NO HRT or synthrtic hormones for me. I went the ayurveda way. I take 1 tablet of Evanova twice daily and one tablet of Menosan from Himalaya drugs twice daily. My hot flashes have calmed down tremendously. I use natural progesterone cream during the second half of my periods. I exercise and eat healthy and practice yoga regularly. I noticed the difference when I went off the tablets for a month. The hot flashes came back with a rage! And subsided again a month after I re-started the tablets.

EJ, you sound like an advertisement to me?

I am 34 and having probably 20-30 hot flashes a day. I am 6 weeks post surgery and take .9 mg of premarian. All it's doing is keeping the crazy train from pulling up. I am going to try the herbal ideas posted on here. I take benadryl to sleep so that doesn't stop the flashes for me. I go to the doctor Wednesday for post op check up hopefully get some ideas from her too.

I'm 42 years old and started having symptoms a couple of years ago that have gotten worse and worse. I tried black cohash, maca, progesterone cream, and other natural remedies but everything broke me out; including the bioidentical HRT from a doctor. Too bad because the BHRT did get rid of all my symptoms and I started losing weight... The only thing I've found I can take is I-Cool 1 in morning and 1 in evening and my flashes went from 14 intense ones per day to 2-3 much weaker ones and I'm not so fatigued all the time either.

It is a matter of finding what works for you without side effects; what works for some will not work for everyone.

To those of you trying black cohosh: it takes 3 months to get the full effect. Don't expect changes in hot flashes until you have taken it consistently for 3 months. I started with 20 mg twice a day. It helped, but after reading these posts, I added 2 more, so I am up to 80 mg a day. It helps. I had a flash every hour and a half , night and day. Now I have 5 or 6 a day. I did manage to wean myself off the HRT. I'm going to try stronger black cohosh. It is still better than HRT. Thank you to all who contribute here!

This isn't a cure but it helps me during the summer months:

Chilly pads by Frogg Toggs......you can find them at Bed Bath & Beyond or Amazon, and other online stores. These are dry pad that feel cool and wet that you can take to bed with you.

This isn't a cure but it helps me during the summer months:

Chilly pads by Frogg Toggs......you can find them at Bed Bath & Beyond or Amazon, and other online stores. These are dry pad that feel cool and wet that you can take to bed with you.

For those that the black cohosh didn't work or cannot take it: the "I-Cool" stopped working for the hot flashes after a while. Something else that helped a lot is Pregnenolone supplement 25mg 1xday. Also apple cider vinegar caps or tablets 2-3xday with a couple ounces of water. Female Toner tea bags worked great with 1c per day but caused me skin issues like the BHRT did. So, the flashes & sweats are back again now and my doctor (Asian medicine) is having me try Nulignan supplement 2 tabs per day. I'll let you know if it works he swears by it for hot flashes...

This post was edited by JMiller8893 on Wed, Oct 9, 13 at 8:30

I stopped consuming all forms of caffeine. I was never a coffee drinker--just tea, soda and chocolate. It took me about a week and a half to wean myself off the caffeine. Within 24 hours of my last diluted cup of tea, my severe hot flushes suddenly stopped like night and day. Now I have an occasional, very weak, hot flash that is hardly noticeable. I replaced my caffeine consumption with tall glasses of ice water. And for those times when I want a hot beverage, I drink herbal tea or just plain hot water. Hot drinks do seem to trigger hot flashes for me; and so does alcohol, but at least I know my triggers and it is comforting to be in control.

I found this post in hoping to find some relief with hot flashes that began a couple of weeks ago. It only last for a minute but it comes every hour or so. LOL, I got a fan in every room and even one in my purse. Oh, here comes one now as I'm typing this post.

I too have cut back on caffeine. It didn't stop the hot flashes but it minimized the sweating.

I love soy milk but I got a reaction from it in recent years. My breasts got very itchy. Once I stopped drinking soy milk, the itches stopped completely. Be awared if you drink soy milk. I know of people with breast cancer and was told by their doctor to avoid all soy products.

Thanks for the tip on Black Cohosh. I'm going to give this a try and see if it helps.

.... moments later.....

Oh man, I just found out I shouldn't be taking Black Cohosh. People who are allergic to Aspirin should avoid it. Sigh... and I'm one.

This post was edited by ntt_hou on Sun, Mar 23, 14 at 4:05

I too am 52 years of age and experiencing hot flashes. I've been using a product that has black Cohosh in it (Estroven). Anyways, I've been taking it for a couple of months and my hotflashes and night sweats have disappeared as well. I've also quit caffein, I exercise regularly, and became a vegetarian. The latter 2 I've did prior to the hotflashes so the only significant change would be the black Kohosh and the lack of caffein.

I have found something that worked for me. Magnesium citrate.........(not the oxide, but citrate, it absorbs into the body better). Do some investigating and find out about Magnesium. After about 3 weeks of using this supplement, I quit having hot flashes.

Hi, I have experienced weight gain since starting the Black Cohosh regime. I had been working out daily and watching what I ate and gaining weight. I just googled Black Cohosh side effects and weight gain is one of them so is potential liver damage so be careful. Yes, my hot flashes are gone after a few months of being on the Black Cohosh and now I'm going off. I'd rather have a hot flash than be overweight. I'm going to try the magnesium citrate as suggested above. magnesium keeps you calm and regular as well. Thanks for the tip.

Magnesium....just be sure to read labels, as most of the magnesium out there is the oxide version. May have to order the citrate online. I get mine here:
http://www.drugstore.com/products/prod.asp?pid=415477&catid=183255

or on amazon. Also, read up on how magnesium works, it will affect your bathroom habits, most likely. For me this was a good thing.

Black Cohosh stopped working for me after a few months. I'm now taking an anti-depressant - Paroxetine. I now have deep sleeps at night, and an average of only one mild hot flush per day. If I didn't have uterine fibroids, I'd go on HRT. I've been on the current medication for about 2 years. It's saved my sanity.

I'm still trying to figure out how the OP had to pay $15. to pass along this information. Registering at GW is free.

It wasn't always free. Before Spike sold it to iVillage. many of the forums were pay-to-play.

Oh, I see, this thread was started in 2005! lol

My gynecologist said that when I take black cohosh, go off of it for a month, then start again. 3 months on, 1 month off.

It stopped working for me, and I still have some left in the bottle. Now to just remember to take it........

I had been having hot flashes for the last year. I tried black cohosh, various other herbs, acupuncture, and a chinese herbal mix that my acupuncturist tells me works on almost everyone. None of them worked, and some of them even made the problem worse.

Recently, I started taking MSM to try and help with hair growth and was shocked to find that it almost completely eliminated my hot flashes. I realized that I've gone a week without having a single hot flash. So, MSM might be worth a try, unless you are allergic to sulphur/sulpha, since MSM is a form of sulphur. I started really slow, cutting a 500mg tablet into 4 pieces and taking 1/4 pill per day and increasing over 2 weeks up to 1 whole tablet. My hot flashes are almost gone at 500mg which is a pretty small dose of MSM.

My thought is to try everything that might work. Different supplements work for different people.

SPAM

Edited to add: spammer removed - thanks, HOUZZ!

This discussion board is awesome. I have been suffering off an on from Hot flashes and night sweats for 8 years now. I went from bad uterine fibroids and too much estrogen to after surgery low estrogen and perimenopausal... I have tried various herbal remedies, Macca, vitex, Dhea,progesterone cream..Now two weeks into Black Cohosh and still on fire at nights. I am now excited to try soy milk. Picked it up this morning and had a glass. I hope it works. I need to get some sleep...

I've had hot flashes for several years now...they really disrupted my sleep. I finally bit the bullet and bought a powerful bed fan that sits at the end of the bed under the covers and blows strong blasts of air under the sheets when I get a flash. The blast is strong enough to inflate the sheet up off my body. I'm very pleased with the effectiveness. I think it is called NightBliss, but the site is www.hotflashes.co.

Although at 62, most of the menopause symptoms have passed, I still have night time hot flashes that disrupt my sleep on average of 4 or 5 times a night. Like sallywo017, I purchased the Night bliss bed cooling system and am more than pleased with this product. The web site is http://www.night-bliss.com. It works and you will know that immediately. I can't sleep without it.

After making it the requisite 12 months without a period, I was still miserable from horrible and severe daytime and nighttime hot flashes and sweats. Average 1-2 per hour and majority very severe, feeling so over-warm I was nauseous all the time.

I could barely function during the day with fans, heaters, layered clothing, always feeling so sick. Couldn't get any sleep even with fans, heaters, layered wicking clothing and sheets, layered bed covers, and house set at 62 degrees (which does still help).

Doc put me on HRT and that *did* stop the flashes completely. But it brought back regular spotting, appetite control problems, weight gain, bloating, IBS, indigestion, heartburn, GERD, painful swollen breasts and nipples, brain fog, physical and mental fatigue.

I continued the HRT for a full year as Doc said all this would go away, but it didn't. Doc said taper off. As I tapered off, all those side effects went away - but the hot flashes came rushing back.

I tried black cohosh (by itself), red clover (by itself), all sorts of menopause support supplements, maca, soy milk, edamame, magnesium, accupressure, accupuncture, bio-identical progesterone cream, DHEA, big increase in vitamins (D3, B12, B6, C, E, you name it), and I'm sure I'm forgetting something... tried so many things for almost two years and nothing worked.

Accidentally stumbled across mention on the 'net of Sage extract capsules as possible help so gave them a try. One in the morning and one at night, and within 4-5 days the hot flashes had significantly decreased in both frequency and intensity..

I'm sure this doesn't work for everybody, but if you've tried everything and nothing works, give this a try. I bought a brand I'm familiar with and I trust, and they were not expensive.

The Sage extract capsules didn't eliminate the hot flashes, but I now have perhaps 2-3 a week during the day and at most one per night near bedtime, all pretty mild. I'm no longer overly-warm and nauseated all the time either, which is a big help.

The only side effect I've had with Sage is an upset stomach unless I take it with a little food or milk.

I hope my experience could help someone get some relief.

I've had hot flashes over the last 8 months and suffered through them until my doctor prescribed paroxetine (paxil). Since taking 10 mg per day, I have one a day instead of 10. It has also stopped the night sweats completely. This may not work for everyone, but it has had a pretty high success rate with many women. There is a drug called Brisdelle which is the exact same thing and costs a lot more, just use regular paroxetine. Best of luck, ladies.

I started this journey over 2 years ago. I got to the point where the night sweats were so bad that I was literally waking up every hour all night long. I am a working woman and had to try to function. I was so messed up that I was becoming unable to function daily. Work and lufe seemed impossible. I was missing out on everything .. Passing in events I had purchased tickets for., etc. I had to get out of jury duty because I couldn't function! I tried all of the homeopathic remedies listed here, and many new age techniques such as yoga, acupuncture and tapping. I do exercise and my job keeps me active. I finally gave in and asked my dr for the lowest dose hrt (PremPro). After 3 weeks I was back on track. Suddenly after 11 months - there it was, a full blown period. Since October, they have gradually come back in full force. I take lorazepam at night to no avail. The PremPro no longer works and I'm not sleeping more the 45 mins at a time all night. I don't know what to do. I'm disquisted now especially as I'm heading out for a long waited vacation Saturday and this is not the way I want to feel. Do I ask the dr to increase to dosage? Or stop altogether since they are not working? God help me and all of you. I agree w the poster above who cannot understand with all the monies spent in medical research how can we not have help ???? Ugh

I too have read good things about Black Cohosh, though I'd also read it can have some side effects. Of course, everyone is different. Another item I'd read about and which I do take is Maca. I didn't find mention anywhere online of any possible negative side effects, so that's why I went with Maca.

Also, while I didn't read all the other notes here, in case not mentioned, sheets made of bamboo fabric are supposed to be superior for wicking moisture and perspiration from the body. So for those with night sweats you may want to try them. They can be pricey though...

Hello all, I've found that additional Vit B 6 at night seems to alleviate them noticeably. I still get hot, but not the crazy brutal flashes.

Black Cohosh did nothing for me.

I believe this is not diet related but rather spinal related, the reason I say this is because my wife no longer suffers from hot flashes after using an inversion table, hanging upside down suspended by her ankles, this made all the difference, she has not had a hot flash since.

There is one sure cure for hot flashes....age. Ha! I'll be 70 on my next birthday, and no longer suffer from these curses.

I am almost 49 and have just started getting hot flashes. I have already had problems sleeping for the past decade and have suffered debilitating depression since childhood. My mood is always low and I have cried daily ever since I can remember. I have read up on menopausal symptoms and I am beside myself with fear. Life for me is already a struggle...... I'm terrified these symptoms will push me over the edge. I've been single for almost a decade and do not socialise or have any friendships. Menopause is going to be the straw that broke the camels back. I'm not going to cope with this on top of everything else!!!

Have read all the posts here and just burst into tears. As a health and wellness professional I refuse to go on HRT or take medication. I exercise regularly and eat healthy the majority of the time. Don't drink caffeine. Have looked at some of the herbal supplements for menopausal symptoms but they are so expensive. I already take magnesium and B complex vitamins daily.

It sucks to be a woman. Periods, pregnancy, childbirth, stretch marks, pelvic floor weakness, now menopause! And on top of that ageing women are regarded with little worth. Sorry ladies...... You're all here helping one another and I throw THIS in.

Sigh.

I like was determined to try and get through without hormones. I yeilded at one point and took hormones for about 3 weeks and it was not worth trying. 4 years later and I can say that yes it was the worst 4 years of my life, but that I am about 80 percent better. It does end... but going through it is horrible.

I posted a few months ago , Sept 14 2015, about an amazing fan that I have been using. www.nightbliss.com. I'm 63 and STILL having night time hot flashes. I did HRT for 2 years, but as soon as I stopped it, the night flashes came back. I bought the fan and while I still have the night flashes, the fan feel so incredably refreshing, it is actually so pleasurable, like a stiff breeze that starts at your feet and actually is strong enough to lift you sheets around you, creating a wind tunnel. It is programable, and works with a remote controlled button so all you do is hit the button and within seconds you are in a state of bliss. It turns itself off too so you can fall back asleep. I am consistently turning it on 4 to 5 times a night. Ive met women in their 70's who still "sleep hot". I guess for some women, once your over heating system gets tripped, it doesn't stop. The fan isn't cheap but it is a quality, made in America 100 % guaranteed product. I swear by it.

Please don't waste your money on harmful medication that don't work, I have seen a wonderful change in my wife's condition now that she no longer suffers from hot flashes and I wish this upon everyone that is going thru this. If it worked for my wife it can work for anyone, an inversion table is around $150 and up at Fitness Depot some places allows you to try it before buying, it's a one time thing so there's no need to buy one if you can try it and it only takes a minute. I have read warnings not to try an inversion table if you suffer from glaucoma or high blood pressure.

I was told to take magnesium as well. I have spent 4 years in perimeno feeling like it is draining the life out of me. Crazy mood swings, fatigue and night sweats. I have found the magnesium glycinate or bisglycinate form has really helped relieve my symptoms. It doesn't cause bowel problems like the citrate or oxide. The brand I use is called Vitafii Mag-12 and it is now on amazon. It has B12 and melatonin in it too.

Hi I am so sorry to hear so many women here feeling awful including you because of the terrors of menopause and I would like to offer a bit of relief if Iam able to. I work at a small startup company in California where we have created a cooling wristband that has been clinically proven to suppress hot flashes in seconds. My mother is a teacher and experiencing severe menopause and it broken my heart to receive calls from her embarrassed about pouring sweat in meetings, freezing the students in her class from always having the AC on, and her in ability to focus when she got panic attacks knowing the onset of a hot flash was near. So with my team we’ve created a wristband no larger than a sweatband, that is fully rechargeable so that women can continue working without embarrassment,sleep and take back their lives! I am truly passionate about women health and believe I can help so many women like yourself we just have very little awareness that we exist right now. But I know from multiple women including my mother that this thing works and id love for you to try it out, it is completely natural because I am hurt by the numbers of women who seek relief with medication and end up being diagnosed with cancer. This isn’t an add just a very passionate women trying to help so many women out there in an affordable way that does not jeopardize their health! Please shoot me an email at kendra@dhamausa.com if any women out there are interested we have a small social media following on @dhamausa on Facebook or www.dhamaw.com

Hi All, I'm from South Africa and found this article very interesting. I had a hysterectomy when I was 34 and went into surgical menopause at 44. The hot flashes were intolerable especially at night. When you're claustrophobic and one of those flashes descends upon your like a ton of bricks you feel like you're suffocating. My doctor put me on HRT's but as we all know the most common side effect of taking this is breast cancer and after 6 years of HRT's I had enough of worrying so I decided to stop and look elsewhere for relief. That's when I found out about the Black Cohosh and since taking it, I've never looked back. What a relief. I read on the internet that women were taking this hundreds of years ago before pharmaceutical companies decided there's more money in making all sorts of drugs that are actually more harmful to us. I started taking 2 a day and I'm now to only 1 a day. I can really recommend it and I'm so glad it's available worldwide.

I am so glad Paula, to hear that women out there are finding relief for this phase in our lives that can be debilitating. To be honest though, Black Cohosh did absolutely nothing for my symptoms. I have spent so much money trying different things to relieve my unbearable hot flashes, and it has all been a waste, and whats worse, incredibly disappointing. I'm over not only the life disturbing symptoms, but getting my hopes destroyed when another so called remedy fails.

Hi FitR6, the Black Cohosh medication you buy usually comes in a combination with different other vitamins and minerals and maybe this is where you should experiment. It might be that you need the Black Cohosh with some other mineral or vitamin like Alfalfa or Red Clover Extract or evening Evening Primrose Oil. I think you should give it a try. The specific one I'm using is called Foodstate Menopause Formula but that is probably only available in South Africa. Don't give up. Good luck in finding the right one for you.

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? ;-)

The one I have used was in combination with other things, but cannot recall what they were. I'm seriously over looking for remedies and wasting my money. Thanks anyway. Glad it's working for you thogh.

Ummmm who gives a damn how society views you? Wow. And by the way I'm a fitness professional who has looked after myself my entire life, and I get treated by men in society like I have no worth because I'm no longer 24. And that's not my assumption, they have actually said those horrible words. My worth is not determined by my ability to give strange men erections! I teach my clients their worth is much more than that.

FitR6

Well said! I agree. By the way, the lady who says you need sunshine..........helooo, I live in South Africa - plenty of sunshine everyday :-) If that's your outlook then good luck. Each person does as he/she wishes

I have always been able to feel homones flexuate throughout my cycle since almost day one. I knew when I was ovulating and sometimes it was not pleasant. Now at 55, it seems that pari has begun. Every cycle, PMS, ovulation symptom has multiplied by a 1000! Anxiety is thru the roof. Some days it's very hard to work or just function at all. I try to tell myself that what ever I focus on will be exaggerated and sometimes it's true. But other days.....like today....holy hell! Every day is a different feeling. I never know what I will wake up to. I work in public relations and need to be "on" all of the time. Does anyone look around at friends and perfect strangers in the same age group who look like they are thriving and wonder what they are doing to deal with this? I just want my active happy life back. I'm taking a long trip next month and don't want to feel like a 90 yo women! I feel like I have aged so much this past year. Allergies are so much worse on top of everything else. Not sure what to try. I don't really have hot flashes yet that I know of. Everything else. Wobbly head like water. Shaky, itchy skin. Tingling arms. Crashing fatigue. Muscle and joint pain. On and on. I meditate (even while at work) eat pretty good. Blood work is great. Thyroid on check with meds. The "Hot Years" aren't so hot.

I started getting hot flashes and night sweats for about 5 months now. I get hot flushes frequently like a dozen times during the day - is this normal???

You should get your blood sugar tested to rule it out that you are not having low blood sugar episodes. It may even be suggested you test your blood sugar with a device during times of hot flashes.

ioleary1, back when I had hot flashes some days it was - take the sweater off, put it back on- take the sweater off - put it back on - take it off - put it on - all day long. Other women used to say the same. BTW, I have type 2 diabetes, never had hot flashes or sweats when my blood sugar was low.