Night sweats, early waking and peri-menopause

[bungabungaboo]

Hi all

As the title says, I am waking with night sweats and also early waking (1.30 am-3.30am) today, 3.30am yesterday.

I seem to be working through the symptoms;heavy periods, vaginal dryness, hair loss, mood swings and so on

Last period 1/8/21

Anything worked for anyone with the night sweats or early waking?

Or will too pass ?

What worked- HRT.

might you think about it?

It can plateau and pass with many people but then the joint pain and irritability may kick in. Many say the sweats are the easy bit. Sorry, not much help .

Hrt if it becomes unbearable but it could settle down.

Considered HRT

Even spoke with GP and then had a week of feeing great and changed my mind

I wondered if it would pass I guess

Had bloods done with GP and then I felt better

I know no need for bloods they did show ferritin of 19

Hrt is a total game changer

Early waking was a big issue for me that hrt totally sorted out.

I've just started hrt (mirena coil and estrogen) and it's totally sorted out my sleep problems. Like you I was waking up several times in the night, often waking at 3 or 4 and not going back to sleep. I'm now sleeping through the night from 10 or 11pm to 6am. The improvement was immediate. In fact, my sleep improved as soon as the mirena coil was fitted (before I started taking the estrogen). The mirena coil is meant to stop heavy periods too.

HRT sorted out my sleep issues, that I hadn't even realised were because of perimenopause.

I did find any symptoms/poor sleep were cyclical, and would disappear for a couple of months, then come back again.

It sounds like HRT is the solution

The other symptoms have all passed with time and I wondered if this would pass too 🤔

@bungabungaboo

It sounds like HRT is the solution

The other symptoms have all passed with time and I wondered if this would pass too 🤔

I hate to tell you but the lucky ones have symptoms for 2-3 years, many women have them for 15+ years and some, my consultant says, have them forever (if they don't use hrt.)

My mum had flushes into her 80s as well as insomnia.

Also, @bungabungaboo it's too soon to say your symptoms have stopped (the ones that have!)

You are only a few months without a period. Your periods may well come back off and on for a good while yet. Usually, symptoms appear to 'stop' when your estrogen gives a last shot, but once you are really post meno (a year with no periods) you will find out how your body is ocping.

Acupuncture works for me. One treatment lasts about two months. Costs £50-£60 depending you your therapist. What a relief it is to get a sleep!

It’s totally worth it to me as I work it out as only £1 a day approx. I’d spend that on some other shit I don’t need and waste it!
It kicks in right away too.

I decided against HRT - not going to attempt to justify that, a personal matter - and am now in my 14th year of night sweats, insomnia and various other embuggerances. If you're happy to go the HRT route, go for it, because these peri and full menopause side effects don't go away in a hurry!

@Inextremis I love your use of "embuggerances"

Thanks for replies so far, just wondered why there is such a push for hrt at the moment and wanted to consider whether other things work as well

HRT was given a bad reputation
a few years back when they looked into it and everyone was terrified of the cancer risk. People stopped it right away in fear.

Then they worked out that the testing was done on only older patients or something and it’s been given the all clear and is actually beneficial for younger women, like under 70s or something, I think. You’d have to google!!

So now that there’s less risk than previously suggested they are trying to get it out there as it is really good. Apparently takes away all your symptoms, joint pains, the lot.

And obviously the pharma companies that make it are now rolling in money and want everyone to be on it so they can profit.

PS That’s why the likes of acupuncture isn’t offered as much as drugs - pharma companies and gps prescribing it don’t make any money from it. So why prescribe it. Oh and western gps are not trained in acupuncture and those that are generally went on just a short course. Which doesn’t teach them very much and can actually give acupuncture a bad reputation if they arent good due to their lack of knowledge or experience.

@Elieza There is very little money to be made by pharma with HRT :)
It's dirt cheap (I pay for mine at RRP ) .

Pharma will make money from treatments for serious diseases - like cures for cancer, heart disease, or the common cold.

The companies who are making money from women & menopause are those that make herbal supplements (none of which are shown to really work in trials.)

I'm not disagreeing with a lot of what you have said, but HRT is not a money-maker.

Sorry to hijack, I’ve no advice. But can you take HRT if you have symptoms but still have periods?

OP I have night sweats, early waking (I read) and some kind of irrational rage within- it sucks!

@Suzi888 yes definitely. There are different HRT regimes depending on whether you're perimenopausal (still have periods) or post menopausal (12 months of no periods).

@JinglingHellsBells

I wasn’t clear, apologies, I meant pharma companies via U.K. prescriptions.

I think gps get commission for stuff. Apparently £30 for a smear test referral and I don’t know how much for prescription medications.

I recall somewhere the nhs as being charged over a quid for prescriptions for regular paracetamol we can buy in Aldi for less than half that.

I don’t understand how it all works and I may be misinformed, but glad you get your hrt for a good price Jingling. We should all be able to access basic hormone medication for cheap or free.

I keep waking around 3:30 too, night sweats are awful! This morning I got up at 4:30 am and did some work, it felt more productive than tossing and turning.

@bungabungaboo I see it as women pushing for access to HRT rather than healthcare professionals or big pharma or whoever pushing it. A lot of women seem to have trouble convincing GPs to take their symptoms seriously or to consider HRT as a treatment. A lot of GPs don't have much training on menopause and are resistant to the idea of HRT for perimenopausal women without classic symptoms like hot flushes. So I'm not sure it's getting pushed. It's more of a pushback against a society (health system, employers) that doesn't take women's menopausal symptoms seriously.

I have to be honest I swing between going to the GP and giving it a try and then 'persevering' with the symptoms

I suppose I am apprehensive about taking it, as menopause is a natural progression like puberty

@WhereAreWeNow thank you.
I’m going to try my G.P though they’ll probably say no.

Your body is depleting in oestrogen and it will not come back. HRT simply rectifies this. It relives many symptoms and also protects your bones from osteoporosis.

'suppose I am apprehensive about taking it, as menopause is a natural progression like puberty'

I've often thought that but then as someone on here pointed out it isn't uncommon for teenage girls to be prescribed the contraceptive pill to help with the misery of heavy periods. I'm on the fence about it, I have friends who take it and rave about it but others who manage fine without. It's such a personal choice isn't it, I do think what your quality of life is like already may have a lot to do with it. The extra misery of anxiety, palpitations and sleep problems can just be the last straw for some.