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[Fionabee]

Hello.
Its 05.05, or 04.05 if you have adjusted your clocks. Night after night I am waking, often following a sweat but not always, and I just can't get back to sleep. Have always been a lightish sleeper, but it wasn't this bad. I'm usually ready to sleep again when its time to get up.
I seem to sweat all day long, I do get a concentrated one (not much in the way of colour tho) several times a day, but its the constant sweating that is fetting me down. I wear light cotton trousers and a loose shirt every day, the slightest effort & sweat starts round my hairline and just spreads, my shirt sticks, my pants feel wet. If i put another layer in because i feel cooler, within moments I'm sweating heavily again. I work in a library and find it really embarassing. My colleagues are all softies and always have the centeal heating set too warm for me at the best of times. The sweating has been going on most of the year, but I think i'm more aware as it is cooling outside.
Do these sound like good enough reasons to consider HRT or do I just need to stop being wet (ha ha literally) moods are ok,no libido whatsoever, but that's not new, do seem to have more probs passing urine, poor flow, regular bouts of frequency with stinging, I take Tramadol & Gabapentin for a back prob and think they may cause waterwork probs.
Any thoughts? Many thanks.

[bev567901]

Sorry you are up so early & we have an extra hour to deal with too!  I would say any meno symptom that is really affecting you on a day to day basis warrants considering HRT. I am sure waking so early can be doing nothing for your sanity either. I would book a GP appt. I am sure someone more experienced in the sweating dept will be here soon to advise what is the best HRT. My peri symptoms are different although I do get the sweating but it has not got to that really bad stage yet. Our heating at home is yet to go on!!  Hope you managed to get back to sleep. B x

[Taz2]

Hi Fiona - hot sweats were the main reason I started HRT but I see you are on Tramadol. One of the side effects of this is sweating - my husband had it for a few months due to back pain and he felt constantly sweaty while using it. Could this be part of it?

Also if you are having urinary problems have you been to see the GP. You could have a low grade infection which doesn't always have a lot of symptoms but can cause sweating as your body tries to deal with it.

Reading your posts it sounds as if you are experiencing hot sweats - the ones which sort of flare up and then go away again - but also something else is giving you a constant sweating.

Taz x

[Dancinggirl]

GEt to the doctor armed with info from this site.  Write down your symptoms and questions and hopefully the doc will sort you.  If you are Menopausal?  Get HRT. DG xxx

[Diamonds and pearls 53]

I agree with Dancinggirl-you do not mention your age but if you are menopausal hrt should make a big difference to your sweats and your quality of life generally.

[andius]

I took Gabapentin for years for another health issue.  It is supposed to help with hot flashes and to be frank I really didn't have that many, but that wasn't the reason I was taking it.


Andius

[CLKD]

Welcome!  Get your GP/Practice Nurse to send a urine sample away for testing to check for bugs, if that is clear you may need medication to ease the possible vaginal atrophy symptoms (stinging, burning, wee-ing) ...........

[Hurdity]

As others said HRT would only be recommended if you are menopausal as sweats can be caused by a variety of reasons. If your periods have become irregular as well then it is likely, although if you are under 40 some doctors take some persuading (I understand from reading on here) that you could be menopausal even with these symptoms.

Hurdity x

[Fionabee]

Thanks all for responding. What I forgot to include - I'm 52. I'm on my second Mirena coil for heavy bleeding, it was changed 3yrs ago. Had a bleed a few months ago, went on and on, very heavy, first one in a long long time, since then nothing.

[Dandelion]

Moods and anxiety is the single reason I considered hrt.

[andius]

VA not helped with local estrogens is the reason I went on HRT.  Sorry I didn't answer this question for you in my earlier post above!

[Hurdity]

Hi fionabee - the Mirena will be masking your periods so you won't know whether they have stopped or not - but if you are having no bleeding, are 52 and having those symptoms then yes HRT will almost certainly help!!

The good thing is if the Mirena agrees with you then you can use an oestrogen only HRT - so the choice is yours really. Until you settle you might get a little bleeding at first due to the extra oestrogen but then it should settle. I think you only have a year left of the Mirena beofre it needs changing again  if used as protection of the womb during HRT ( 4 years I think is the time length).

Have a read of the green menu left - under HRT preparations to see which one you fancy and do ask us if you need any advice or want to know our experiences of the different types.

Hurdity x

[LindaMiles]

Hi Andius

I was reading your post and you said you went on HRT because local estrogen didn't help your VA I am experiencing hot sweats more now and waking up a lot at night but vagifem does not appear to be helping my va so i am burning quietly badly and wondering if this will help but i am still having regular monthly periods I have had no test to see if I am menopausal I do think I am, but this is so confusing 

[andius]

Chick:

Well....I think that is what confused my doctors.  I started with the burning in perimenopause, about 7 years before my periods stopped completely.  I had the burning when I skipped periods and they became erratic.  Once I started having another bleed, the burning went away.  When I would skip period again, the burning came back until I had bleeds again, then it would stop.  This went on for several years.  When I skipped periods, I would get hot flashes only a few days before a new bleed would start.  i.e....bleed (no burning), would go 40 or 60 or 90+ days, and burning started about 35+ days in, then about 2 days before new bleed, hot flashes all the time and much worse at night with difficult sleep, then bleed started and no burning or flashes. During times of regular 28-30 day periods I had NO symptoms.

Gyn doc did not want to give me anything and would not test blood levels....said they would not be reliable.  ONce, a urologist gave me some estrogen cream to put on my urethra because I felt like I needed to urinate all the time.  I used it once (pea size amt on urethra) and had normal periods for 6 mo. afterwards. When periods finally stopped completely at 53, the burning and needing to urinate and hot flashes were constant.  Then I went on local estrogen only which did not alleviate outside burning and needing to urinate, but helped inside after a long time.  Had blood levels checked and told was in menopause. Hot flashes only lasted a couple of months then and I hardly noticed them....it was the VA symptoms that drove me crazy!  Finally after trying all kinds of local estrogen over a time period of 3 years and checking estrogen levels myself which kept dropping....I found a doc who tested estrogen, and I was so low she was willing to give me patches and progesterone and I got better (less intense and more intermittent burning which is only outside).  After 6 months on this, I am still trying to find something to get rid of this outside burning. I have found there is no consistent pattern to the burning except more likely to go away with new patch change or more vaginal estrogen, but not always.

IF YOU ARE STILL HAVING REGULAR PERIODS without HRT, YOU ARE PERI-MENOPAUSAL AND BLOOD TESTS WILL BE UNRELIABLE. Are you on 10mcg or 25mcg Vagifem? I have only taken 10mcg, couldn't get 25mcg in US.

Anduis

[andius]

Ok Chick....I read over all your posts.  Your experience sounds a lot like mine......

I think you may already be doing this, but try the 3 x weekly 10mcg vagifem for a while.

Also, check to see that the pills are dissolving, I got so dry that I would still have pill like material in there 2 days later....not the gel type stuff it is supposed to turn into. You can try wetting applicator with warm water before inserting applicator or using vit e inside before inserting to help pill dissolve if that is the problem. You can try to get some estriol cream instead if you are in UK.

Replens burned me a lot, so I didn't use it after a while. Try some thrush cream on outside lips too to see if that helps....if use inside may burn worse.  Try vit E suppository before sex(let melt well) but still use lube. When you pee, lean forward and separate labia to try to keep urine off.  Test urine pH, if always seems acidic re: test kit, try Calcium supplements spread out during the day and see if pH becomes more alkaline and it doesn't burn so much after urinating. Drink water with squirt of lemon juice in it or try water with 1/4 tsp baking soda twice daily also to raise urine pH when burning bad. Cranberry juice burns horribly. Free/clear baby type laundry detergent for clothes and extra rinses for undies.

No fabric softener or dryer sheets.  Go commando at home as much as possible.....loose type pants in crotch or skirts when not possible. Get a spray bottle and spray water on you every time you pee and PAT dry. No baths, just shower....baby soap or dove for sensitive skin only or no soap. Use moist wipes to clean up after #2 visit to bathroom. Take probiotics lactobacilli orally.  These gave me cystitis if used vaginally per the dr. suggestion. Ice packs down there wrapped in cloth can help for bad burning too! Sometimes ibuprofen helps. Stay away from long car trips.

These are some of the regimens that have helped me deal with this horrible burning outside. You seem already pretty clued up from your posts so I suspect you have tried a lot of this stuff.
Good luck getting through this as it is quite depressing and aggravating!

Andius