I started flashing/flushing at the age of 42, finally averaging 1 every 15 to 20 minutes. In my early 50's I was put on low-dose Premarin for 5-6 years and enjoyed a reprieve. At age 60 I am still visited by flashing/flushing every hour, day and night.

The more relaxed I am, the fewer there are and the more mild.

AC and good fans help a lot and usually I concentrate on cooling my face but lately I've discovered that the BEST place to cool down is actually between the legs. I happened on this accidentally when we repositioned our AC and fans during this very hot summer, made hotter because my husband and I sleep in a loft bed along with our African Gray parrot, FuzzyButt. That put us at the very top of the house just under the roof so I had to get creative.

I positioned two very small fans at the base of the bed to pull up the cool AC air so that it could flow over us. That's when I discovered that flushing/flashing was GREATLY reduced by the position of the fans and if my legs were a bit apart (or a whole lot), that cooling going directly UP and over me was extremely effective, and more effective than concentrating on my face (this surprised me since the heat always seems to be at the upper body or face and that's always been the area I fan!).

Other effective areas seem to be under the arms, the back of the neck and down the back.

i don't get many hotflashes but maybe a few a month. I'm also on prempro which might help. I wish you the best of luck . Lizardlover

Sorry had to ask, how do you sleep with a parrot? Do they cuddle or just set on the head board?
FuzzyButt what a cute name!
Well I'm still having period, so I find it depressing your still having hot flashes at 60.
Are you still taking HRT's?

Mine have been all over. When they started last July, it might have been as many as 10 during the day time and as many during the night.

Then they went away completely right around my last period which was Nov. 2006. they returned in January but fewer in number. Zero to three during the day, maybe two to five during the night. In the last week, they have increased in frequency again. Probably had six during the day yesterday. It seems that a stressful thought can bring them on, along with changes in position.

I don't get it myself. I feel like at 9 months without a period, what could still be fluctuating?

And yes, I want to know how the parrot sleeps with you too. I can't picture him on his back. Don't birds have to roost?

TT

I stopped taking HRT's this past year with no significant (now) difference in the way I feel except for more flushing. Even while on Premarin, I had serious heart palps that took me to the emergency room and panic attacks, ocular migraines, severe nauseau etc. So it wasn't really helping. I was on 0.675 and perhaps a higher dose would have helped, but my doctor reduced my dosage in half so I realized this was ridiculous since it wasn't helping anyway so I tapered off.

I still have all this most likely because when I had a partial hysterectomy, one ovary remained but it had never blossomed. The surgeon explained that it was that of a 10-year old girl. He had to stimulate it by massage to get it to open. All the eggs were still intact so my own changes are probably going to be a llong-lived event I guess.

FuzzyButt actually sleeps under his own blanket at the top of the bed on my side for safety. He falls asleep under his blanket on top of my chest in bed while I read and then I move him over, he coos for pets and then like a puppy moves about in circles until he's comfortable. Usually that's in front of the white noise machine.

FuzzyButt sounds so cute! You shall take his picture and share it with us!

Not having a visible period does not mean nothing's fluctuating. Since links are not permitted, I thought I'd just take quotes from the health site called femalehealthmadesimple. It's actually the eggs and pituitary gland that regulate a smooth road OR a rocky one:

"Menopause occurs when both ovaries used up their egg cells. Egg cells are necessary for the ovary to function and to produce the hormones estrogen and progesterone. The way in which a normal ovary function is discussed here.

Menopause also occurs when both ovaries are removed. This is sometimes necessary and women who lost their ovaries have the same symptoms as women where the menopause occurs naturally.

Menopause occurs normally between the ages of 45 - 55 years. (with some differences in different populations and in the reports of different researchers). This age is independent of the number of children, the use hormonal contraception (The Pill) or other factors. All women use up there egg cells at about the same age.

The pituitary gland still functions although the ovaries stopped functioning. The pituitary gland continues to try and stimulate the non responding ovaries. The levels of FSH and LH continue to increase in an effort to get to ovaries to respond. See The Pituitary Gland

The lack of estrogen causes the symptoms experienced by post menopausal women. The most common being hot flushes, dry vagina, tiredness, mood swings, night sweat and disrupted sleep (insomnia) The incidence and severity of the symptoms differs from to woman to woman."

In my own case, only one ovary was removed, the other stimulated finally to blossom. (Although I have no uterus to 'show' mensus, ovulation still occurred (and apparently still does in a hiccupped way)

FuzzyButt's pics and videos can be seen on youtube and myspace under Hulitoons

I get at least 20 hot flashes/night sweats per day/night...I just started Femhrt 5 days ago and still no relief...I hear it may take AT least 2 weeks to start to notice a difference...Effexor help lower the amount of flashes in the day and night but the night was still bad enough to keep me waking...plus the Effexor further irritated my IBS-C...

I am so tired of hot flashes, they mainly occur from the neck up but to me its getting very old.

I don't know what to do next, I am on so many vitamin/herbal supplements that I do notice I bleed and bruise easily.
I tried Effexor but in just one week it made me feel worse. Are there any other prescription medications (not hormones) that can lessen the hot flashes? I get anxious esp. at work when the stress level is high and wondered about a low dose of Xanax or Valium? I don't want to get hooked on something but I already am on the supplements.

Just wanting it to be over,
Pat

I have found this online: ****

It does cover a variety of ways to help with flashes.

So far, mine are becoming less and less frequent and more tolerable.


****Board Administrator: Link removed. Please review the Message Board Guidelines.

Hi, I have about 4 or 5 during the nite from the waist up and i get soaking wet especially on the chest, it is horrible. I havent sleep a full nite since july ( my last period) and during the day i get more, atleast it seems like more. But sometimes i wake up really cold, chills and all. It is all driving me nuts! I never knew peri could be so horrible. Here's hoping your flashes will subside.
Jo Ann

I,m 49 and have 2 per hour 24/7. I dont like taking pills with bad side affects. So I ordered Revival, it has helped. After two weeks I noticed inprovment. Last night was the first time I slept and only peeled the covers off one time. And the fan was not set at gale winds.

You have my sympathies! The past few months I've been getting them every 10 or 15 minutes during the day and enough at night to waken me 2 or 3 tiimes. It's horrible. I take Renifenim and that seemed to help for about 6 months, but it's not doing anything now. I just started on soy supplements, so we'll see what happens.

Buttercup says, "I have found this online: ****

It does cover a variety of ways to help with flashes."


This message board is only one small arm of Power Surge.

For those of you who haven't explored the ENTIRE Power Surge Web site, there's a wealth of
information including hundreds of articles on every facet of peri, meno and postmenopause.

You'll find numerous articles in Power Surge's Educate Your Body area covering everything from hot flashes to depression, colposcopy to endometrial ablation, vaginal dryness, sexual issues, atrophic vaginitis, cholesterol, hypertension, internal shaking, dry skin, hair thinning ... the list goes on and on.

Some samples that cover hot flashes, what they are, what they feel like, why they happen, plus various treatments and tips on how to cope with, reduce and/or eliminate them.:

What Is A Hot Flash?
http://www.power-surge.com/educate/whatsinahotflash.htm

What Can I Do About Hot Flashes And Night Sweats?
http://www.power-surge.com/headlines/hotflash.htm

Power Surge Recommendations - Treatments for Menopause Symptoms
http://www.power-surge.com/recommend.htm

Menopause Survival Tips
http://www.power-surge.com/educate/survival.htm

Five Ways To Head Off A Hot Flash And Discover What's Heating You!
http://www.power-surge.com/educate/hotflash_bouchez.htm

You'll find important links on the main page of
http://www.power-surge.com

in Educate Your Body at http://www.power-surge.com/educate.htm

in The Guest Transcripts at http://www.power-surge.com/library.htm

in The Newsletters at http://www.power-surge.com/news.htm

in Ask The Experts at http://www.power-surge.com/asktheexperts.htm

and in numerous other areas...

There are also the Quick Links to the many areas of Power Surge at the top of the message board plus a list of Articles you can easily scroll through.

BUT, it requires going off the message board occasionally to take advantage of the enormous site filled with over 13 years of information.

Dearest

I have to say since I started taking Effexor I really haven't had a true hot flash in two weeks! I struggled with going on the medication but I feel so much better. The anxiety (weird sensation mid chest) is gone when I get stressed. I sleep better to the point I can actually pull the covers up, yes a blanket too!
I tried almost every herbal, vitamin out there for symptoms with only temporary relief. After a hot vacation out West where I was flashing constantly I decided enough was enough.

Feeling much better
Pat

At the high point of this gawd awful cycle, I experience full body sweats about once every 15 minutes. That, in turn, makes me CRAZY because I have no control other than stripping off clothing and outright panting. A dentist once asked me, "What is happening to you?" while I was reclining in his exam chair.

This morning at work, one of my male bosses knocked on my closed door and then walked in my office, I was near sobbing from hormonal wackiness.

The only medication that even remotely works is Prozac. I can't take any less than 20mg. daily to even function. I hate taking the med. but tried ALL of the HRTs.

Other lovely symptoms include insomnia, rage (yes, even on the "Happy Pill"), weight gain (15 pounds in one year) after I stopped menstrating. I take 2 showers a day and have an insane dry cleaning bill.

I look forward to my 50s/60s - late 40s sure s*ck.

I think I will have to move my fan then !!!!! And yes to all of you out there wouldnt it be nice to have a full nights sleep without being woken up by these hot sweats !!! Am going to look up the Effexor !!! and see what I can find out about it , as I live in Spain would it be available here ???? I was determined that I would go through the Menapause naturally !!! but after two years my thinking is changing ...........

I just found this forum, so I may be repeating questions. But, I'm 62 yrs. old and today my hot flashes are back. Not the sweating kind, but several times today my face has turned beet red. I thought I was all over this several years ago. Is this something that will just happen the rest of my life? Has anyone else had this return after years of going through menopause?
thanks

Is it Rosacea or a hot flash ? Because I've had Rosacea my entire life but it was never so bad as when I became perimenopausal. It only affects my face. I have also experienced hot flashes, two different kinds, burning and overheated/sweating, as well as what I call "warming spells", not quite flashes but they occur when I'm not exerting myself. These are all very different from my Rosacea flares.