Night sweats help please. Black cohosh or HRT?

[mrsjackrussell]

I think I'm definitely going through the menopause now. I'm 50.
For the last 3 years iv had irregular periods and night sweats so I then take black cohosh and it all goes back to normal then I stop taking it and within a few months it all starts up again. Apart from 4 months last year when I wasn't taking it and I had non stop bleeding for 4 months. Had a scan all OK. I don't know whether the cohosh actually worked or if it was just coincidence.
Forward to now and no period since October.
I'm having night sweats and it's affecting my sleep badly and in turn my life.
I'm disabled too and get horrendous cramps and what with my husband snoring.
I'm thinking about taking the black cohosh again but I'm worried about the side effects re. Liver damage. Iv been put off HRT by others saying its not good to mess with your body which I agree with to some extent. Also with the HRT would I then have to stop it again in the future or is it for life?
Would all of the menopausal symptoms come back?
Coul d I have some advice please from you lovely people

I haven't said that anyone on this thread is a sock puppet. Read my post properly. I'm not insinuating, I'm stating a fact that the meno board is a magnet for pharma sock puppets.

Thank you everyone who has shared their experiences. You feel less alone when you hear other people are wrestling with a similar collection of problems. The spotty chin is a bit of a drag, I must say.

Oh and Jingling as I haven't used the word troll, I can't "in so many words" be calling you a troll now can I? Report away.

@kedgeree- oh come on! credit us with some intelligence please!

I can't be bothered to copy and paste your first post where you made these insinuations but it's pretty clear what you mean and who you mean.

I am often on this forum and, for various reasons, I name change now and then as do most Mnetters.

Over the years I have been bullied by posters who said the same thing as you are saying now- ie 'promoting HRT all the time'.

So you are perhaps one of those posters back with a new username yourself.

It's all semantics. You don't have to use the word 'troll' but you have implied very very clearly that someone on this forum is not a genuine poster but employed by a company , promoting HRT.

So the words 'troll' and puppet sock' are actually interchangeable in this instance.

Menopause is caused by lack of oestrogen. If you replace the oestrogen via HRT you are simply giving your body what it is now lacking. It will halt the symptoms of oestrogen deficiency and ensure your bones don't suffer from osteoporosis, the hot flushes will become a thing of the past, you vagina will not atrophy, you will be able to sleep, you won't age dramatically.......and avoid all the other delights that the menopause brings.
I am on it for life. My advice would be to choose any transdermal HRT. Patches, gel, or (my choice) implants. Tablets involve a first pass through the liver so you need a higher dose.

In contrast to a lot of Mn Jingling gives accurate advice. Believe me when I say that no Pharmaceutical company would pay for someone to troll these boards and randomly advocate Hrt without specifying specific brands. There would be no advantage whatsoever to the said companies ( and I worked for 12 years in this industry).
Yes, what works for one individual doesn’t work for others. Soya milk helped me for a while. Now I’m menopausal and I’m currently waking up several times a night by hot flushes and no amount of supplements are helping. Magnets may work, other things may work because your mind tells you they’re working ( placebo effect). Hey, even antidepressants work largely via the placebo effect. So don’t knock it.

Thank you @teta.

If @Kedgeree is sure there is a sockpuppet (hate that term) on the forum, she ought to say who refer to their username, rather than casting aspersions.

I wasn’t suitable for HRT following breast cancer. I had 2 false starts, no period for 6 months , horrible night sweats and daytime flushes, then 6 months of regular periods again with no symptoms. Last period now 10 months ago, awful night sweats again for 7 months then they just stopped completely, no symptoms whatsoever now for 3 months and hoping it’s all over (I’m 55)

My mum took HRT for a long time, years, until she was advised not to. She swore by it, all of her symptoms stopped practically overnight and when she finally stopped in her early 70s she had no ill effects at all: though the doctor took her off it very gradually with steadily decreasing doses. She is 80 this year and still incredibly vigorous.

Of course people get paid to come onto forums such as this and push messages on behalf of corporations. It's a well-established marketing tactic. I'm amazed that any of you are surprised or think it's far fetched and in the realms of spooks. Dear oh dear.

Yes, they get paid to pretend to be interested in these silly women and their 'issues' for 6 months, build up a presence and then WHAM! They say 'HRT changed my life' and get the £5 cheque in the post.

It's an awesome plan.

My mum is still on Premarin at nearly 80.
She swears by it!

Several consultants have told me they have women in their 90s on it.

Do these very mature women keep having periods?

Can only speak for my (72 when she stopped taking HRT I think) mother, but no. It just relieved her unpleasant symptoms. Her periods did not resume.

I guess that mature ladies have hysterectomies or are on combined hrt or Tibolone.

I hope MNHQ have enough sense not to delete Kedgeree's posts.

What do Kedgerees posts add? If you are a woman feeling desperate in the middle of meno, trying to decide what, if anything, to take, how does reading a post insinuating that I (as it appears immediately after my comment) and others are paid shills? Shame on you Kedgeree.

HRT is a safe, effective treatment for menopause. My GP told me that and I believe her. Unless she too has a sinister agenda I don't have periods and I feel a lot better. I take straightforward low dose tablets.

If you want to waste your time fiddling around with supplements then that's up to you. Some people seem to be helped by them but as menopause is a physical issue caused by lack of oestrogen it isn't rocket science or a big conspiracy to suggest that replacing oestrogen will help.

Some people love to make women confused and worried about their reproductive health, we are easy targets. It's almost as if we don't think we deserve to feel better!

I have a family history of breast cancer and have been advised by the breast cancer clinic not to take hrt if I can avoid it. Surely they don’t give this advice if it’s perfectly safe? When my flushes got unbearable I started a low dose anti depressant which worked well until recently so I’m going back to my gp. CBD oil is claimed to help so I’ll see what my GP has to say about trying that.

I think it depends how high your risk is. Obviously if you have very high blood pressure it is also not going to be safe.

It's worth mentioning that if you believe hrt increases breast cancer risk then you must also accept that any supplement that mimics hrt, like soy, also increases the risk.

My paternal grandmother died of breast cancer but no cancer in my mother's family so far. I have mammograms every 2 years though! GP didn't think that was an issue at all. I was desperate though, I felt absolutely terrible. At that point I would have taken anything.

Because marketers of alternative supplements would never ever pay people to post on forums, oh no... Solely the preserve of evil Big Pharma!1!!

@ChangoMutney

It all depends on why you are attending a breast clinic already.
Have you had the test for the BC gene? Have you had cysts or lumps or something that meant you needed to be seen at a breast clinic?

As the PP said, it depends on what you mean by family history.

BC is so common ( lifetime risk is 1:8) that it would be possible to have several family members who'd had it yet it was a coincidence/ lifestyle related and not genetic.

Also, a lot of advice is out of date simply because new research comes out all the time but isn't getting picked up- the NHS site on HRT is quite out of date in places and many of the stats around relate to the outdated and badly conducted trials like the WHI and MW studies from 20 years ago.

There has in fact never been any study that has proved cause=effect between HRT and BC.

THis shows relative risks- look at the increase by being overweight or drinking compared to HRT.

www.menopausematters.co.uk/pdf/Understanding%20Risk%20of%20Breast%20Cancer.pdf

This article for a medical journal, by Dr Newson, is helpful.

(And I guess she's not paid by big pharma :))

d2931px9t312xa.cloudfront.net/menopausedoctor/files/information/148/BJFM_Jan-Feb-editorial.pdf

I find it hilarious that some members find it hard to believe that there are other (menopausal) members out there who are genuinely interested in the whole subject and prepared to research it, as well as sharing this information freely with others - so have to resort to insults such as "sock-puppets" - a new one on me!

This sort of thing and similar accusatons, has happened to similar members (ie those posting info and evidence re the benefits of HRT) of another well-known menopause group...

As for the definition - this bit stood out for me " The term now includes other misleading uses of online identities, such as those created to praise, defend or support a person or organization, to manipulate public opinion or to circumvent a suspension or ban from a website. " . This has most definitely happened on this forum in the past as well as members coming here from other groups where they have been banned to similarly cause trouble.

Also- there has been a lot of emphasis on symptoms - naturally because this is the first point at which women seek help but as EssPee said: " Menopause is caused by lack of oestrogen. If you replace the oestrogen via HRT you are simply giving your body what it is now lacking. It will halt the symptoms of oestrogen deficiency and ensure your bones don't suffer from osteoporosis, the hot flushes will become a thing of the past, you vagina will not atrophy, you will be able to sleep, you won't age dramatically.......and avoid all the other delights that the menopause brings. "

Some of the remedies and ideas suggested ( even if they are placebo) may "work" for a while - and each to their own - but they will not replace oestrogen and prevent the long term effects of oestrogen deficiency that EssPee refers to.

I used Black Cohosh in the early stages of peri-menopause and as has been said symptoms came and went and i attributed the success to the pills. However once I reached the later stages, of course nothing worked except HRT which like JinglingHellsBells I have been taking for 12 years and am now in my 60's.

Re breast cancer and cancer risk generally - lifestyle changes are paramount in reducing these risks as JinglingHellsBells also pointed out. Reduce body fat, get out and take more exercise, eat a healthy diet, reduce alcohol, get a good night's sleep, stop smoking - and then provided you don't have other health risks (contra-indications) you can take HRT quite happily knowing you are doing the best for yourself!

Some consistently well researched excellent advice here as always.

What my bugbear with this whole debate centres around risk. Women say they can’t take it because of bc risk or stroke risk etc - then simply ignore the other factors (weight, lifestyle etc)

It’s blinkered!

I am a huge advocate of hrt. I am not at any (all things considered) risk of bc by taking it (below menopause age, patches and utrogestan)

However, if I was fat, drank more than moderately and smoked my risk would be higher.

So you have to consider risk as a whole - looking at risks based on YOUR lifestyle and weight etc. Sorry I’m in a rush not very literate!