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[zoelouise]

Never mind.

[inthelab]

You are not alone. Other women begin perimenopause early. The book The Wisdom of Menopause by Christiane Northrop, M.D. is wonderful in helping you cope and suggests foods and supplements to help. She actually turns the whole experience into a positive rather than a negative.

She says that  soy foods provide relief  as do herbs such as black cohosh, dong quai and chaste berry.

There are supplements out there that help with perimenopause. Youcan definitely find them at a health food store if not at your supermarket.

Get the book and relax! Anxiety and tension make the hot flashes more pronounced.

Good luck!!!


Good luck.

Besides the fact that nutritional supplements at your health food store are not regulated by the FDA (and indeed, may contain nothing remotely like what is written on the label), if these foods worked as purported, they would feminize men.

Wear lighter clothes and carry an iced drink to the lecture hall.

[zoelouise]

inthelab, I love you for that.

[inthelab]

inthelab, I love you for that.

ZL, thank you and may I quote you for my new tag line?

[zoelouise]

I'm honored.

[nebo113]

www.wickingsleepwear.com/

One of many when I googled "wicking pajamas."

Would prefer to google "wicked pajamas."

[biomancer]

I'm also starting menopause early - age 35 - because I'm on Lupron for some hefty reproductive system malfunctions.  I haven't had any hot flashes yet, but I've been warned by several people (including the Wise Women of the Fora) to dress in layers such that I can remove layers while teaching without ending up performing a burlesque act.  I've amassed a good number of cardigans over the past few years and am now putting them over nice sleeveless tops instead of turtlenecks.

Also, yes to calcium supplements.

[collegekidsmom]

I stand outside in the snow in a t-shirt. I think my mother and I have had identical experiences, so a genetic component to all of it probably.
I am interested in how flashes affect blood pressure or vice versa. I used to assume that hot flashes reduced blood pressure but I see now that it seems the opposite.

[anthroid]

I am just about officially menopausal (e.g., it's been almost a full year since my last u-no-what); I turn 52 later on this year.  In the last month I have had more hot flashes and night sweats than I have had in the last ten years.  It's driving me crazy.  Thankfully there are no mood swings any longer but my blood pressure is definitely higher and something funny is going on in my left big toe (some nights it hurts like hell--horrible, burning pain--and it isn't gout because I've tested negatively for that).  I just figure I have to live with this stuff.  I know it will pass.  Eventually.  I wear lots of cotton and absolutely dress in layers.

Re:  black cohosh.  It made things worse when I tried it 3-4 years ago--more hot flashes, more mood swings.  After a month I stopped taking it.  Some women swear by it, though.

And double yes to calcium supplements.

[southern_outlier]

I had a total hysterectomy so instant surgical menopause - about 15 years early. No hot flashes or other symptoms and it's been almost four years. My doc believes it to be that high level of soy products and my diet of no hormone laced foods for many years.

That doesn't mean I think soy is the answer. I was/am lucky - no more cancer, no hot flashes.

Prepare to have challenges with your thyroid. I strongly suggest that you check your thyroid levels out too.

[infopri]

I'm glad to hear that you're healthy now, southern_outlier!  My mother had a total hysterectomy when she was in her mid-40s, and she had terrible hot flashes for years, and very heightened irritability.  (I'm not sure about night sweats.)  The fact that her change came surgically didn't seem to matter, in terms of symptoms.

I've been very lucky.  I think it's been about three or four years now since I became official.  No night sweats, ever.  Minimal hot flashes.  I get that warm feeling, but it's not severe enough to cause me to perspire, and I don't get flushed.  It just feels like the room has gotten warm, and I get a little lightheaded.  When it passes, sometimes I get chilled for a little while.  And for a while, maybe a year, I got pretty irritable.  That's about it.

I take no hormones and no herbal supplements.  I don't eat soy, either.  Like southern_outlier, I think I'm just lucky.  In my youth, I didn't suffer from PMS or other monthly symptoms, either.  In a bad month, I had a few hours of mild cramps on the first afternoon, and then I was fine.  Many months, I didn't even have that.

Marfa, if the pajamas are a problem, have you considered not wearing any?  I've slept in the buff since I was 17, and it doesn't take long to get used to the sensation.

[inthelab]

www.wickingsleepwear.com/

One of many when I googled "wicking pajamas."

Would prefer to google "wicked pajamas."

And sleeping with a soft towel.

[toni52]

You are not alone. Other women begin perimenopause early. The book The Wisdom of Menopause by Christiane Northrop, M.D. is wonderful in helping you cope and suggests foods and supplements to help. She actually turns the whole experience into a positive rather than a negative.

She says that  soy foods provide relief  as do herbs such as black cohosh, dong quai and chaste berry.

There are supplements out there that help with perimenopause. You can definitely find them at a health food store if not at your supermarket.

Get the book and relax! Anxiety and tension make the hot flashes more pronounced.

Good luck!!!


Good luck.

I like Dr. Northrop's overall message.  I just watched her menopause special on PBS a few days ago.  However, I do think that women should exercise caution when it comes to soy foods, herbs, natural supplements, etc.    For example, I only use standardized extracts/ herbs/ supplements.   I've been using (standardized) vitex for years (when needed) and it's worked well for me.  So I plan to continue using it when I enter menopause (if I need to). 

[punchnpie]

I was doing pretty well except for hot flashes. My endo suggested prempro (HRT) for 2 reasons: 1) symptom relief from the hot flashes and 2) there seems to be some (cardio? I don't remember) protection for diabetic women. My OB-GYN doctor said that the new treatment plan for HRT is not to take it forever, as they used to recommend, but for 3-5 years to help through the symptoms.

I just saw my OB-GYN nurse practitioner last week and we agreed that after the semester is over I can try to wean myself off of the prempro, depending on whether the hot flashes return.  I gotta tell you, I like it. I take a low dose, no more hot flashes, no more night sweats, and I am a sweet, wonderful person to all who know me. Can't vouch for what I'll turn into w/o the meds.

Just a note for those considering HRT, the nurse practitioner suggested that I go to the patch, but you have to do the patch and a pill, and as I do thyroid meds and an insulin regimen, I just didn't want to add another pill to my daily routine. The NP used the patch and liked it quite a pit, so there's that alternative. A few years ago I tried the OTC stuff and it just didn't seem to work for me. I don't know if being diabetic makes any difference with the herbal stuff, but with the prempro, my life was back to normal. That never happened with the OTC concoctions.

[infopri]

I was doing pretty well except for hot flashes. My endo suggested prempro (HRT) for 2 reasons: 1) symptom relief from the hot flashes and 2) there seems to be some (cardio? I don't remember) protection for diabetic women. My OB-GYN doctor said that the new treatment plan for HRT is not to take it forever, as they used to recommend, but for 3-5 years to help through the symptoms.

Until fairly recently, the conventional wisdom was that all (or at least most) post-menopausal women would get some level of cardio protection from HRT, but a fairly definitive study a couple of years ago demonstrated that HRT actually increases the cardio risk for such women.  I'm not sure whether an exception was made for diabetic women.

HRT has long been associated with a somewhat increased risk of breast cancer.  Before this study, my OB/GYN and I figured that I'd use HRT anyway (when the time came), in part because I'm at extremely high cardio risk.  (Everyone in my family dies of heart disease, sometimes quite young).  Even after my sister developed breast cancer (not from HRT), the doc and I still figured I'd rely on HRT for the cardio protection.  Once the study came out, though, it became clear that I can't ever go on HRT.  (Thank goodness I don't seem to need it.)

My understanding is that HRT is now recommended only for women whose menopausal symptoms are unbearably severe.  In such cases, the recommendation calls for as low a dose as possible, and for as short a time as possible.  I believe the current recommendation for most women (again, not sure about diabetic women) is two to five years.

All that said, everyone should consult with her own doctor.  Each woman has her own circumstances, etc., that may indicate treatment outside the general recommendations.