I'm 3 years into menopause and still have the hot flashes. They're NOT as severe as when I was in peri. THOSE were killers, especially the ones that came at night. They would wake me up several times a night and I had to get out from under the covers. If I DIDN'T wake up in time to throw the covers off, I would be drenched in my own sweat like I'd taken a bath and got into bed! The really intense ones created a tingling sensation, raised my heart rate and created negative (dark lines, not bright lines) lightening-type jagged patterns behind my eyelids at night!
The hot flashes I have now are tolerable. They usually hit at random, but I can count on one happening just as I try to fall asleep, during one of the couple times I wake up during the night and upon waking in the morning. They'll happen in the day too, but are usually triggered by warm conditions or exercise. They're worse in the summer when nighttime temps are higher in the room. I get the impression they are winding down, so I'll see what happens as time passes. What my new problems are that I'm TOO COLD a lot of the time and I sweat like a guy anymore!
I was on HRT for only 2 years to get through the worst of the symptoms, headaches, hot flashes and lack of sleep mostly, but the general feeling of sickness too. Taking HRT DID get rid of the hot flashes. However, I'm not going on hormones any more. The risks of breast cancer are just too great to relieve some minor hot flashes now. It's interesting to note that since the WHI study was stopped in 2002, breast cancer rates have been dropping steadily.
http://www.cdc.gov/cancer/breast/statistics/trends.htmCould it be that doctors were GIVING us women breast cancer in our desire to get through peri all those years before 2002? Especially the Premarin and Prempro synthetic posions they were perscribing like candy? Were we fools to trust them? Granted there are still risk factors for breast cancer, namely genetics, excess body fat and yes, even using bioidentical HRT. Bioidentical estrogen is still estrogen and it will stimulate the breast tissue, also the uterus as well.
What about mammograms? The government just came out with new guidelines for mammograms and are recommending doing it less, especially before age 40 and every OTHER year after 50. Were they looking at the lower breast cancer rates since the WHI study? One other thing, every time you have a mammogram, you are irradiating your breast with X-rays, a form of ionizing radiation that if given to too frequently can GIVE you cancer. Was the government looking at that too? Just some reflection to think about.