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[choc57]

I posted on another thread recently. I'd been on elleste duet 1mg and it worked, after 3 months my sweats disappeared. Than last summer I lost my husband suddenly and I think the shock has caused havoc with my hormones. The sweats are back which wake me and then I'm awake for hours with so much going through my head and I'm getting very little sleep. I came off the hrt for 2 reasons, firstly because it was no longer working and secondly because I'd been on it for a year and my GP didn't really want me to stay on it for any longer. I've now been given Clonidine to try. My GP wants me to try this and if it doesn't work she'll put me back on hrt. The problem is it'll have to be a higher dose of hrt I assume and then I'll have the 3 month wait presumably before it kicks in as I've been off it since January. I wish now my GP had just increased my hrt dose back then even if it had just been for a few months and allowed me some sleep.
I've been reading some earlier posts on here about Clonidine and can't find anything positive. After only 2 days I have a dry mouth and a dry cough. I've read that some women feel depressed whilst taking it which I don't need. I'd love to hear of any positive experiences please!

[GeordieGirl]

Than last summer I lost my husband suddenly and I think the shock has caused havoc with my hormones.

So sorry to hear of your loss - I can only imagine the grief.

I went through a very stressful time last summer and I'm actually convinced it knocked my hormones out. I'd been fine until then (48 years with nothing more than chicken pox) and since then I've hit menopause, had breast lumps, heart issues and a colon tumour.  Your cortisone levels can go sky high when stressed and this blocks cell receptors for other hormones - a bit like a row of dominoes, one goes and unbalances all the rest.

I haven't tried Clonidine - HRT and stress relief seem to be working for me - but I'm sure someone will have experience of it. I do hope you find some relief.

GG x

[choc57]

Thanks GG
Oh dear you sound to be having a bad time too.
It does seem that stress affects our bodies tremendously. It's quite scary XX

[GeordieGirl]

Thanks GG
Oh dear you sound to be having a bad time too.
It does seem that stress affects our bodies tremendously. It's quite scary XX

I think the real bad time was last year for me, having identified what it was I've now pretty much got my ducks in a row. I've tackled the stress, improved our diets and am sorting out the health issues one by one (HRT was a big coup and seems to have helped sort out a number of niggles). I'm actually feeling great at the moment, there's just the issue of this damn tumour to sort out (treatment starts Tuesday).  Nothing lasts forever and it's worth bearing that in mind when you're going through hell -  the light is usually there, you just need a bit more time to reach the end of the tunnel to find it.

GG x

[choc57]

I'm just not sure about Clonidine or any drug for that matter. My husband had a very stressful job and retired from it at 54. Then he was diagnosed with very high BP and put on medication which was supposed to keep him alive. Instead he died within 3 years. It just makes me wonder about some medicines and for me to take something like Clonidine which is used for high BP when mine isn't could I be doing more harm than good?
I worry slightly about hrt now as my mum in law lost her husband suddenly at a similar age and within about a year developed breast cancer.  I'd just had my first baby and my midwife thought it would have been caused by the sudden death of her husband. I've researched on the net about this but can't find anything but I do think that shock causes more harm to the body than we realise. I tried most of the herbal remedies except Starflower which I see gets some good feedback. Maybe I should try that instead x

[Joyce]

Sorry about your hubby choc57.  Takes a while to recover from a sudden death. My mum said it took her about 2 years to feel more like normal after sudden death of my father.

I tried Clonidine. However, even on higher dose it wasn't enough to cope with flushes/sweats. GP said it works for about 1 in 3. You may well be lucky though & it's certainly worth a try.

Tried starflower also, didn't help me, but it has for others.

I'm currently on Citalopram for anxiety. But it can be used for sweats too apparently as can Gabapentin.

[GeordieGirl]

I'm just not sure about Clonidine or any drug for that matter. My husband had a very stressful job and retired from it at 54. Then he was diagnosed with very high BP and put on medication which was supposed to keep him alive. Instead he died within 3 years. It just makes me wonder about some medicines and for me to take something like Clonidine which is used for high BP when mine isn't could I be doing more harm than good?
I worry slightly about hrt now as my mum in law lost her husband suddenly at a similar age and within about a year developed breast cancer.  I'd just had my first baby and my midwife thought it would have been caused by the sudden death of her husband. I've researched on the net about this but can't find anything but I do think that shock causes more harm to the body than we realise. I tried most of the herbal remedies except Starflower which I see gets some good feedback. Maybe I should try that instead x

I'm with you on this. I try and avoid drugs as much as possible - fortunately fairly easy for me for most of my first 4 decades as I've rarely been ill, though I did take birth control pills for probably too many years.  I'm on HRT but the bio-identical hormones (Utrogestan and Estrogel).

There are links between stress and cancer (and a number of conditions) and I'm positive it's a big factor in my cancer. It has however also made me look at every other part of my life and I'm also cutting out additives and toxins as much as possible, it's quite frightening when you consider how much we expose our bodies to.  There's a line in naturopathy "Copy nature, no more, no less" and it sounds like a good premise to me, I just wish I'd thought about it earlier. 

Interestingly, I suffered from a breast lump for the very first time last year. Fortunately this was a cyst, and soon to be followed by a few others. Since starting progesterone my breasts have returned to normal and the cysts have gone.  My meno doc also mentioned how oestrogen protects against colon cancer - a few months too late for me (damn!) but hopefully it'll help stop any further developments.  There are a lot of benefits to HRT (or at least the bio identical stuff).

GG x

[skkb]

I likewise didn't fancy clonidine for flushes and sweats once I read up on it and found it was used for lowering BP (mine is fine) even though used in a very small dose apparently, thought it could upset the apple cart, side affects not great either if you got them. I have posted about  "fx-nutrition " which is phytoestrogens and green tea oxidants......seems feasible bit reluctant to purchase melds online. Take a look at the website and see what you think, lots of info!!

[choc57]

Thanks everyone for your advice.
This would only have been my third day on Clonidine and I've not taken any. My mouth is back to normal and the strange cough that arrived just last night has gone!
Maybe I'll try some relaxation techniques. I've been having the hot sweats for 5 years now so hopefully they'll naturally be coming to an end soon. After just 11 months on hrt the sweats are much milder than they were before. I was really suffering day and night around every half hour but now they are mostly just at night and every 1/12 to 2 hours so bad enough but not like they were xx

[Dandelion]

Thanks everyone for your advice.
This would only have been my third day on Clonidine and I've not taken any. My mouth is back to normal and the strange cough that arrived just last night has gone!
Maybe I'll try some relaxation techniques. I've been having the hot sweats for 5 years now so hopefully they'll naturally be coming to an end soon. After just 11 months on hrt the sweats are much milder than they were before. I was really suffering day and night around every half hour but now they are mostly just at night and every 1/12 to 2 hours so bad enough but not like they were xx

Hi choc

I am sorry to hear of the loss of your husband.

I think you were just on too low a dose of hrt.
I don't know why your doctor is not keen for you to be on hrt.
Some doctors do still believe that hrt is risky, but they have no problem with patients being on hrt for a certain amount of time.
I think hrt should be for life if a woman needs it, quality of life is very important.
I wouldn't be wanting to take any drugs other than my hrt.
You might like to try a patch.
I just thought I would post as I think you would be a lot better on a bigger dose of hrt.
I had to up my dose several times until I got rid of the flushes and sweats.
I have also been having them over five years, but I didn't know I was in peri as I was only 42 when it started.
I was still getting periods but they were irregular.
What do you think about seeing your doc and just going on hrt, if he or she is being unreasonable you can always see another doc in the practice.

[choc57]

Thanks Dandelion,
Yes I really should have realised in January that I needed to up the dose and I think my GP would have been fine about it but she didn't suggest it and my head just wasn't in the right place as I wasn't thinking straight. I'm going to try Menopace and see if that helps then I'll try Starflower as that's helped some people and then go back to a higher dose of hrt if those have failed. My GP did say she would put me back on hrt if the Clonidine didn't work. She didn't say a higher dose but it would have to be to work.
As for the Clonidine apart from the side effects mentioned earlier by Friday morning my BP was down to 88/60! I'm not taking anymore goodness knows what it was doing to me!