Night sweats - is there anything to make it stop?

[Janus]

Just that really! I am nearly 48 and must be going throught the menopause. Not that many symptoms but the night sweats are awful. It’s every night and I wake up soaking. I just sleep in a cotton vest and cotton pants but have to change both every night as they are wet. It’s really getting to me as I actually wake up freezing too as I’m wet and shivering. Is there anything to take to make it stop, natural or from gp?
Thanks.

[TanteRose]

HRT

and see Menopause Matters - lots of good info

menopausematters.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=53.0

[Janus]

Really? HRT for just one symptom? I’ve looked quickly at that website last week but it was a bit overwhelming. I think I’m fine in every other way (except just had a horrible experience being on Mirena Coil which didn’t help at all with irregular bleeding and I suppose having had that invasion I don’t really want to try more ‘medicine’).
I’ll look at it again tomorrow and see what it says.
Can I ask if you take HRT and did it help? Thanks.

[TanteRose]

I'm still only in peri-meno at the moment - not many symptoms yet luckily (I'll be 50 in a few weeks).

I am, however, keeping very well informed about it all, because I fully intend to go the HRT route for even the slightest symptom.

Sorry, hopefully someone will be along later ( calling @PollyPerky ) with concrete advice.

[Vitalogy]

Cutting out caffeine, alcohol and eating well/exercising can help.

[TanteRose]

by the way, that link I posted was the chat forum for Night sweats with some specific info

[Janus]

Thank you tante, I’ve just read first couple of pages! I don’t get anything in the day at all, no ‘hot flushes’ which I find odd. It’s just about this time 4/5am that I wake up in a pool of sweat. I’m going to try the oil someone recommended as it seems a good place to start!
I have a very active life, am a size 10, make all food from scratch but do like the odd glass of wine! Have had nothing tonight so not sure if that means I should just give up wine for good (not a great option tbh ). Will also get some decaf tea as had that for years and don’t mind it. Thanks for the link, very interesting.

[Fosterdog123]

This forum is very pro-hrt, so I may well be a lone voice here but hey ho. I'm anti-hrt and have tried to deal with my symptoms in a different way. I've had varying degrees of success with reflexology (in a menopause clinic, not beauty salon), chill pillow, knicker magnet (I'll get flamed for that one!), silk duvet and bedding, various types of PJs and I've recently started taking a sage/combi supplement with very good results.

[Paperdolly]

I've got a great story re the knicker magnet!!! 😂

[Upperwallop]

Does it involve sticking yourself to the fridge and the supermarket checkout conveyor belt by any chance?!

[BeyondThePage]

Would also suggest seeing your doctor - sometimes people go "oh, its my age, must be the menopause" rather than investigate to see if there is another cause.

I had night sweats and heart palpitations - both menopause symptoms, I'm 53, "that" age - another menopause tick - after 9 months of assumption I had a heart attack -

they did all my bloods - NO sign of menopause coming in bloodwork, just high blood pressure and a minor blockage in an artery.

[PollyPerky]

Just to second the use of HRT.

Not sure about 'this forum being very pro HRT'

I am pro HRT because I've used it for 10 years, it works, I feel great, it enables me to work still in my 60s, help look after my ill, ageing parents, my own kids etc. It also helps my bones, heart, pelvic floor and brain.

I am quite happy to be PRO HRT - take that or leave it!

If you can manage with sage, herbs and whatever else that's great. Really. But some of us tried all of that first and it did nothing at all.

I haven't had a drink for 25 years. I don't drink caffeine at all. I have really healthy diet, don't do sweets, puddings, any kind of junk food, and I exercise. My dr agreed there was nothing else to try, in terms of lifestyle. The good aspect was I had no peri symptoms till I was about 52, nothing, so lifestyle helped. But the minute my periods stopped, I got insomnia, flushes and hot at night.

Soooooo....if you do all the lifestyle stuff first, you might be okay. But it might not .

All the medical research out there shows that HRT for women up to 60 at least has benefits that outweigh any risks. The risks don't apply anyway before the age of normal meno- so that's 51/52.

It's not a Big Deal. It works, it gives you quality of life, and it also protects your long term health.

But as ever, it's your call. Some women are anti it (but can't say why) or are prejudiced for some reason. Fine, their choice.

[PollyPerky]

OP Sorry to bring bad news but you may well get daytime hot flushes etc as your estrogen levels dip further. Not everything comes at once. Do you have any other signs like having to pee more often (at night?) itchy 'bits', aches and pains, brain fog?

[CrabappleBiscuit]

I had dreadful night sweats, dh said it was like sleeping with Gollum.

Wool duvet really helped as didn’t wake up freezing. Highly recommend that.

Hrt helped mine, I’ve gone from every night to one every now and then. Haven’t changed anything else. Took a wee while to settle down to the right hrt.

[Fosterdog123]

Polly - I can say exactly why I'm anti hrt. Our bodies are naturally reducing the amount of oestrogen we have. This is what 'the change' is all about. Hrt is forcing the level of oestrogen back up. For this simple reason alone, I don't want hrt.

[PollyPerky]

Foster It is only now in the 21st C that women are living up to 90+ compared to even 100 years ago, let alone 500 years or more ago. We aren't designed, in terms of evolution, to live so long without estrogen. Many older women have a terrible quality of life with diseases caused by loss of estrogen.

There are many research papers on this by the International Menopause Society and some of the UK's top menopause consultants, who are in favour of HRT as part of supporting health into old age where appropriate. I don't have time to post all of this but the IMS produced a lengthy paper on health in mid/older life.

Diseases which kill women most- heart disease and oesteoporosis- are linked directly to loss of estrogen.

It's not that long ago that women who reached 50 would either die from the plague, smallpox, TB, etc or in childbirth in their late 40s.

You need to look at the bigger picture of length of life v quality of life.

But, your choice.

[PollyPerky]

Also, if you want to play the 'natural' card, the logical outcome is that you are against vaccination, drugs for cancer, and anything that interferes with diseases, because they are natural events, just like The Change.

[Fosterdog123]

I am against vaccinations, as it happens! I've never had a vaccination as an adult and I've never vaccinated any of my animals either and we're all alive and well!!

I get that about living longer and increased risk of heart disease etc etc but our bodies don't care - they still want to shed oestrogen and I don't want to pump my body full of hormones and force it to do otherwise. Total personal choice though. I've had dreadful times with hot sweats and flushes, anxiety attacks etc for years on end but I'd still rather manage it in my own way. Perhaps in years to come, I'll regret it and you'll be able to say, I told you so!

[Ohhhthepain]

I've had night sweats to the level you describe for 5 years now, plus anxiety, feeling low, heart palpitations, hot flushes and a cycle only a magic 8 ball can predict, they won't give me HRT as I am a few years off 40 and haven't managed to get a blood test result, every dr I see agrees it is perimenopause. Would be interested to see any alternatives.

I would say there are a couple of other things that cause drenching night sweats, so it is worth seeing your dr.

I go with cotton night clothes so I can change plus cotton bed linen. I found silk was good as it dries quickly but it was really clingy which drove me bats.

[Janus]

Very stupid question here but does HRT make you have periods up until 60 then (if you take it until 60)?
I was just getting used to having spaced out periods after 6 months of them being erratic and then got talked into having a coil fitted. Absolutel nightmare! Bled every day for over 4 months until they took it out last week. I just want periods gone!! So that puts me off HRT as I don’t want them for another 10+ years.
No other real signs of menopause except foggy brain but I’ve had a version of that for years!!

[PollyPerky]

I get that about living longer and increased risk of heart disease etc etc but our bodies don't care - they still want to shed oestrogen and I don't want to pump my body full of hormones and force it to do otherwise.

Our bodies 'don't care'? They care very much- they go into a rapid decline of vital organs! (See my link today about heart health.)

I guess women who are able to get by without HRT don't understand how other women can't function. It's not a case of just putting up with it all; if you can't sleep (which is a major health risk for diabetes and heart disease in itself), and you can't perform in your job due to lack of sleep and hot flushes, and you are trying to help ill , elderly parents, kids going through uni and be a good partner too, sometimes HRT is the answer.

[PollyPerky]

Janus once you are post meno and have not had a natural period for at least 12 months you can take a type of HRT which doesn't give you a withdrawal bleed.

However, some of us are still using the type that gives a bleed - I am, in my early 60s- because I don't want to use 2 hormones daily (which is what's needed to avoid the bleed.)

[PollyPerky]

I've had night sweats to the level you describe for 5 years now, plus anxiety, feeling low, heart palpitations, hot flushes and a cycle only a magic 8 ball can predict, they won't give me HRT as I am a few years off 40 and haven't managed to get a blood test result, every dr I see agrees it is perimenopause.

If you are having an early menopause (before 40) the treatment is HRT. These are the NICE guidelines and your drs ought to know this. You need HRT to protect your bones and heart. Early menopause is a known condition and requires treatment. Please read up on it and go back to your GP.

[SchoolNightWine]

I second the suggestion of a wool duvet above - got one recently and it's brilliant at regulating your temperature.
I can't take HRT due to another medical condition, but my doctor recently told me that there is something other than HRT they can prescribe for night sweats, so still worth a visit to your doctor with just that symptom.

[Janus]

Ok, just been to Holland and Barrett and bought starflower oil and menopause mood relief tablets as they also said controls might sweats. I’ll give it a go for a week and if nothing significant I’ll go to GP. If all it is is night sweats and they can give me something to control that I’d be happy with that for now. Thank you so much everyone.

[PollyPerky]

Your GP may offer you anti depressants or tablets normally used to treat high blood pressure (beta blockers etc) for night sweats. These are not recommended in the NICE menopause guidelines as first line treatment for menopause, except for women who have a medical condition which prevents them using HRT( which is what I think the previous poster meant as she can't use HRT.)