HOT FLUSHES...

[slowandfrumpy]

Hello.
Periods stopped suddenly last September, and I've had three since then, and nothing for the last four months.
But, oh my goodness, the flushes are in full force. I feel as if I am permanately hot, and then on top of that I have extra hot flushes throughout the day - at least one an hour - and then a nighttime of waves of heat. I don't sweat a lot, but I've never been a very sweaty person. Although one of my daughters gave me a kiss today and told me my face was all sweaty, so maybe I'm becoming a sweaty person.

Is this normal? Or a lot? It feels like a lot to me.

Sorry, but that is exactly how I felt before HRT.

I read about hot flushes but I never read anywhere that it was like being boiled from the inside out.

Genghis: please can you tell me some more about what HRT did for you.
It's 5am. I am now normally awake two hours in the night too hot to sleep.
Before this year, I was a champion sleeper.

A good place to start is the website Menopause Matters - owned by a consultant gynae who is chairperson of the British Menopause Society.
Loads of info on the menu there and a large section on HRT under 'Treatments' on the menu.

www.menopausematters.co.uk

Read as much as you can inc the new NICE menopause guidelines (all online, links on this forum if you search) and decide what route you want to go down.

I went onto HRT 8 years ago due to insomnia and hourly hot flushes. I still wake a couple of times during the night, often, but it's a lot better than before HRT.

slow the same thing happened to me earlier. My DS was leaving for work and kissed me on the face and asked why I was so hot and sweaty. Fun isn't it

Me too! My last period was only 3 months ago, though they're a bit all over the place.
I've just come out of Tesco looking like a Belisha Beacon

It creeps up my arms first before zipping across my chest, neck and face. I've just started (2 days ago) taking a supplement of Black Cohosh to see if it makes a difference. Time will tell if it works, but I'm hating this hot weather!

Re black cohosh
I took it and a few weeks later developed this terrible itch and rash on my hands
The doctor thought it might be scabies and then I said it reminded me of obstetric cholestasis which is a liver condition I had when pregnant. She asked me if I was taking black cohosh and when I said yes told me to stop immeadiately as it is in some cases associated with liver disease and failure! I stopped (and didn't do any scabies cream) and a few days later it had died down and gone. So beware!!!!!

The RCOG has produced a patient leaflet on alternatives to HRT- you can find it through Mr Google. I have linked to it many times on this forum too. The risks and efficacy of many herbal treatments are shown.

This might seem a silly question but does paracetamol help a hot flush?

I've been wondering about peri for a while and felt extremely hot this morning. But paracetamol really helped.

Or I'm fighting off a virus. Again.

(Sorry for hijacking)

well, that's a new one!

No idea! It ought to reduce a temperature, but you can't live off paracetamol- too dangerous. You can only take 8 max in 24 hrs and if you were to use them day i, day out, you'd end up with liver damage possibly.

I found Boots Menolieve very helpful, but it does contain Black Cohosh, so you need to be aware of that.

The other thing that helped massively - which I discovered quite coincidentally - was cutting right back on carbs (sugar/alcohol) as well as caffeine.