Hello, Ladies:

After months of debilitating hot flashes (I was even considering HRT, but I've heard HRT just postpones rather than eliminates the symptoms), I decided to try acupuncture. I went to a very experienced Chinese doctor near where I live in Colorado. In addition to the treatments, she sold me (for just $10) some kind of herbs (the bottle is all in Chinese so I don't know what they are) in the form of tiny be e-like pellets, and instructe me to take 10 twice a day.

At first I felt as lousy as ever, but then the flashes started to lesson, and about 4-5 days after my fourth treatment (I've now had a fifth), THEY'RE GONE! Of course, a lot of things could be responsible, as menopausal symptoms can change from day to day. But I went from sometimes 3-4 flashes an hour to none after 2 weeks, 2 treatments per week! Although I paid myself ($65 per treatment although she also offered a package of 4 for a little less), some insurance companies will now cover acupuncture.

One question my acupuncturist couldn't quite answer very well for me...she said that Chinese women, like Japanese women, don't get hot flashes nearly as often as Western women. So I wondered--how did treatment of hot flashes become part of Chinese medicine? She tried to explain that shes been doing it for a long time; maybe it's just a part of the balancing process that is Chinese medicine.

Just my experience, of course.

Acupuncture worked for me, too, but my insurance doesn't cover it, and it's very expensive . . . my hot flashes went completely away, so I stopped the treatments, but now (about 5 months later) they are starting to come back gradually, not nearly as intense now so I'm in here searching for good alternative methods of controlling them. For a while there my hot flashes were just horrendous, I'd wake up several times in the middle of the night soaked in sweat and either burning hot or freezing cold and my sheets would be totally soaked. The freezing cold sweats were the worst -- I started becoming very nauseous and I could feel my heart start pounding in my chest before each episode, like it had to beat harder to generate the flash or something . . . out of desperation I saw an acupuncturist and almost immediately the flashes were reduced to more manageable proportions and after about 7 treatments they disappeared entirely. She said she had never seen anyone respond so quickly. If they become that severe again I'll definitely find the money somehow to continue the treatments!

Well, Effie, this was exactly my exerpience. I don't have health insurance so I couldn't continue treatment. The horrendous hot flashes are back and I'm miserable. (I bet in China you could stop into your local acupuncurist for a few yuan) I'm frustrated because I'm sure traditional chinese medicine is a good way to go, but I can't afford to keep up treatment. But I bet the Premarin folks would give me the stuff for free if I couldn't afford it. I sure hope when the awful health care system in the U.S. changes (and it will, I hope) that TCM find a place in it.

I'm gonna try acupuncture again for my hot flashes next Tuesday night. I had a few treatments for headaches....didn't total eliminate them.....but they got better. Now I will try it for these terrible hot flashes. I'm getting at least 20 a day.

Hugs,
Karen

Karen - Just wondering if you made it to your Tues evening acupuncture and if it has helped. Did past acupuncture treatments help right away (for example with your headaches), or did you have to undergo several sessions before noticing anything? Did the beneficial effect remain after the last treatment?

I just feel pretty cr**y a lot of the time, with this awful muscle tension and frequent vague feelings of unwellness. Hot flashes also seem to be getting a bit worse. Insomnia still pretty bad.

I am tired of spending money on things that don't make any difference. But some insomniacs claim to have been helped by acupuncture. I keep thinking i should give it a try.

BTW, my tension type headaches went away around beginning of Sept, after being with me for over six weeks. I may get an occasional hour here and there of pressure sensations near the temples and around the bridge of nose and forehead, most days nothing though. I do believe it was partly related to tension in the neck and shoulder muscles. The neck muscles seem a bit better, trapezius still awful (since Sept 06).