<p>Laser, I hope night two of the benadryl was a success! </p>
<p>Argh–had my annual appointment with the gyn and asked about the duration of hot flashes. Oh, two to five years is average. “What?! I thought you told me two years” said I. “Oh no. Two to five,” said he. So there you have it. The official bad news. Well, the good news is that this is only an average. Many of you will be lucky enough to fall on the short side. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that I am just average at this point.</p>
<p>He also said that a majority of women get relief from black cohosh.</p>
<p>I had a doctor tell me that hot flashes don’t raise blood pressure but mine went up 20 to 30 points each time (top number). Bottom number would raise 5 to 10 points. Doctors don’t know everything. Luckily I am through with that now.</p>
<p>I was thrown into menopause suddenly after a diagnosis of estrogen-sensitive breast cancer. During and after chemo I had violent hot flashes followed by chills, all day and night, for months. Whatever regulates body temperature just seemed way out of whack. My doctor prescribed Neurontin, an anti-epilepsy medicine that also works for hot flashes. I took it for a few months, and when I tapered off it, the hot flashes didn’t come back. I’ve been pretty much hot-flash free for 6 years now. But I’m careful not to bring them on; I wear minimal or no clothing to bed and I have several layers of blankets, rather than a single heavy quilt, so that I can add and subtract covering as necessary.</p>
<p>Night two was successful as well with the Benadryl, but I didn’t fall asleep quite as fast, as I had ice tea at lunch. Both mornings afterwards, I was groggier than normal, which I didn’t like. The last two nights I’ve been sleeping without the Benadryl pretty normal. I think I have symptoms that come and go. The next time it hits badly, I’ll try the Benadryl right away to get over the hump. Also, something else, that I have found helpful in the past is color light acupuncture & cranial sacral massage. The color light therapy uses different color lights on the acupuncture areas and they can treat for sleep, hot flashes and other symptoms. I had been there last in September and had been doing great until December. I just went back in yesterday for another treatment. I’ll let you know how well it goes.</p>
<p>Sometimes the right sleepwear can be of some help, although obviously it’s not a cure-all. Soma makes a line called “Cool Nights” that are soft, comfortable, and designed to help combat the night sweats problem. The line is available on their website or in their stores.</p>
<p>Plantmom – I used a supplement called Oona (black cohosh), for the last couple of years, and it did seem to help. I haven’t had a hot flash for awhile now, maybe 6 months, although I have heard that they can come back. And now and then I have a weird sensation sort of feels like I used to before a hot flash, but then nothing comes of it. Anyway, I’ve stopped with the Oona, and the Revival Soy (which I also used for three or four years), since I don’t seem to need them anymore, but I do think both were helpful. Although the soy causes other problems – gas – :0. And the duration of hot flashes was about five years for me. And there were other symptoms – anxiety, depression. If only it was just hot flashes. For so many women, it is much more than that.</p>
<p>And to help sleep, I took a passionflower supplement for awhile. Worked for me. Again, don’t seem to need it anymore, I’m happy to say.</p>
<p>Update: hot flashes still coming on strong, however I found a couple of comfort solutions. At 1:00 a.m. the other night, I thought about my old favorite summer-weight comforter and got out of bed and made the switch. I slept so much better with less covers that I felt like an idiot for not switching earlier. Duh!</p>
<p>Yesterday, I bought a “Nice and Cool” gel mat from Walmart for $15. It is kept at room temperature and feels cool to the touch when you lay back on it. It feels like it’s pulling the heat from the body. I used it last night by simply having it next to my pillow and reaching for it when needed. Again, I feel like an idiot for not buying this a month ago!</p>
<p>I’m off the flax daily because it didn’t seem to have any affect, but it’s still healthy, so I may sprinkle it on cereal once in a while.</p>
<p>I started having hot flashes the day of my neck surgery in 2011 (I had just turned 50 and was still having regular periods). Eventually they subsided. But recently I began having them again. No mood swings really, other than sobbing at intervals since we put our dog to sleep 2 weeks ago. </p>
<p>These are really miserable. I cannot and will not take HRT, so I need other options.</p>
<p>DH, in the midst of the thermostat wars, asked “How long is this going to last?” “I’m tired of being cold!”</p>
<p>I wanted to SOCK him, really I did. And I am not a violent person. In fact, when this guy got colon cancer, I had nightmares of life without my best friend. But this attitude made me want to put a curse on him. What I would GIVE to be cold. So easy to solve that problem, but what can you do once you have thrown off the covers and are next to naked, yet still feel like a furnace is burning all over your body?</p>
<p>My Mom (who passed away suddenly days after this thread was started, so I see how I missed it) told me she never had any symptoms of menopause other than cessation of periods. I had hoped to have the same experience, but no such luck.</p>
<p>Any new advancements in the treatment of hot flashes since last year?</p>
<p>Yeah nrdsb4 for finding this thread! Am on my way up to bed for the evening, but will chime in tomorrow. I probably didn’t pay attention to this thread when it started last year because it didn’t apply to me… yet! Just started a couple of months ago so I’m eager to go back and read the entire thread.</p>
<p>I have found, in regards to the thermostat wars, that it helps me immensely just to have a fan. So I do…all the time. Hubby sets the thermostat mostly for his comfort, and I keep a fan on me ALL THE TIME. It’s not perfect for anyone, but it’s a decent compromise.</p>
<p>^^^Yeah, I got the fan and placed in on my bedside table. Mostly it’s really great, but lately, it is not cutting it. I am burning up, thinking, WTH is the deal?! I’ve got that fan blowing on me, so WHY am I still burning up?!"</p>
<p>Have not read every post but H–a doc–says for some women they last until they are 100. sigh</p>
<p>OH–something to share–I bought a wicking tshirt and wear it under my pj’s and find a bit of relief. The wicking means that I do not wake up clammy. Told my Doc and he said he would pass this on to his wife.</p>
<p>That said I do have estrogen patches that I change once a week. No way am I giving them up. Fortunately no history of breast cancer in my family. I also take a progesterone pill nightly. When I have gone off this mix I am miserable. I was full blown at 46–doc did not believe me and then periods until age 52 (never missed until the ! final month-no tapering at all!)</p>
<p>For those of you who might be in peri menopause please realize that the emotional symptoms can be quite distressful.
Read some articles or books. Most women look back and are amazed at how they were crabby and emotional but had no idea that they were in peri menopause. Can be worse than actual menopause as at least then you are looking for it.</p>
<p>“I could literally feel it coming over me, from head to toes. I learned to just be calm and let it pass.”</p>
<p>oldfort, I think I am learning to do this too. (Either that, or my hot flashes are physically diminishing.) I have noticed with me that they definitely <em>can</em> be related to emotions like embarrassment or shyness. So I’m learning to subvert them by controlling how I feel.</p>
<p>But other times, it’s just physical. Coffee definitely brings them on for me. And they are so unpleasant that it’s really been the only thing to get me to lighten up on my coffee intake.</p>
<p>Luckily at this point I haven’t had any of the grumpiness people sometimes experience - but I will tell you, when I work with the public, women our age can be the most difficult, irrational people. I try to just be kind and get done what they need in the context of my job.</p>
<p>I had night sweats on and off for about a year, but they stopped a few months ago. I’m 51 and haven’t had a period since last March. Maybe I’m done?!? If so, I’ve had it easy so far.</p>
<p>I have had panic attacks, and vertigo and just recently, what I am guessing are just the beginning of hot flashes. I fear for when they get really bad. It almost feels like I have started running a fever of 101-102 degrees and I feel kind of like I am going to faint. My blood pressure is low, usually. I sometimes even get a little nauseated. At first I thought it was my migraines, but completely different feeling. </p>
<p>I was out shopping the other day and one came on suddenly. They haven’t hit me too hard in middle of night, yet. I am hot, but not super clammy like I keep hearing from others. I do have one of those chillows in the fridge, though. </p>
<p>My periods have been wacky and borderline horrible on and off for several years. Doc seems unconcerned. </p>
<p>The beginning of this change has not been all that pleasant. I keep the ceiling fan on almost year round now. It is driving my husband crazy. I bought the lightest weight down duvet at Ikea, and that is even too hot now.</p>
<p>Ladies, I can relate. I had been experiencing mild peri menopause symptoms for a few years until this summer when the hot flashes started. Fortunately for DH, it was summer and the fan in our room was a relief for both of us. Coffee or any warm drink would bring it on. Then they tapered off in September.
My periods were always regular until last year. Then this summer, it stopped all together. Counting the months til June when it will be a year.</p>
<p>It occurs to me that, when we were pre-teens and our bodies were gearing up for puberty, the mood swings and other nastiness were very much physiologically based – just like all these peri-menopausal and menopausal symptoms are. No wonder teenage girls are b!tche$. Who can blame them??</p>
<p>^^^^I remember that before my period would start, I would get very easily upset. Sometimes I would rage at my boyfriend for no good reason. I knew I was being unreasonable, but I had trouble controlling it. When I’d get my period, I would feel like a storm had passed, and I’d be calm again.</p>
<p>I haven’t had that yet, and am hoping I don’t. A friend had such horrible rages, it nearly destroyed her marriage. I witnessed some of them (almost always directed at her husband), and it was awkward, embarrassing (I was embarrassed for her), and a little frightening. This went on for five years. Now she is happy and back to normal again. Her DH is very relieved. :)</p>
<p>I get them daily (mostly overnight) as I get my period and then very intermittently during the month. It’s the worst of both worlds all at the same time!<br>
I am very irritable these days. I effectively give my self a time out when I am at my most grumpy. I go to a quiet part of the house with some decaf tea and something to read. No HRT for me (aunt with breast cancer and generally medicine adverse). I limit my chocolate, alcohol, and caffeine and that seems to help - but not eliminate - the flashes. Some of the herbal remedies have unpleasant (digestive) side effects. I am glad to know I am not alone.</p>