to us all. Something very liberating about "this age" isn't there? The 50's feel very freeing to me - (or maybe it's my excuse to say I really don't give a crap what other people think" - Keep Dancing!