Heat & severe facial sweating - 54 and menopausal

[DazedConfusedBewildered]

Hi everyone, I’m struggling with menopausal symptoms at the moment but the hardest thing has been general heat in my body and excessive facial sweating whenever I do anything.
If you’ve experienced similar, has anything worked for you?

TIA

I wish I knew!
I sailed through the menopause 5 years ago and have suddenly developed horrendous hot flushes, night sweats ,headaches etc .I sleep on gel pads and just a sheet over me at night

75% of women going through menopause have flushes and sweats- they are really common.

What worked for me? HRT.

Used it now for 15 years.

Is this something you have considered?

There is masses online if you are unsure of meno symptoms and treatments.

I haven't suffered too badly. I went through a brief stint of 4 months of hot flushes every hour or two. It was awful but then they stopped. This was a few years ago. Recently I've started getting warm flushes, not quite the breathtaking heat but still sweat inducing. I just dab the sweat away and carry on.

My hot flushes can be really bad at times. Normally when I’m standing with a drink at a party and all my make up heads south… so embarrassing feeling trickle of sweat run down by my ears…

Ive just started to try a product called Carpe which is an anti perspirant for the face. You can apply under make up. It’s not cheap, but it seems to work. I apply it very sparingly around my hairline and it’s helped a lot.

https://uk.mycarpe.com/products/face?variant=34411152015493

Have said this on here a million times - acupuncture.

Absolutely changed my life ten years ago.

Thanks all.

@Ohyeahwaitaminute ill definitely try that!

@BadBadDecisions I’m having acupuncture as it’s worked so well before but it doesn’t seem to be working this time.

Oh that's a shame. Maybe it depends on the practitioner or type. With one person the effect lasted about a year; the next person I went to has stopped it for good (I hope, we're about 9 years and counting).

Is there any reason why you want to use alternative treatments rather than HRT which can also bring other benefits?

Hi @JinglingSpringbells, there will be a delay between sorting out my high BP and being able to start HRT. Everything takes twice as long as it needs to as it’s. Dry difficult to get in touch with my GP/gynae specialist also.

Typo! Should read ‘it’s very difficult’

@BadBadDecisions so frustrating. Same practitioner but just not working this time. I’m hoping it’s just taking longer than before to kick in!

Ah- you didn't mention you had high blood pressure.

TBH anything over the counter can take weeks and months to work, even if it does.

Is your high BP not being treated anyway, regardless of your menopause symptoms?

You can take HRT with high BP IF the BP is being treated with meds (depending how high it is) or lifestyle.

This in on medical advice sites, if you want to check it out.

Thanks to all who have mentioned HRT.
Could I ask whether HRT worked for heat and sweating? I’m not talking about hot flashes. This isn’t the usual type of sweating but where it’s dripping off my face and neck and my hair’s wet.
TIA

I have the exact sweating on the face and neck you describe and HRT isn't shifting it for me. I hate it. I have just got back from youngest swimming lessons and I looked like a wet tomato by the time we got back outside. Anything I do like emptying the dishwasher or something really benign still has me dripping in facial sweat.

Sorry to hear that @OhhhhhhhhBiscuits, it’s just awful.
I don’t know whether it could be something else or hormonal- I’m so fed up of people telling me to wear cotton, drink water etc. That doesn’t work for me.

I also have this.. I have had it for a while, so I don't think it's just menopause, although I'm sure that's part of it. It's very much on my face, and the smallest exertion, literally getting up to sort the air conditioner out and fighting a bit with the hose and the window, will have me dripping for ages from my face. It stings my eyes and drips onto papers etc. I use fans and air con when I can but I try not to.

What can help a bit is a prescription wipe called 'Secure' wipes, glycopyrralate, which you can order online from pharmacy.ca - you fill in a form and they discuss it with you and then post if suitable. It doesn't get rid of it but I think it helps, but it takes a day or two of use first. These were recommended by the hyperhidrosis site.

There are some prescription medicines, but I worry about the dryness elsewhere as they are anti-cholinergic; I also worry about increased demetia risk from them, so don't want to try them.

I've ordered perspi-guard wipes from amazon, but not tried them yet as I still have the Secure wipes.

None of the other types sold in boots etc made any difference.

The Carpe stuff has been advertised a lot on my FB but I haven't tried it yet - glad to hear a good review here, as I read mixed reviews about it for the face, a little worried that it just turns into a paste if you sweat a lot.

Haven't tried HRT, yet, though I'm considering it. I have hypertension well controlled by tablets, but I also get occasional migraines, which are coming back a bit when I have a very occasional period now, and I am not sure I want to return to having an actual monthly bleed like you would with HRT, alongside the more sudden drops in progesterone that you'd get from the cyclical HRT routine; I've heard that a lot of people find that quite difficult to get used to, and if I'm already sensitive to progesterone levels and potential migraines, I don't know if I want to add to that and possibly start having a lot more of them - it's been a bit of a nice relief to have had hardly any migraines for a decade or more now, and only occasional periods for the last year or two, so I'm not sure I want to mess with that just yet. But the facial sweating is pretty unpleasant when it happens, but that is likely to happen to a fairly great extent with or without HRT. So I'm still a bit undecided, like you.

Thanks @BrunchBunch and sorry to hear you have it too.
I’ve been in the menopause for a long time, since my late thirties and I’m now 54 and have had no periods for about 10 years - the sweating has been over the last 5 years or so.
I'm fed up 😀

This isn’t the usual type of sweating but where it’s dripping off my face and neck and my hair’s wet.

You've described a hot flush!

It's a shame your GP didn't help you sooner.
Now, HRT is recommended as a treatment for early menopause (before age 45) and used at least to age 51 (average age of menopause.) This is to protect bones and heart. Obviously not all women choose to use it but it is suggested for early menopause.

I get this.

I'm 46, been on hrt for 2 years and it hasn't shifted it (hrt has eradicated night sweats though). I use odaban on my face in the summer to help, but I find any exertion or stress can set it off. I'm super conscious of it and try to control it where I can (so for eg in the dentist's chair I grip a bottle of iced water to help cool me down).

It came on in my early 40s so must be hormone related?

Appreciate you starting this thread op.

thanks @JinglingSpringbells, I have two forms of heat- the usual hot flush you get with menopause (very distinct and I know when it’s happening and I can cope easily with these as I don’t sweat) and then this other sweating situation. They may be called the same thing but they feel very different. HRT doesn’t seem to necessarily stop the second sweats (based on my reading).

yes I agree; I get the hot flush type heat, and then the extreme sweating, which is quite different.

Hi @RavenT, sorry to hear you get it too. I’ve been very lucky to not get night sweats but if I dry my hair in the mornings I’ve sweated so much that I'm soaked through! Absolute nightmare.
im currently working my way through Mumsnet threads and a high number of people have mentioned it.

But many women do sweat with hot flushes.

I have seen, years ago, women on buses with water/ sweat dripping off their red faces, dabbing themselves with a tissue.

I also (before HRT) had wet hair which woke me at night, a wet chest area, with sweat running down it, as well as the 'usual' milder flushes hourly during the day.

They are all hot flushes or vasomotor symptoms- medical terminology!
And yes, HRT works for both.

Thanks @JinglingSpringbells, I’m not disagreeing with you but simply explaining how I feel with it. I’m willing to try HRT but there will be delays with it. I’m here to ask the question and get suggestions so thank you.
I’m glad it’s worked for you but it doesn’t work for everyone (apparently).

Same. I started HRT last autumn and no longer get the 'fully body' hot flush but the running down the face sweat is horrific and has got much worse recently.