12 years of hot sweats!

I am at my wit's end with the night sweats. Friends are now commenting on how tired I look all the time. I even stopped going abroad on hols cos if the combination of the heat and my sweats!! My whole body goes bright red which is very embarrassing. I've tried the lot, everything that's been suggested I've bought it and nothing works. Went to HRT clinic and they wouldn't give me it cos my heart was racing, gave me an ECG instead! I had so many colds cos the duvet is off and on all the time through the night. Now I've seen the length of time some of you ladies have suffered with hot sweats, I despair.

When I get even a little stressed I start getting hot and then sweat. I'm constantly sitting in front of a fan and have the air conditioner on full blast even in winter. Because I began to feel tired I had blood tests and have borderline Polycythaemia....

I started at age 40 and am still getting them, though not so often, at age 60. I asked the practice nurse and one of the doctors (at different times) how long this is supposed to go on for, and they were utterly clueless.

I’ve had night sweats since i was 50...no
problems during the day! I’m 70 now and still having them. I awake 3 or 4 times per night. You get used to it.

I had a hysterectomy when I was 46, no hrt allowed. I bought a book by Dr Marion Glenville called natural alternatives to HRT and followed it. Took evening primrose and followed a healthy eating plan. I worked in some pretty inhospitable places over the years but kept this up as much as possible. Have had no issues over the past 20 years, I know this won't suit everyone but worth a try or even accupuncture may help.

I've taken HRT for 30 years now and have no intention of stopping. I truly believe it keeps me fitter and healthier than those of a similar age.

My thermostat simply broke during a non eventful stop to my periods. Sweats happen a lot, usually daytime.. touch of radical acceptance, 19 years on.

We should form a club on here FlotheCrow.

Esspee I am confused about your statement about 'choosing' not to go through the menopause. ALL women go through the menopause. However some women choose to delay it with HRT (because you WILL start it WHEN you eventually come off HRT).

Yes I too am still having hot flushes but thankfully I've never had night sweats. It's been 12years and doctor said "you could still be having them when you're a 100".
Plus mood swings for about 10 days just like when I was premenstrual ?

Not what you want to hear, but it was HRT that sorted me after many agonising years. I can sympathise only too well!

I saw an homeopathic practitioner and found her really helpful.

Esspee, I was prescribed HRT (PreMarin) for menopausal symptoms when I was 54. Six weeks after starting to take it, I had a stroke and was told never to take HRT again. So it's not without risk.

I am not coming off my HRT either! I feel so well and take the smallest dose available, however I don’t have a history of breast cancer in my family or my decision might be different.
I can only offer sympathy rather than advice as nothing seemed to reduce my hot sweats before HRT.
Is it worth talking to your doctor to see if there is any alternative to HRT that might help just alleviate this?

Just wanted to add that I have recently removed (as much as I possibly can) sugar from my diet. My sweats have reduced considerably. Worth a try.

Hello,

I think I might be able to help some of you ladies.

I suffered terribly and had extremely high blood pressure, I was undergoing tests on my heart too.

I saw an article with Carol Vorderman and found myself a wonderful doctor called Louise Newson - The Menopause Doctor. She has fabulous new premises in Stratford Upon Avon with a number of doctors working with her now.

There is a natural product called body identical HRT.

It is available from your doctor on the NHS and is called Estrogel. It is a gel in a pump pack. I use two pumps, one on the inside of each leg each day.

I also take one Utrogestan 100mg capsule every night at 10 pm.

Dr Newson also prescribed me Testostarone. This can't be prescribed by your doctor and the doctors are not allowed to prescribe testosterone to women in England (totally absurd!) Dr Newson gets her from Australia and imports it.

I do hope this information helps you all.

You can access Dr Newson's website by typing "The Menopause Doctor" she has newsletters, video's and a whole host of fabulous information for us ladies suffering through the menopause.

My Hot flushes have totally gone and I do feel so much better although I still suffer lack of energy for some reason.

I have just typed a message for everyone reading your post.

I found help from Dr Newson The Menopause Doctor (she is on TV quite often).

You can get a natual body identical HRT on the NHS.

I hope my post helps you.

Hi, I started HRT at about 50. When I was about 58 or 59 my then doctor said I should stop taking it. I started reducing my dose gradually and developed a smallish vaginal prolapse.
I was referred to a consultant who was going to perform an operation involving mesh. Luckily I came home and did some research and realised. even then, that this would not be a good thing. I went back to my GP and insisted I go back on HRT which he reluctantly agreed to.
Within 2 weeks all the prolapse symptoms had gone and over 10 year later I feel fantastic! I have had to change surgries and the current doctor is trying to refuse me HRT.
I am going to fight this and if the worse comes to the worse, will go to a private clinic. I know that if I come off it, I will end up with a prolapse.

I will be eternally grateful to the GP who put me on HRT when I was perimenopausal. 24 years later I am now 73 and have not stopped using it. For me, and I suspect the majority of women, the benefits far outweigh the risks and I will continue to use it for the rest of my life. I have none of the health issues often associated with my age group and my bones are apparently those of a 30 year old! I am regularly complimented on my skin, enjoy a happy sex life and my friends envy the amount of energy, physically and mentally, that I have. Whilst menopause might well be a natural process it nevertheless results in oestrogen deficiency. Other hormone deficiencies such as thyroid are treated so to me it makes no sense not to treat oestrogen deficiency. The scaremongering about HRT does women a great disservice when by using it they could be enjoying an improved quality of life.

Hetty58

Esspee, the natural changes of menopause (although very uncomfortable) are just that - natural.

The resulting lower hormone levels can't be described as a 'deficiency'!

I doubt that you can take HRT for life. You'll have to come of it at some point, perhaps in your 90s - so better now than later!

Lots of things can mistakenly be described as natural. When you get a serious infection it is natural to die but we take antibiotics.
When diagnosed as having type 1 diabetes we take hormone replacement therapy in the form of insulin, when we have thyroid problems we take the hormone replacement thyroxine. When our natural oestrogen is used up we can take oestrogen replacement therapy.
There is nothing noble about refusing insulin, nor oestrogen. It is in no way natural to suffer oestrogen deficiency. Just a short time ago we didn’t live to reach 50. Now we do and evolution will take time to catch up. In the meantime people like me who live in the present use plant based bio identical oestrogen to maintain normal levels in our bodies, as a result we feel wonderful and have better health than those who “put up with it”
You may doubt that I can take oestrogen for life but my consultant, who is a top member of her profession and a major contributor to the NICE guidelines on the menopause (the NHS best practice guidelines for GPS etc.) states the opposite.
So why come off it now when my quality of life is far superior and the oestrogen protects me from the depressingly dreadful effects of oestrogen deficiency.

Another member of the hot flush club here. Menopause was 15 years ago. They just seem to strike at random, day or night. They are unpleasant but bearable.

I did expect, though, that they would disappear after the menopause. Didn't know that they carry on!

Please take a look at this website as it will tell you everything you need to know about the menopause and ways of dealing with it. It is written and run by an English GP who specialises in all things menopausal. Everything follows the NICE guidelines and is research based.
I can also recommend joining the UK Ladies menopause support group, on Facebook. There you will meet many other women in the same boat and their support is wonderful.
I am on HRT and will stay on it until I die....and my GP says that she will do the same...however it isn’t for everyone and there are lots of alternative ways of dealing with problems if HRT isn’t for you.

I forgot to post the link to the website......that’s the menopause for you!
www.menopausedoctor.co.uk/

I also used evening primrose oil it was recommended to me by nursing colleagues. It mimics the action of oestrogen. I had such terrible breast tenderness that just someone standing close to me was painful. The capsules took about a month to have any effect but after that I noticed a real difference. My menopausal symptoms, flushes and low mood only lasted about four years. I worked with mostly women so we were kind to one another!

I have had hot sweats since the menopause began and I am now 69. I get them all through the day and night. I get panic attacks and awful feelings of trepidation as well. All since my periods stopped.
Mom recently passed away at 91 years of age and she still woke up covered in sweat. Can you believe it.