Hi ya all,
I am going through surgical menopause as of four weeks ago, I am 26, and had to have a hysterectomy due to polycycstic ovary and fibroids. Luckily my hot flashes are not too bad and not to frequent, however when I do get them they are doozies and last for several hours. I had one this morning, I worked a midnight shift last night, and it woke me up out of a sound sleep, this one lasted for right at two hours, this seems to be my normal timeline. I had to change my pj's twice and my sheets and pillowcases as well. I am taking Estroven, and it seems to be doing the trick, started it about 3 months prior to the hysto due to constant hot flashes before surgery, except for I get these random stragglers. Does anyone have any suggestions for making them stop as soon as they start, or to make them less severe. I am lost, as is my mom who is going through menopause at the same time I am, told her I bet she never thought that would happen. ANY suggestions are welcome, or is this just normal? Thanks for the help.

Nebulus

Hi Nebulus1

Welcome to PS and sorry to hera about your flashes and major surgery - hope you are recovered form that and getting out and about

It must be odd to go through meno with your mum!! Kind of nice really - most of us dont have anyone near goign through same thing so I am glad for you

I dont get hot flashes - get everything else!! It is the most common meno symptom reported by 80%+ of women - yours sound 'normal'

I read that during meno the brain's inner temp set monitor is lowered so the brain thinks the body is over heating so sends a message to increase blood flow to the skin to cool things down a bit and get rid of excess heat - the skin goes all hot and red and you perspire liberally!. Pulse can go up and body temp rise as body struggles to cope with this anomaly!!! The flash I think only lasts for minutes but it is unsettling and the body can take time to readjust - cos you get cold then dont you with all the sweat....

I guess you do all the sensible stuff - like have cotton bedding - light and airy room - cotton nighty - short sleeves - have chilled water upstairs in a thermos flask so you can sip it if you wake - have small fan?

I believe hot spicy foods dont help - so you could try eating a light bland meal in evening - and of course avoid caffiene/alchohol/simple sugars

For the sweats which accompany the hot flash - chamomile tea and or sage tea is very refreshing

Lavendar oil is good to have by the bed as it is very soothing to get back to sleep and very calming

Hope this helps and things start to settle for you - there are lots of gilrs on the site who get these symptoms who will be able to give advice to you

Oh - I have heard Vit E can be helpful - well it is good for skin and hair anyway so what the heck?

Love to your mum too!!!!

Mele

Fans hon and lots of them!! Some women stick their heads in the freezer, others use frozen veggies on their arms. I use a fan and keep it on in my bed room. covers on, covers off. Covers on, covers off. And I hate to admit it but i sleep with as little on as possible. Hope you get some relief soon! I also use soy to help with the hot flashes and once that's in your system it helps a lot. It just takes a while to get built up enough that you really see a difference.

Hi Neulus,

You said you had a hysterectomy due to polycistic ovary. Does this mean your ovaries have been removed? I went through a surgical menopause at a young age as well due to ovarian cysts. I lost one ovary at age 19 and part of the other ovary 5 yrs later. At age 35, the rest was surgically removed.

My suggestion to you is to discuss with your doctor the use of a natural hormone cream that is done at a compounding pharmacy. They can mix together the appropriate amounts of estrogens, progesterone and testosterone to replace what your body should be making. It is in cream form and is massaged into the skin at bedtime. It will stop the hot flashes. No need to suffer with this at your age. Please discuss this alternative with your physician. I was on a compounded hormone cream which consisted of two estrogens and progesterone. Once the hot flashes were no longer a problem for me, at age 59, the hormone cream was altered. I am age 60 and am using a compounded hormone cream which does not contain estrogen. I use progesterone and testosterone to help with my bones. That is another real concern you will need to meet head on. Because of early surgical menopause, you need to pay close attention to your bones and prevent osteoporosis. Discuss this with your doctor as well. Eat lots of leafy green veggies in order to get the best natural source of calcium into your body, exercise regularly, (walking is great) any weight bearing exercise to build bone mass. Read up on osteo and assess your risk levels for this disease. Early surgical menopause is a risk factor and you may have others.

Hope this info is helpful to you. Please discuss everything with your doctor and take the appropriate steps to alleviate the hot flashes and build your bones.

Blessings,
Joybelle

Thanks all for the great advice! I am going to try everything that was suggested cause this is nuts, I think as I move a bit farther in the process it is getting a little worse. I went to my primary doc on monday to see what he said, my gyn wants me on estratest, but I do not think I need testosterone because of the PCOS I had WAY too much anyway doesn't make sense to me to give me more!! Anyway he said that he agreed with me about the estratest and told me to ask my gyn about estrogen alone or estrogen/progesterone combo deal, so that is the next goal. Thanks for everything.

nebulus

That sounds encouraging! If you can get a very balanced hormone compounded using estrogens and progesterone it would be great! Ask your doc about it. I'm sure it will greatly benefit you in regard to those awful hot flashes and sweating. No sense in putting up with that.

Blessings,
Joybelle

I just did a search to see what Estratest is all about. It is estrogen and testosterone. I'm not sure if these are synthetic hormones, but I think so. Ask the doctor about that. If so, please insist that he put you on bio-identical hormones and not synthetics. This could consist of a couple of estogens, progesterone and a dab of testosterone. Be sure he includes progesterone to balance out the estrogens. Very important!

Keep us updated on how this goes for you.

Joybelle

Nebulus,

If you had a complete hysterectomy, then you need some kind of estrogen to stop the hot flashes. The doctors prescribed estradoil for me and it definitely works. It is a plant based estrogen, but takes about 3 weeks to kick in. There are other products, like creams and patches out there too.

Irene