<p>^I know the trick, beer with pomegranate juice looks like red wine and taste much better. I have it every evening, yummm!</p>
<p>Thanks swimcatsmom, although this feels like a regular period. I only went off the pill last April, so it’s been 7-8 months. And I guess my mom went two years and then had a period. My sister told her it was better that she had it than that she <em>didn’t</em> have it. ;)</p>
<p>baseballmom–copying your description and e-mailing it to <equally old=""> friends. Quite the visual!!</equally></p>
<p>I am still having regular periods @ 55, although I also get mild hot flashes occasionally, especially with a glass of wine. Havent had the FSH test, should I ask for it?
I know exercise helps cramping from periods, but hadn’t heard that it also helps hot flashes, miamidap, thats interesting.
At least I dont have the waves of menstrual related hormones I did in my early 20’s, but I still get the more minor symptoms.
Since my sister has done quite a bit of genealogy, I noted that we seem to be relatively long lived, even in the 1600’s my great+ aunts & grandmothers were living into their 80’s.</p>
<p>I haven’t noticed any behavior connection to the warm flushes ( mine aren’t really hot flashes), but I will start paying more attention, even though they are still so infrequent the only thing I can connect them to is wine, even one glass. :(</p>
<p>Do men get them? My H sleeps so hot, the bedclothes on his side are wet in the morning. :p</p>
<p>Didn’t read through the whole thread, but I do use Estroven on the advice of my OBGYN and if I take it consistently, it does reduce the number and severity of the flashes…</p>
<p>Also, controlling dietary choices helps too…</p>
<p>Men ge flashes also. You have to know what causes it. You have to watch intake before exercise (for some reason, tea is no, no) and absolutely have to watch the amount of clothes while moving around. The best is to have several thin layers and peel them off as needed.</p>
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<p>There is, in a way. See the little green squares and the scales underneath each screen name? Mouse over them, and click on the scales.</p>
<p>Hugs to those of you who have struggled with these issues. I didn’t realize how bad this could be. I had a few hot flashes over a couple of months, only two or three that were serious and those were after eating something spicy like barbeque potato chips that I shouldn’t be eating anyway. This was nine years ago when I actually went through the change, and it happened all in just about six months. </p>
<p>I have always been cold except during that time and during pregnancy, but in the last few years I have been cold even more. Cold flashes–that is it exactly! Then I put on more clothes or blankets, but then I get hot. Sometimes at night I am so freezing I go to bed in sweatshirt or sweater and sweatpants plus regular blanket and quilt plus a wool blanket. Then I wake up at 2 or 3 way too hot.</p>
<p>I think the temperature regulation system needs a new switch.</p>
<p>Off and on during my 40s I had mild hot flashes. They always happened at 7:30 A.M., lasted a couple of minutes, then disappeared. This went on for years. As I entered my early 50s, the hot flashes totally disappeared. I found that strange. I knew that I was in perimenopause because my periods were getting shorter and closer together. I went from a 32 day cycle when I was young to a 21 day cycle in my early 50s. I assumed that when I finally reached menopause the hot flashes would come back and would probably become more frequent. I considered a hot flash to be a minor nuisance and would never consider taking Hrt or any other medication to prevent them.</p>
<p>I now know why many women look for help during menopause. I injured my upper back 7 years ago. The injury led to chronic upper back and neck pain and stiffness. After the initial 4 month recovery period, the pain and stiffness were annoying and I was concerned that I didn’t feel back to normal, but I was coping well and not taking any medication. I had resumed my walking regimen and felt pretty healthy. Life was pretty normal for the next 3 years. Four years ago I had my final period at age 54. Practically the day of that last period I felt like I started falling apart. </p>
<p>The hot flashes returned with a vengeance. One day I decided to count how many times they happened. I stopped counting at 6:00 P.M. when I had reached 30. It was too depressing to keep counting, LOL! Some of the incidences were mild; others had the sweat dripping off my forehead and soaking my torso. Still, I just considered the hot flashes to be an annoyance - not life altering. My real problem was the overwhelming fatigue that set in. Over the next 5 to 6 months I got to a point where all I could do was sit on the couch. I developed Achilles tendinitis in both heels just about the day of my last period. I tried to continue my walking routine for several weeks after the injuries, but eventually decided that I needed to rest the tendons to let them heal. It’s now been 41/2 years since that problem cropped up. (The tendinitis is now correctly termed chronic tendiNOsis. I’m finally having some success in clearing it up thanks to a Swedish research study I read. It involves stretching the calf muscles several times a day.) I had been a fairly active person before my last period. Afterward, I’d feel exhausted if I went to the grocery store to shop for an hour. I’d feel totally whipped! I never felt like I got enough sleep. I couldn’t stay in bed for more than 8 hours because the back and neck pain and stiffness would get too bad. I had cold flashes in addtition to the hot flashes. I started checking my basal body temperature and found it to be very low. There were nights I felt so cold that I could not go to sleep. My feet would feel like ice cubes. I was convinced that I was hypothyroid. Because I had taken myself off my H’s health insurance policy and moved to a Blue Cross/Blue Shield policy to help pay those fun college expenses for youngest D, any trips to the doctor would be paid out of pocket. I put off the trip as long as I could stand it. Eleven months after hell began, I finally saw a doctor.<br>
She told me that my thyroid levels were perfectly normal and that she thought my problem was fibromyalgia. She prescribed Cymbalta. I was also sent to a cardiologist for a battery of tests. A 24 hour stint on a Holter monitor showed that I was correct when I reported to the doc that every time I sat down my heart rate slowed to around 45 beats per minute! It turns out I was haing multiple bouts of PVCs - far more than the average person. That’s either another symptom of menopause or of fibromyalgia. The cardiologist pronounced my heart to be healthy and shrugged his shoulders when it came to knowing why I had so many PVCs. </p>
<p>I’ve been seeing a fibro specialist for 2 years now. She agrees that my so-called fibromyalgia may well have been triggered by menopause. She gave me the okay to have my OB-GYN prescribe HRT in September to see if it would help with my fatigue. It hasn’t. It did however, increase my hot flashes for the 1st 6 weeks I was on it! My hot flashes had tapered off considerably before I went on HRT. I hadn’t been awakened by one in months. I was waking up again when I first went on HRT. I did some web research and found I was not alone. But, my OB had never heard of the problem! My hot flashes have now diminished to the point that I go days in between having one. Yay! However, they had been tapering off before I started HRT. Most of them in the past few months were triggered by getting physically hot or performing some kind of physical exertion. I’m continuing the HRT experiment for at least another few months because - wait for it! - I got diagnosed with full-blown osteoporosis in September. If it’s not one thing, it’s another, sigh… Despite my body going haywire, things are better. I am not as tired as I was 4 years ago. I am taking a 60 mg dose of caffeine every morning to get some of my energy back. I discovered a few months ago that there is such a thing as timed-release acetaminophen. It helps tremendously in reducing my night-time pain and stiffness, so I sleep better. I took myself off of Cymbalta at the end of May. I’m one of the lucky ones who gets hypertension from the drug. My fibro specialist wanted me to add a blood pressure medication to cope with the side effect. I refuse to go that route! I think I’m doing as well, if not better with the caffeine and the acetaminophen. I am skeptical that fibromyalgia is really what’s wrong with me. I’ve been suspecting in the past few months that my real problem is severe menopausal symptoms. Maybe one of these days I’ll find out for sure. In any case, I’ll be glad when this phase of my life gets better!</p>
<p>Good to know about the PVCs & fibro.
Im peri- menopausal ?, have fibro & osteoporosis, but because I had a heart attack scare a while ago, I am scheduled for a nuclear stress test soon, no one mentioned that it might be connected to the fibromyalgia. </p>
<p>Getting old may be hard, but my PMS was so bad when I was in my early 20’s I was pretty nuts. At least pain meds help sometimes now. :)</p>
<p>It seems that just about every symptom known to womankind can be attributed to fibro according to some researchers. There’s still so much to be learned about the syndrome.</p>
<p>One week after I was put on Cymbalta, my PVCs just about disappeared. They also stayed away while I did trials with venlafaxine (generic Effexor) and Savella. When I stopped taking Cymbalta last June, the PVCs came back. I have incidences of them multiple times per day. In fact, I’m having a bout right now as I type! Fortunately, they don’t bother me. I’m just aware that my heart seems to be beating more slowly and more forcefully than usual.</p>
<p>I hope that your stress test shows no problems, Emeraldkity!</p>
<p>dancermom - I tend to think EVERYthing is hormone related at this point in my life. In the evenings I get so cold I can’t even think, I go to bed freezing, ice cube feet, pile on blankets, sometimes I can’t get to sleep because I’m so cold, then I wake up 2 hours later sweating. It’s the only time of day (night) when I’m not freezing. At work I have a space heater hidden under my desk because we’re not supposed to use them, it is on from the moment I get there until I go home. I almost wish I had hot flashes, the cold is torture. I also have that fatigue. I take a LOT more than 60 mg of caffeine. It was kind of funny when you complained about not being able to stay in bed longer than 8 hours - I’m thrilled if I get 6!</p>
<p>One thing I remember about my mother when I was a teenager and she was about the same age as I am now - she was always cold. Always. We made fun of her because she was so cold. Now I think I know how she felt.</p>
<p>Caffeine is a vasoconstrictor. Depending on how much you take in, besides increasing B/P, it can cause cold extremities and sleep disturbances. You may also get a rebound effect and have to taper off the amount and time of day that you drink coffee. It may help a bit with the symptoms. Sometimes I go to bed wearing summer nightgowns but wool socks on my feet! They always get kicked off.</p>
<p>PhotoOp,
I feel for you. I too felt like the only time I was warm was during my hot flashes. I’ve had goosebumps in the summer when the temperature in my house was 78 degrees. I huddled in front of my spaceheater all winter long. I gave up wearing skirts and dresses any time of the year because they weren’t warm enough. Taking antidepressants did improve both my being cold most of hte time and the number of hot flashes I was having. Since I stopped taking the drugs in June, i have noticed that I am chillier. I’m waiting to see if I start freezing again this winter. I hope not! </p>
<p>As for the caffeine, I take half of a One A Day vitamin tablet every morning that gives me a controlled dose of 60 mg. For me, that’s a scary dose. I’m hypersensitive to caffeine and have been for decades. In the past, a single can of Coke or Pepsi in the evening would keep me awake literally all night. Colas contain about 32 mg of caffeine per 12 ounce can. In the past, two cans of cola could send me into extreme nausea, sweating, rapid heartrate, and an overall feeling that I was about to die. It’s extremely unpleasant. My dad had the same problem. Caffeine from a single cup of coffee sent him into tachycardia on two separate occasions and landed him in the ER.</p>
<p>When I went off Cymbalta in June I decided to try caffeine to see if it would help with my fatigue. I had been given 6 weeks of samples of a drug called Nuvigil last year. I really felt much better when I was taking it. The drug for developed for people with narcolepsy and is used for that condition and sleep shift disorder. My insurance company will not pay for the drug for patients with fibro. The stuff is ridiculously expensive. Even the older formulation, Provigil, which is now available in a generic form costs over $600.00 per month. I can’t afford that. So, I decided I would try caffeine.
It took me around 6 weeks for my body to acclimate. In the beginning I had a lot of nausea that felt kind of like hypoglycemia. The only thing that helped was keeping food in my stomach. So, naturally, I gained weight. Grrrr! But, I do feel more alert now. On the few occasions when I’ve forgotten to take the caffeine, I drag. A couple of weeks ago I tried swallowing an entire tablet instead of my usual half. Boy was I sorry! I felt sick for a couple of hours.</p>
<p>I just sleep under a small light weight down quilt (all my own) so I can throw it off and on all night long…real bed covers are a pain. Hot…cold…hot…cold…feet in socks, no socks…
Thankfully I’m over the insomnia and fast running brain which never stopped…thought I was going nuts…anybody else?</p>
<p>Oh my, I have been really lucky.<br>
Any relation to 20 years on Evista?</p>
<p>gouf – I pretty much had everything, I think, that one can get related to perimenopause/menopause – anxiety, depression, insomnia, heart palpitations, hot flashes and other strange sensations, fatigue . . . I am very thankful that most of these have greatly diminished in the past year couple of years! Now I am on to new things – stiffness, a lot of stiffness! and I think some beginning twinges of arthritis. Oh, there is something new every year!</p>
<p>Whether it’s a placebo effect or not (don’t care, as I find it helpful!) I’ve been taking the OTC Remifemin for about 6 months now…things are definitely thermally more comfortable.</p>
<p>It’s not a placebo-black cohosh has been used for decades for “female” complaints.
[Black</a> cohosh](<a href=“http://www.umm.edu/altmed/articles/black-cohosh-000226.htm]Black”>Page Is No Longer Available)</p>
<p>I hardly ever go into the Parent Cafe, but I did today and found my peeps! I’m almost 53, I’ve been having night sweats and sporadic periods for about 2 to 2 1/2 years. Last period was this past January . . . until THIS WEEK!! Boy, am I disgusted that “Aunt Flo” has come back to visit. Arrrgh! I was so glad to have all that done with, so I have been pi$$ed off the past few days. It’s actually kind of funny. </p>
<p>The night sweats were fairly bad about a year ago, but they had tapered off over the past few months . . . until last week, when I had three in a row . . . and then my period showed up on Saturday. I guess those sweats were the warning sign.</p>
<p>56 here and no periods for about 6 years. They just stopped suddenly. Had slight night sweats off and on for about a year but nothing that required changing of clothes. No real hot flashes except once in a while I did get slightly flushed when hurrying to get ready in the morning and blow drying my hair. Just got damp around my hairline but again no need to wash off but I did have to wait to put makeup on. This lasted about 2 years and I am still not sure it was just from rushing and being anxious. Many of my friends say drinking red wine brings on their hot flashes. Fortunately I have never had this problem! 
I do, however, suffer from occasional insomnia and I definitely can’t sleep through the night. That is my biggest complaint…oh, and of course weight gain. :(</p>