Hot flushes advice?

[Lacdepassy]

I think I've been perimenaupausal for years but with very mild symptoms.

My periods have completely stopped for 4 months and my only awful symptoms is hot flushes.

I get them what seems like every hour, I get so hot and it makes me really uncomfortable. My face looks like a tomato and I'm sweating profusely. The heat is immense.

Nighttime is worse, I have to sleep naked outside the duvet and get up in the night frequently to splash cold water on myself

I've started HRT (I think it's Eleve 50), I'm only a week in but there isn't any improvement.

Has anyone got any advice?

I think hrt can take more than a week- so patience

Also cutting sugar and refined carbs out might help

I'd find out when the HRT should start to make a difference and if things haven't changed by then you will probably need to change the doses. They start you on the minimum dose which won't automatically be suitable for you, so don't be fobbed off by your GP if it is not working.

I'm sorry, I don't have any advice on how to reduce hot flushes, other than the right dose of HRT.

Give it time!

It takes years for hormones to fall in peri and HRT isn't like using paracetamol. It's not an instant fix. The medical advice is to review the effects after 3 months.

It's probably going to help you long before then, but more like a few weeks not a week. :)

Give it time?
blimey , does that mean 5 years, 10 years, 15 years? I am 14 years into night sweats and day hot flushes. Whilst they are not happening everyday now (they were up to 3 years ago) I get phases every few months of it being every night and lots during the day. Then it fizzles out for a few weeks or even a couple of months and then comes back
yes, for a lot of women the sweats and flushes last a few years. But for some unlucky sods it can keep going until your 70s and beyond.

whilst I don’t want to be unduly pessimistic to the poor OP, let’s stop dishing out advice that implies people should just wait it out . The lack of sleep, the inability to function during the day is a massive problem for many women. It can, just on its own, be so disabling they give up work or end up with broken relationships.

if I had known I’d be struggling with horrible symptoms like this, anxiety etc when I started peri menopause I’d have fought against the GPS advice at the time to avoid HRT ( bear in mind this was 14 years ago at height of the backlash against HRT) . On HRT, I might well have not had to take early retirement, I might not have been so exhausted I couldn’t think, I might even now not be having to put up with the insufferable internal heat that rises out of the chest that you can’t escape from and watch sweat drip off my body.

Neck fan, and a chillow.
Put a sheet on the top of the duvet and sleep under that.

@Headbandheart You misunderstood.

The OP is on HRT. She was asking how long it may take to work.

Medical guidance is a review at 3 months to see if the dose or type need changing.

As for your own issues, I'm not sure of your age now, but women over 60 are 'allowed' HRT even as new starters on it.

You'd start on a low dose patch or gel, and increase slowly if necessary.

If your GP won't agree to this, see another or ask for a referral to a menopause specialist.

Hi op hope you get relief soon. Im a hot mess here some days ha. Im going gp soon about it. Would think hrt takes time. The sweats can be crap agree. Im 49

I’ve had exactly the same, only symptom has been hourly hot flushes, I’d be drenched in sweat even during the day, horrible.
After 6 months I went on HRT, firstly Evorel 25, did 2 months without much change. I’ve now upped it to 50 with some improvement.
As other posters have said, you need to give it some weeks/up to 3 months, to see if there is any improvement (although you will get the occasional poster saying HRT had an instant miraculous effect, most folk need a bit of time).
Good luck, and buy a mini handheld fan on Amazon, very handy!

I can't use HRT so am also tomato faced at the moment.
I had a shower at about 2am which helped but I am struggling with this weather in particular.

I'd never heard of a chillow. Thanks for the tip!

You can still consider hrt?

Thanks all. I do think I need to give it more time. I have never heard of a chillow so am off to buy one. I think I'll invest in one of those spray bottles so I can spray water over myself at night. I'm sleeping naked on top of the bedlinen as I feel like a furnace.

Huge sympathies for everyone else who has hot flushes - what an annoying symptom!

In weather like this when you get so hot anyway a chillow in the freezer every night is a God send if it's too cold to start with our it under your normal pillow and just stick your hands under.
Neck fan on back of sweaty necks as well as face but the up hair.
Sheet is to trick your brain so it doesn't compensate being naked plus you can stick your legs out to feel relief.
I can't believe I used to love the heat 😁

You have my sympathies @Lacdepassy
I can offer a minor tip. I bought myself some very lightweight cotton nighties. This way when I wake up in night drenched in sweat I can take off the soaking wet nightie, put a fresh one on and at least that dose of sweat isn’t seeped into my bedsheets. Slightly more comfortable! My back seems to be the worst offender.

@headbandheart why aren't you on hrt now, what's stopping you from getting it???

I was getting awful hot flushes, went on HRT, it worked completely- never had a hot flush since- it did take 3 weeks though so hold on in there.

low carb definitely makes a difference

I’m in late 50s and have been at this for 14 years, And it is better. But I didn’t think they’d prescribe it now so late on…plus a mix of I’ve come this far….
do you have information that I could take it?
I have so many other issues like interstitial cystitis, too frequent fractures etc. but none of specialist of those fields have suggested it . I assumed I was too old

I'm 50 and have been on HRT (Oestrogel) for 2 years. Whilst it reduces my many symptoms, I still struggle and find lifestyle changes really help too.

Drink less alcohol
Exercise more
And I take a herbal Sage tablet which helps massively with the hot flushes. When I forget to take it my flushes flare up the same day. I’ve just seen it’s on offer at Boots.

Unfortunately the extreme heat also makes it a lot worse. In winter my flushes calm down.

@Headbandheart This is very worrying.

Frequent fractures? So do you have osteoporosis too? Have you had a bone density scan? Has anyone offered that or suggested treatment? Women with multiple fractures at a young age are supposed to be referred to a fracture clinic for an assessment.

HRT is now licensed for the prevention and treatment of osteoporosis in women your age.

You are still young enough for HRT! Late 50s is fine! No problem at all. The NICE menopause guidance gives advice on what to do for women over 60 , (low dose and transdermal.)

In your late 50s you are only a few years older than women who reach post meno in their mid 50s and start HRT then.

My meno consultant has started women on HRT in their 90s!

As you said yourself, you 'have come this far' but you also admit that women suffer well into their 70s , 80s and older. (My Mum was having sweats and flushes in her 80s.) There is no 'over it' age. It can carry on forever for some women.

You should also ask for vaginal estrogen (cream or tiny pill that' s inserted) to help with your bladder. I have found a big improvement with these.

Go to your GP. you are suffering when it's not needed.

Thanks for info…I have been thinking about going back to see gp (haven’t seen one since early 2019 given covid etc 🙄) but have been prevaricating about it.

time to do something ! Thanks for advice

@Headbandheart Not sure of your timeline for meno, but periods that stop before 51 are considered on the early side (early menopause is final period before 45.) This increases the risk of bone loss/ fractures. HRT is medically advised for women who are in early meno.

You didn't say if you've ever had a bone density scan but I thought this was now pretty standard for women who have fractures in their 50s, especially if the fracture happens after a minor fall or something. If not, ask your GP to refer you for one.

Hope you make some progress!

I have a little pot in the fridge that I fill with cold water and put a thick flannel in. When I go to bed at night I squeeze the water out, pick up a couple of cold gel packs, and a small gel mat from the fridge also.

Armed with all this lot and the thinnest duvet I could find I happily trot off to bed.

I find if I can get cool enough to drop off to sleep, I’m not so bad. I have been known to shower my feet with cool water before bed. Best of luck.

I found HRT did work for hot flushes but it exacerbated my migraines. I’m about 8 years in, but they’re not as bad as they were.

I started peri in mid fourties’. Menopause officially early 50s.

the issue with my fractures was they were all done when I was working abroad in different countries. The problem with travelling for work is you are in meeting rooms and bedrooms you’re not familiar with. I seemed to make a habit of slipping or tripping- I have dyspraxia anyway and have always fallen very easily.

the issue was then that I got diagnosed by hospitals abroad and then had physio when I got back home. I only saw fracture clinic at point of cast removal/ sling/boot removal. In some cases I got miss diagnosed abroad (eg told no fracture) then had hassle of trying to get a diagnosis with NHS as to why I was in extreme pain weeks later - for instance I broke 3 metatarsal bones and was trying to walk on it for 10 weeks because it was not diagnosed despite an X-ray in france🤦‍♀️. I found out later this French clinic had a rep for being appalling- it was a sort of walk in centre.
so, I don’t think nhs has ever made connection that I had broken bones a lot in short time (4 instances in 6years) to menopause

They are aware of it though as I was pushing really hard around possible hyper parathyroidism. I. Have all the Bones, Stones, moans and groans symptoms, high calcium levels and high PTH but both just within NHS limits. And a family history. I never got anywhere with that. I guess that’s why I didn’t persue HRT, I’m still not convinced that I don’t have issues with parathyroid anyway

this is the real issue at play here. As soon as you get peri menopausal, you’re dismissed as being “just that age” whether it’s becuase you’ve fallen but they won’t taken possibity of you having actual broken a bone seriously, whether it is symptoms that point to issues with PTH, or even bloody menopause itself - a lot of GPs still fib you off whatever.

@Headbandheart You've had a lot to contend with. But don't allow drs to dictate what happens with your health. When you see your GP, ask for a DEXA scan and a referral to a rheumatologist.