The gagging could be from what is called "silent reflux"... I didn't even know i had it until i went to the doctor with an ear ache which was also contributed to the reflux. When you are laying down the acid can creep up and then in turn make you cough and gag. I had nausea as well for many years from this and did not even know it. It is quite common in perimenopause as it relates to hormone fluctuations. I take an OTC Zegerid at night for the reflux and it has helped a lot. Also, not eating a few hours before going to bed may help as well. Not sure if this is what you have but it sounds like it to me. As for night sweats i found that at least 30 minutes of exercise a day, walking or running helped tremendously. It also helps with my anxiety and nervousness that also comes up out of nowhere at times. The only thing getting me through is the thought of making it to the finish line and this being over fairly soon... i hope! Good luck

To repeat some of what I've said earlier in multiple posts, I've taken a multi-faceted approach: sunlight therapy light for 30 minutes each morning during the shorter winter months making sure to eat healthily, esp. lots of legumes exercise (which for me also includes social partner dancing...not only provides exercise but physical interaction and music!) bamboo sheets have greatly helped with night sweats. I sleep much better. join a menopause support group or else start your own such Meetup group (I did, in NYC!) I take Rainbow Light Menopause One make it a point to be social....to get out of the house and be around other people. Go for walks...be around nature. If you are a night owl (like me), try your best to change your schedule little by little. Waking up earlier and going to bed earlier means you will have more waking hours in the natural light, and fewer waking hours in the dark, which in turn helps with serotonin levels and mood. Talk to a shrink if you are depressed and/or try to engage in cognitive therapy on your own. Be aware of how you are able to somewhat impact your own mood. For e.g., I noticed a pattern, whereby I was constantly assessing my mood multiple times per day. 'Am I feeling depressed right now?....Yup, I am. I am indeed feeling down...just like I was earlier today...just like I was yesterday. Ugh.' I realized that in doing that, I was then creating a sub-conscious 'reality' for myself, that if I am feeling down today, and I felt 'down' yesterday, and the day before that, that it stands to reason that tomorrow, and the next day, will also be the same. And how on earth can I expect to be in a good mood, if I believe this to be my reality, for the foreseeable future? Talk about creating a sense of doom for oneself. ;-) So.... I realized that this thought pattern I was exhibiting was not serving me one iota. Of course, we all know the expression of 'living in the moment'. I decided to purposefully try this at every moment of every day. 'Oh, doesn't this cup of coffee taste so good?.... this is so great that I just finished this work spreadsheet on my computer...I can now cross this off my to-do list.... this is great... Oh, this is a great song I'm listening to ...this salad I'm eating tastes so fresh!.... don't my two cats look so cute sleeping together..." And so on. By doing this, at the end of each day I found that I was able to look back and think 'you know...today wasn't that bad actually...'. And if I practiced living in the moment the next day as well, I could say 'this is great...today was pretty good...yesterday was pretty good...'. So that in turn helped to create my own new reality, which then helped me believe that the days ahead would also be pretty good! ;-) (If I assumed the days ahead would not be so good, they usually were not so good. But if I took on a more positive outlook, that my days ahead would be good, or 'pretty good', indeed, they usually were. While we can't control our emotions or mood entirely, much of it IS about perspective, and recognizing the ways we self-sabotage. And on that note....do not believe for one minute that 'older women are regarded with little worth' (as someone else here said). I am so utterly tired of women (and most often, it's American women) making this complaint. If you believe it, so it will be. No one wants to be around an older woman who is down in the dumps about her age. You could take two older women who look the exact same age more or less, and who have a similar appearance. One woman is confident, takes pride in her appearance, dresses attractively, does not feel her age is in and of itself a detriment; she is engaging, curious, outgoing. The other woman goes around believing that now that she's X-years of age, she's washed-up, and that society and men will 'ignore her'. She doesn't bother trying to dress nice, because she figures 'why bother'. Which woman do you think society is going to respond to more favorably. Which woman will more men find attractive? ;-)

Hello all I am having a time with my perimenopause. Bled all summer, now stopped since August, and feel much better except for the night sweats. I bought progensa 20 cream, no help, bought black cohash, seems to help some. I wonder what else I really need to try that will work. Should I get a soy/cohash mixture, or try soy tabs with the cohash? Unfortuantely, no insurance, so Dr.s visits are OUT. but I can't keep wasting money on stuff that does not work. has anyone tried Menozac? Supposed to be the BEST help. THanks Lori

Mamapinky0, I really appreciate your response but unfortunately our situation is tricky at best. Cold water is the only option for our washing machine, we also don't have any other options than just regular wash (we live in a foreign country and have a foreign washing machine). We don't own the washer and can't replace it. Its a terrible washer that we hate but is something we can't do anything about. We can't move either (its just way to cost prohibitive and we only have a few more years left). And the dryer, its a combo with the washer and it does an even worse job of drying than it does washing. We do seem to have soft water though and I do have access to some American detergents thankfully. I use Tide Clean & Clear as I have sensitive skin that reacts to fragrances. I also have been adding Oxyclean (the fragrance free kind). I'm pretty sure I'm just going to have to live with masking the stains.