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[sarah bird]

Now that sounds like a good bit of advice Charlies angel, sort of thinking "outside the box ".I've always said there must be a way to "turn off" our bodies tendancy to heat up during the meno' and maybe this is it !

glad it worked for you .... never heard that suggested before .

love Sarah b x

[waterbabe99]

Hi, I'm so happy to have read about Starflower Oil - I'll get some tomorrow.  Really
struggling with my night sweats and low mood.  Feeling old all
of a sudden (I'm 53 years young), single, no kids and just mourning
the loss of everything!  I'm in a long-distance relationship
which isn't going well at the moment either.  So young at heart
but lost my motivation for anything at the moment.

Surely it can't stay like this for the coming months and years??

Don't know how I'd stick it but won't take HRT.  Forty years
of periods - give them back to me any day over this!

Hopefully it'll improve when I start taking the Starflower Oil.

Good to know I'm not alone.  Bye for now.

[Wolflady]

Hello Waterbabe,

First of all 
This isn't a pleasant thing to go through but we are here to support you and help you. We all have low moods and it is good to come here and know that there are people who do understand what you are going through. I don't take HRT, or anything else, but that is just me. I hope that you find the Starflower Oil helpful.
Take care

[flutterby]

Hi Waterbabe
 
Sorry you are feeling so horrible. I had been doing very nicely on HRT for 6 years (I am 55) but the last few months due partly to a work related anxiety, I feel I am having difficult functioning.
Don't look back, you cannot change what has passed (I dwell to much on what ifs).
I am giong to try to concentrate on what I can still do.
I like Bach Flower remedies they are good for emotions. Yesterday I was reading about them all. It actually mentioned Walnut being the remedy for transitions in life including the menopause and also the link breaking bond freeing remedy.
These work alongside anything else you choose to take.
Love Flutterby

[learning2me]

Hi All,
I have just been given a link to this site by a friend - really hoping it wll be useful.

I am 51 and have been having menopausal symptoms for at least 6 years. When they got really bad, I went on HRT. First tablets, but I had bad headaches, then patches.

In 2003 I was diagnosed with a Brain Tumour, and had treatment in April 2004. Continued to take the HRT a doctors didn't want to change anything until BT was addressed. In September last year, bad headaches began again, and I was taken off HRT. Since then I have tried so many things to control the hot flushes and feelings of not being able to cope. Acupuncture didn't work for me. Sage tablets worked or a while, as did Red Clover and Black Cohosh. I am now taking Ayuda - natural HRT - and Oil of Evening Primrose tablets. Variable results. Hot flushes are intense and are affecting my work and homelife. I have to do Public Speaking and chair meetings as part of my job.

Recently I have also been diagnosed with low grade Diabetes, and have a Hiatus Hernia. Part of the treatment for my BT meant having all my teeth removed, and after the treatment I had a T.I.A. which is a mini stroke. I take aspirin to thin the blood.
So I am coping with dentures, which I do not tolerate well, reflux, Diabetes, hot flushes, joint pain and mild depression 

I know that so many people are worse off than me, but I feel very down sometimes. I lead a very busy life, but feel old and tired at the moment. My job is quite stressfull, but I enjoy it. Some days though, I just want to hide from the world, and today is one of them. My mother is 89 and still gets hot flushes, and that makes me feel quite desperate. I wish I could find something that works for me longterm.

My GP has suggested that I go cold turkey, but will put me back on HRT if I really want to, but I can't make the decision. I am spending a fortune on natural remedies, which don't really seem to work. My OH is rightly fed up, and so am I.

Any advice greatly appreciated. Sorry if I sound like I'm moaning, but itis good to find a forum of like minded people 

Mags xxx

[shaz]

Hi Mags,

I have just replied to your post in the new members section.  My goodness you have been through it, poor you.  As I said in my other post I have just started HRT to help with my meno symptoms, early days for me, at the start I did have bad headaches, but thankfully they have now gone.  I to have tried many different herbal remedies and this can be expensive, different ones work for different people, everyone is different, as you will read in old posts ladies have all had different levels of help with different things.  I have to say I did not try the herbal remedies for long.  I do take evening primrose oil caps and starflower caps as well as the HRT.  I also went to see a homeopath and I take sepia, a preparation she made up for me, which she has said I can take along with the HRT.
I can fully understand when you say you want to hide from the world, I to have days like this, the hardest thing I find to cope with is the depression and anxiety that come with the menopause, I had never felt like this before and it is very scarey.
All I can say is it helps to talk about it on here with other ladies that feel the same.  There is always someone here to listen when you have a down day.

Take care

Luv Sharon x 

[SevenOfNine]

Very successful for the first 8 months under the guidance of a practitioner from the National Institute of Registered Herbalists, put me on a tincture of Black Cohosh, Red Clover, Sage, Siberian Ginseng, Gingko and Hops.  Within 2 weeks I'd defy the average 25 year old to feel better, more energised and flush/sweat free completely (had been averaging 12 - 15 flushes per day and 8-10 night sweats - lovely). Can't tell you how brilliant I felt, wearing polo necked jumpers, full of beans and DRY.

Built up a tolerance to the mix and went downhill from there - back to square 1.  Tried natural progesterone cream (from Serenity in Guernsey and ProGest in USA), very, very limited success.  Tried many various whacky 'cures' to no avail, been dabbling in DiY herbal remedies (mostly centering around Black Cohosh) over the last couple of years to little effect.  Sage by Nature's Answer definitely takes a tiny  'edge' off the level of sweat produced.

Beyond a shadow of a doubt the sweats are worse following any form of alcohol (even the tiny drop in a Christmas mince pie can make me 'hot'), take a glass of wine and they will be ferocious for days so gave it up completely.  Caffeine (and decaf) in any form including chocolate.  I'm in semi denial about the choccy but have given up my beloved latte and restrict chocolate as best I can (and I'm sick of drinking orange juice).  Chinese food and curry - limit both considerably or suffer the consequences.

GP has put me on Clonidine to see if it helps - maybe a tiny bit but disappointing.  The whole combination of Sage, abstinence and pills has maybe brought the flushes down marginally, mostly sweaty discomfort as opposed to the downright horrendous, just stepped out of the shower wet look, so on the whole, though I don't like it, I would have to say it is a bit better than before but a long way from perfect.  I HATE IT.  What a sacrifice - no booze!!!**

[Elliexx]

I have the hot flashes ,but they are not to bad and getting less and less.
I just ignore them and take natural remedies. Dong Quai
I find the more I worry about them the worse they are.
I get more if I'm worried or upset.
If I feel one coming on in the day I breath slowly until it's gone , trying to keep as calm as I can.
At night sleep with the window open with a thin cover and just get on with it.
I have had them for nearly 3 years.

[Taz2]

Hi Ellie - I'm glad that you have found a way of coping with the hot flashes. I find that mine leave me absolutely dripping and it is so embarrassing when I am stood in front of a class of 11 year olds (I am a Teaching Assistant) to have to keep wiping my face and trying to concentrate on what I was saying     This week they have been particularly bad even to the point of sweat running down the backs of my legs - I hate that feeling - then I go so cold afterwards. I was like this a few months ago, sweats every 20 minutes, then they suddenly stopped and for three weeks I felt absolutely great - then I had a period - the first for about 7 months I think - and gradually things have returned to the pre-period state.

At night I am lucky as I wake up just before a hot sweat strikes which enables me to actually get out of bed and go and lie on the cold bathroom floor - so no bed changing halfway through the night 

I for one have had enough of living like this - the sweats are the worst bit for me at the moment - so it is off to the doc next week armed with my 8 week diary and some knee pads so that I can plead for HRT 

Love Taz x 

[Cazikins]

Hi Taz, I know you have been through hell with your hot flushes. You have kept your 8 week diary & you should now get the HRT that you deserve.
If you don't then  - change your doctor.

My 2 worse symptoms were exhaustion & hot flushes, they were a bugger for me. I did not think that going on HRT would sort it out but it did. I have no regrets - I  just should have done it sooner.

Taz, please let us know how you get on. I often wonder how you are doing as you don't post as much as you use to.

Sorry to hi-jack - again..
xx

[Taz2]

Hi Cazikins - sorry not to have posted so often - have lots going on in personal life and also am how working almost full time which totally gets in the way of internet time 

Will report back on what the GP has to say - I wanted to get through this without help but am beginning to realise that quality of life is very important - thanks so much for your comment 

Love Taz x 

[Cazikins]

Taz, you are a very valued member, don't lose contact with me.
Quality of life is sooooo important.
I could not survive w/out HRT, you will benefit from it trust me.

[juju]

Hi Taz..jus want to add my support.HRT has saved me,I had put my notice in cos of hot flushes....debilitating and embarassing.Dont take no for an answer except if you have a medical problem that stops you from taking it.Your gp has no business putting his prejudice on you.Mine was the total opposite and said she could not advise me only give me info and I had to decide.I am sure ethically they are not allowed to put their opinion on you.Hope you get sorted or as Cazikins says..see another GP.xxxx

[Rosebush]

If anyone can find relief from hot sweats i would say go for it, they have been the most horrible part of the meno for me so far, like a lot of you ladies, i would love just 1 nights sleep, i gave up a job i loved, as i could not cope anymore with the stress, after nearly 6yrs i do now get longer gaps from one to the next, and i do get that 10second warning, in the day i can get outside to cool off, and at night get out of bed into the bathroom i leave a wet flannel in my wash basin and grab that, and 3mins later i am freezing..... so 'other than' if it interfer's with health or your religion go for it.... ANYTHING is worth a try............

[juju]

Hi Rosebush!Have you tried HRT?Only thing thats worked for me.