<p>Here is a thread I started so you are not alone. It has been 4 years for me and I believe it could go on for another
6 years. I have no words of comfort…wish I did.
<a href=“Anyone at the having hot flashes stage? - Parent Cafe - College Confidential Forums”>Anyone at the having hot flashes stage? - Parent Cafe - College Confidential Forums;
<p>Do any of you feel like stress will trigger your hot flashes? In addition to my usul triggers, caffeine, wine, spicy food, etc. I really think stress can be a trigger for me. I have a couple of job interviews coming up in the next few weeks and am thinking I need to start on Estrovan or something similar. Really don’t want to have a hot flash during the interview. I’m very fair skinned and my face turns bright red!</p>
<p>My DH and I have divided the bed. He sleeps on the special cooling mattress pad and a lightweight blanket. I sleep on the normal mattress pad and a separate blanket. We can each kick feet or arms out or pull them under to balance temperature. </p>
<p>Black cohosh supplements really work for me, 540 mg once n the morning (with food). AND I bit the radio ad 4 years ago for Amberen. It HAS worked for me. I take the 2 little pills also in the morning (with food). I noticed a remarkable difference in all of my menopausal symptoms pretty quickly. I have been so happy with it I have been “afraid” (for lack of a better word) to stop and try their suggestion of 90 days on, 90 days off. They’re supplements, not hormones, so I now just accept that they will be part of my daily routine. I still find myself throwing the blanket off and on during the night, but I don’t sweat, I’m just warm enough (chilly enough) to not need (need) the blanket. Thank god for supplements in our day and age. My poor mom & grandmother had it far rougher.</p>
<p>My theory is that it’s natures way of making us so miserable that we throw ourselves off a cliff and make room for the fertile women around the fire. Or we become so bit#%y that someone takes us out. Again, resulting in more room for the fertile women. #:-S </p>
<p>Thanks for the link. I’m ordering the magnets and black cohosh - now available on amazon. </p>
<p>dragon- that sounds similar to northern europes bed-germany, finland, etc style but the pad part is the same.</p>
<p>I am 47 and had my first hot flash in September. We were in LA during the heat wave and were at a Mexican restaurant on Santa Monica pier. I never had hot flashes before but it was really distressing. I had to excuse myself and go to the bathroom and wipe down my face and neck with cold water! But I started having them frequently after that first episode and night sweats became constant. Every night I was sweating, soaking wet and then freezing. </p>
<p>I had my annual exam not long after this started and my gyn said to try some different supplements. I also decided to try several different brands of sleepwear that I found by searching night sweats sleepwear. I really like Bamboo Dreams which was light, soft and came in a lot of different cute styles that I really appreciated. Some of the other brands were just so…I know I’m getting older but you think I want to wear THAT??? As for the supplement, I didn’t go to a specialty or vitamin store even though we have several in my neighborhood but I was in CVS and figured I’d try Nature’s Bounty Menopause Relief. It’s an AM/PM supplement and it smells SO bad that I have to wash my hands after taking it! But it’s really helping! The AM contains calcium, biotin and black cohosh. The PM contains calcium, valerian extract, hops flower extract, L-theanine, black cohosh and melatonin. Now I admit that I didn’t really do a lot of research on the ingredients although the black cohosh did come up a few times even in this thread, but for me, this seems to be working and I can get a 30 day supply BOGO at CVS.</p>
<p>I hope it gets better for you soon!</p>
<p>Sandkmom, if you like the bamboo pjs, try bamboo sheets! Awesome, and as you described the pjs, light,soft and just right.</p>
<p>Sandkmom - you might want to research taking calcium as a supplement. In recent years, many physicians have started to discourage women from taking it. My own endocrinologist has made it his yearly duty to me, to warn me about taking calcium in a supplement form and taking more than what is recommended for vitamin D. He says I really need to make sure I get calcium through my diet, and not supplements. </p>
<p><a href=“Thinking Twice About Calcium Supplements - The New York Times”>Thinking Twice About Calcium Supplements - The New York Times;
(ignore the part in the article about vitamin D)</p>
<p>I think that article makes clear that research findings are mixed. I am age 60 and take calcium supplements – I started taking them when I noticed my nails becoming very soft & fragile. I don’t take a high dosage – I generally take 500 mg. a day, not the 1000 mg. referenced in the article, because I feel dietary sources are enough for me to make up the difference. For me it was a fairly simple cause/effect observation: If my nails aren’t breaking, then I’m getting enough calcium. </p>
<p>The problem with all of those studies is that they are based on across-the-board statistics, not individual cases. A woman who has a known heart condition probably shouldn’t be taking calcium, for example. Same deal with the vitamin D - the article suggested that post-menopausal women refrain from taking vitamin D … but I know from from my labs that my vitamin D levels were borderline low – at the very bottom of where they should be – a year ago. I started taking a little over 2000 IU’s of vitamin D daily, and a year later, my vitamin D levels were well within normal range --but definitely not too high. So take what you need-- probably thinner women are more likely to benefit from taking calcium because the risk of osteoporosis is higher – heavier women might have reason to be less concerned about bone health and more concerned about heart health. </p>
<p>As to the hot flashes, just a note of encouragement: I haven’t had them in several years. When I did have them, I noticed that they would tend to come on when I was sedentary - so it helped me to exercise more. (And to get up and move around when I had them). A good supply of frozen juice bars in the fridge helped me a lot. Nothing else I took seemed to make much difference that I remember. It does help that I live in a relatively cool climate – I was always more likely to get hot flashes in situation where I was already getting overheated. It was actually kind of nice during cold weather – there were a couple of years when I saved a lot on my home heating bill, sleeping quite comfortably in temperatures that I would have found too cold before or since. Yes, even then sometimes I was too hot for comfort, but much of the time the coolness if the room was enough to get me through the night. Probably helps that I’m single so no bed partner to get upset at me for tossing off all the covers at random intervals during the night.</p>
<p>Anyway… for me I would say that the intense hot flashes lasted 2 or 3 years, after that I seemed to adjust pretty well to my new post-menopausal self. </p>
<p>I’ve had hot flashes for about 5 years! Now they’re only night sweats, but it is getting old (no pun intended). I’ve read or heard they can last even longer, so was a bit surprised when my Gyn. told me on my last visit that hormones should be “stabilized” by now, and no longer causing night sweats. She suggested I check diet, caffeine & alcohol, as potential triggers. I don’t eat many spicy foods, only have coffee occasionally, and rarely drink. My last thyroid test was within normal range. Any other potential causes?</p>
<p>Well, I rarely, really very rarely have alcohol or caffeine, much less spicy foods. I’ve never been a coffee drinker. My thyroid levels are great. And I’m still getting them even though I’m on hormones! To be fair, we’re still figuring out what dosage I need, and I see my GYN again in early December for another blood test. I’ve already increased my dosage of estrogen twice since my hysterectomy in late April. </p>
<p>I’m 57 and still having periods.
And so tired of it.
The hot flashes are done though.
Even when I drink wine!
:)</p>
<p>Nothing new here but I did want to agree with those who recommended the black cohosh. For me, I would say it cut the hot flashes down about 50% - which was huge. I also agree with the posts that said alcohol is a definite trigger for hot flashes. My hot flash days are pretty much over except for when I drink wine or become very angry.</p>
<p>Okay I’m wearing magnets in my undies and I started taking the black cohosh. I did still wake up roasting last night, but it was over quickly. Yesterday I started getting a hot flash once, but it was much more mild. </p>
<p>My “change of life” hot flashes only lasted about a year, with the first 6 months happening occasionally at night. They ended, but then started up again a year later. I finally determined that the latest ones are a side effect of the antibitiotic drug, Levequin (ciprofloxacin). I’m sure there could be other drugs that can cause hot flashes. </p>
<p>toledo - I had the same thing happen; had hot flashes for several months, then they went away. I thought I was done. But when I had blood work done to see what was going on (I had some other symptoms arise), my doctor said, “Oh, you’ve had another spike in estrogen. That’s why your hot flashes went away.” They didn’t come back until I had my hysterectomy about six months later. And of course, then, it was with a vengeance. </p>
<p>Yes, I’m sure some drugs can heighten them, but you can also spontaneously have a spike in estrogen even though you think you’re done.</p>
<p>My D just went to her doctor because she wasn’t feeling well and was having night sweats. Scary at her age and the doctor came right out and told her he needed to rule out Lymphoma, which he did. They determined that she is having side effects from a medication. They also checker her hormone levels and thyroid. They were all normal.</p>
<p>No hot flashes for me - I don’t know why, but maybe it’s because of the flax seeds I add to my yogurt every morning.</p>
<p>A few years ago, my ob/gyn, who was going through menopause too, didn’t believe I was really in menopause since I wasn’t suffering from night sweats - she wanted me to take some pills to see if it could force a period!</p>