Now this is a topic I didn't think I'd be posting on all those years ago!

[MaureenMLove]

My first post was about my DD taking her 11+!

She is 21 now and I am sitting in a vest top, with no heating on, the back door wide open and the sweat is literally dripping off me! It's happening isn't it? Yet another one of gods little jokes on a woman. Not content with periods or child birth, the fucker gives you the menopause too! I think I just might hate him right now!

On the positive side, I am fit and healthy, as are my family, so I should be grateful!

What's your top tips then ladies? What does one take or do? Talk me through the hell/heat I am in right now. Don't think I can stand this. My family are moaning that it's cold, whilst I am feeling the heat like I only ever feel when lying on a sun bed in a bikini!

I'm with you on this one! Started a thread myself two days ago, starts at the neck and works its way all over - unbearable!
Tips I had was chiillow pillow, sage tablets, menopace or black cohosh,

Menopace ive just ordered for tomorrow.

Avoid alcohol and caffeine - all of which if I do I will not be responsible for my actions

Well, until you said the family were complaining of the cold, I was going to say rejoice in lower heating bills....

Not helpful, I know.

My top tip would be to find a GP who knows what they're about regarding HRT if you want to consider it.

Lots of scare mongering out there but it can be a game changer if you're really suffering!

Hey, don't mess with a menopausal mother/wife! The heating bills will still be low!

I will look in to the pillow thing. So bazaar though, because I have always been a cold person and now I'm the heat in bed!

HRT stopped the hot flushes in their tracks for me!

Being in bed is the worst part ime. I don't get bad hot flushes and certainly don't get night sweats but I do get mini flushes and find it hard to regulate my temperature. So I have gone from a person who slept the night through in blissful ignorance, to someone who wakes up regularly to throw off or pull back on the covers. I hate to say it, but the problem eases greatly when dh is not in the bed, which is about half the time right now owing to him working away from home. So, if nights become a problem, you might like to think about separate beds?

So far, the waking is only semi conscious and I don't really remember. DH tells me about it and moans in a jokey way. Frankly, it's not about him though, I'm not sure I care that much! We're in it together! .

The inability to control my temperature was something i put up with for ages until I got fed up of waking in a pool of sweat night after night, several times a night.

In the end I went to the GP with a list of peri-menopausal symptoms , the worst being the hot flushes/night sweats and came away, after blood tests, with fluoxetine. This is actually an anti-depressant but it seems it's often prescribed for hot flushes where HRT is not suitable (in my case because I still have periods and my mum had breast cancer HRT was not advisable).

6 weeks on and the flushes/night sweats have massively improved (and my mood is more stable which is a great bonus!). I had my doubts when the GP prescribed an anti-depressant as I've never taken them before but I feel it's worked for me.

That's interesting Norbet. I'll give it some though. I'm loathed to go to the doctors yet, as I know what's going on and it's not really affecting my life massively yet, I don't think.

If you are really suffering then why not consider HRT?
It has a good safety profile despite the alarmist headlines. If there is no medical reason why you can't use it, it will help. And it's best started early (for safety reason) rather than years after the menopause.

Gps have been told by NICE not to prescribe anti depressants for the menopause. They can also have serious side effects and NICE describes them as 'having no place in menopausal treatment' unless women are depressed.

caveat- no ADs unless HRT is medically contra-indicated. (This does not include still having periods and not necessarily a relative with breast cancer.) The research shows that breast cancer is most likely 'fed' by oestrogen if it already exists. ie it does not cause it. This is on the Menopause Matters Home page. wwwmenopausematters.blogspot.co.uk/2016/04/hrt-and-breast-cancer.html

Thank you Polly . Lots to think about. I wouldn't call it suffering yet, as its only a couple times a day and possibly at night, but it's not bothering me. If it starts to get in the way of my life, then I'll see the doctor for advice.

I've been prone to overheating for 30 yrs so maybe I've already had them.

How bad is a menopausal hot flush, really? Do you get quite thirsty, really bad stomach cramps & very dizzy?

Do you get quite thirsty, really bad stomach cramps & very dizzy?

No. Never had that or heard of any friends etc saying that.

Mine were like a blush- started at the base of my neck and spread to my face , lasted for about 2-3 minutes in total. Hourly all day. Ridiculously hot once in bed.

Some women say they feel hot all over and sweat buckets.

Stomach pains and dizziness for 30 years are not menopausal symptoms- have you talked to your dr about these?

My only prev. hormone related overheating symptoms was dysmennorhea = bad cramps, waves of nausea, dizzy, and bad overheating. Mefanamic acid is wonderful. :). Although it takes 20-30 minutes to kick in and can ruin the stomach lining.

I've also had rigours (uncontrollable shakes from high fever). Threw up in bed.

tbh, merely sweating & turning red for 2 minutes sounds like completely nothing. I suffer from the cold nowadays, so I wonder if I might quite enjoy regular hot flushes. I can't see a down side yet.

As you've already discovered if you're in a vest top at the mo, 'wear layers' is the first practical step - easily sheddable ones. I'm not too badly affected but I haven't worn my favourite woolies much for a couple of years.

so I wonder if I might quite enjoy regular hot flushes. I can't see a down side yet.

Unless you are in a business meeting with clients and they wonder why you are suddenly going puce and mopping your sweaty upper lip.

Lol, indeed a hot flush when you're cold would be handy, but this is very different!

Mine start at my toes and work up. I have only ever felt heat like it, when I'm in a very hot country and the heat suddenly overwhelms you.

Most inconvenient today, when I was dealing with a sick member of staff and I had to stop what I was doing and almost hang out of the window for a minute!

Actually "overwhelming" is a good way to describe it Maureen.

I likened it to having a broken thermostat which would cause sudden surges of heat throughout my body regardless of the ambient temperature.

This time last year at work (I work in a school so heating is either on or off but most definitely on at the moment) I would have had the windows all flung open and stripping off clothes whilst still looking hot, red and sweaty. This year I am wearing a cardigan over a long-sleeved top and the window is shut

I am reading elsewhere about flushes making the person feel dizzy, nauseous, bad cold chills... everything but painful so far.

Hot flushes disrupted my sleep so much I was like a zombie. Every half hour like clockwork, great waves of sweaty heat. Duvet kicked off, then shivering and duvet pulled back on.all night.
During the day, business meetings. Face turning beetroot red or purple. Sweat trickling down back. Clothes sticking to me.

Not painful, but totally life disrupting.

My mum still had them in her late 70s - early 80s. The myth they last 2-3 years is just that. some women are lucky, others have them for ages or sometimes forever (so my dr tells me.)

It was hot flushes that propelled me to the doctors even though I'd had a raft of peri symptoms for a while.

It was 2 weeks from my first hot flush to starting HRT.

Mine started at my collar bone and swept upwards in a wave. That bit wasn't too bad. Then I got a second wave, again starting at collar bone, but this time travelling upwards and along my face and arms and at the same time travelling down to my waist complete with sweating.

It was awful and I had an accompanying panic type feeling and they came out of no where and were averaging one an hour.

But the unpredictability of when they would occur made me quite anxious. Bloody awful.

They disappeared rapidly after starting oestrogen thankfully.