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How many years of Hot Flashes?

hellytheelephant

Senior Member
Messages
1,137
Location
S W England
I have just been googling about hot flashes and came across this:

'According to conventional medical wisdom, menopause-related hot flashes fade away after six to 24 months. Not so, says a new study of women going through menopause. Hot flashes last, on average, for about seven years and may go on for 11 years or more.'


I can't countenance this going on for the next 11 freakin' years!!!! I had assumed it would just be for a year or so.
I don't have mum or any older lady to ask- so for those of you older than me (48)- how long did you get hot flashes for?

Thx Helly
 

TigerLilea

Senior Member
Messages
1,147
Location
Vancouver, British Columbia
I read recently that the number of years that you have hot flashes for before menopause, will be approximately the number of years you will also have them after reaching menopause. For the women who don't start having hot flashes until after reaching menopause, they tend to have the shortest duration of approximately two years. Also, the more babies a woman has and the longer she breast feeds them for, the more unlikely she is to ever have hot flashes.
 

TigerLilea

Senior Member
Messages
1,147
Location
Vancouver, British Columbia
I"m going on the third year. I have major night sweats that keep me up all night and have to change my tee shirt at least 3 times. I wake up exhausted and irritated. It's not so much the flashes and sweats, but the lack of sleep that is taking a toll.

Have you looked into Sage? I'm trying this at the moment.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21630133

I can't wait unit it ends!
I only went through hot flashes for about two years, however, since being on Amoxicillin last March, I have severe heat intolerance which really interferes with my sleep. According to my doctor the heat intolerance is related to hot flashes. I have a friend who has been having hot flashes now for about 15 years. :confused: My mom knows a woman in her 80s whose hot flashes are just as bad now as they were when she first became menopausal. :depressed:
 

Crux

Senior Member
Messages
1,441
Location
USA
- I'm post-menopausal by 9 yrs.
- Had hot flashes during peri. for ~ 5 yrs. off and on.

- Have had below range Estrogens for at least 5 yrs.
- Can't tolerate estrogen cream.

When I take antibiotics, E. gets so low, hair falls out, sleep is poor, and night sweats happen.

I'm trying Quercetin, a phytoestrogen, for its chelating properties. ( day 6 )

My hair has stopped falling out, and last night, sleep was great.
We'll see.
 

purrsian

Senior Member
Messages
344
My mum didn't have it for too long, maybe a year or two on and off. She hated it though, and when I complain about my night sweats and random clamminess/overheating, she feels so sorry for me that I have those kinds of things at 30. I think CFS messes up a lot of hormones and other delicate balances in our bodies. If you're open to complementary medicine, I think acupuncture can be very beneficial for hormonal issues.
 

Learner1

Senior Member
Messages
6,305
Location
Pacific Northwest
I had 3 months of hot flashes due to surgical menopause for uterine cancer. Not any more.

Comprehensive hormonal testing through a DUTCH test and careful and conservative supplementation of bioidentical progesterone (Prometrium), DHEA, testosterone, and estriol have worked wonders.

https://dutchtest.com/patients/

Unopposed estradiol and horse urine products are cancer promoting, but estriol cream is non-cancer promoting. Keeping progesterone levels a little higher is helpful, too.

Why be miserable?
 

PatJ

Forum Support Assistant
Messages
5,288
Location
Canada
While researching Maca as a way to raise BP I came across some interesting info about its effects on the various stages of menopause (from this site):
"Maca provides the ingredients to support menopausal health. The herb works through the hypothalamus and pituitary to help ensure balanced and healthy hormone levels in the body. Many men and women notice the difference within a week!"

Women are turning to Maca for assistance during perimenopause, menopause and postmenopause. Women with menstrual irregularities using Maca have experienced greater consistency, while women with hot flashes, mood swings and most associated perimenopause and menopause symptoms have diminished dramatically using Maca.

Perimenopausal women usually need smaller amounts of Maca (about 1,500 mg. Daily), to help alleviate increased PMS and other symptoms of hormonal imbalance. Estrogen dominance is a common problem which Maca can help to correct. In addition, women who begin using Maca during perimenopause find that they have a much easier time when they enter menopause.

Menopausal women who suffer from hot flashes, mood swings, and other effects of rapidly dropping hormone levels, will find Maca to be a safe and drug-free alternative to HRT. Initially women need higher doses, such as 1 to 2 teaspoons of powder daily. Usually this dosage can be reduced after a month or two. While no single product works for everyone, results are usually excellent, and most women will notice definite relief within two to three weeks.

Many women who have tried everything from prescription HRT to phyto-estrogens without success, find that using Maca literally gives them back their life. Women who have been using any form of HRT will need to make a gradual transition from their hormonal program to using Maca. This transition may take a month or more.

Postmenopausal women do well on small to moderate doses of Maca. Even if they have not been experiencing overt symptoms of hormone deficiency, using Maca can help to slow the aging process, keeping skin youthful and preventing vaginal dryness and atrophy. Maca can also be of benefit for bone health, because of its supportive mineral content. For this reason it is used in Peru and elsewhere to treat and prevent osteoporosis. Reportedly, but not yet clinically proven, Maca users of at least one year have seen increased spinal bone density.
 

Hanna

Senior Member
Messages
717
Location
Jerusalem, Israel
I have been experimenting hot flashes for 3 months now (periods ended 4 months ago). Their high frequency has not been reduced (about 20/day) significantly though I have been taking maca root powder, herbals (herb pharm - menopausal relief), evening primrose oil, linseed oil (and seeds in powder) together for more than two months.
Havn't tried yet rosmarinic acid/sage/quercetin/ Thanks for the tip !
Impact on energy and mood are a nightmare !
(forgotten also progesterone cream and DHEA that I am taking also).
 

erin

Senior Member
Messages
885
I'm about your age helly and I had hot flashes started 2011 for 3 - 4 years. They stopped. Now I don't feel the heat or the cold though. It seems like I don't respond the temperature much nowadays. It is quite strange.
 

hellytheelephant

Senior Member
Messages
1,137
Location
S W England
I only went through hot flashes for about two years, however, since being on Amoxicillin last March, I have severe heat intolerance which really interferes with my sleep. According to my doctor the heat intolerance is related to hot flashes. I have a friend who has been having hot flashes now for about 15 years. :confused: My mom knows a woman in her 80s whose hot flashes are just as bad now as they were when she first became menopausal. :depressed:[/QUOTE

OH Gosh NOooooooooooooo!!! :jaw-drop:
 

hellytheelephant

Senior Member
Messages
1,137
Location
S W England
Thanks so much guys...at least I am not alone, but sorry you are suffering too...

@Hanna - I'm on Progest cream, Agnus Vitus tablets and lots of lavender oil! The most frustrating thing for me, is that all the books cite 'exercise' as the best cure for all meno ills...and of course we can't do it!!!!


I feel your pain, @Mij ! Lack of sleep is the pits- I constantly go from boiling hot to icy cold.. there is no inbetween. If I go to sleep with less on the bed, the cold wakes me up....if I put more on, I wake up because I'm boiling hoto_O

@Cheesus ( not heard of rosmarinic acid), will also investigate sage...and maybe look into aromatherapy as I seem to respond well to this. I suppose I am so busy with managing ME and pain I had not anticipated another thing to deal with....
Hx
 

hellytheelephant

Senior Member
Messages
1,137
Location
S W England
AH! Thanks @Cheesus- after reading this thread last night I decided to buy some essential oils, incl Clary Sage, and I also bought Sage teabags ( I can only imagine how bad they taste!) Will report back on the results. I used oils in my 20's and somehow lost interest, but actually lavender has been such a huge help, it is worth a try with the sage etc...
 

hellytheelephant

Senior Member
Messages
1,137
Location
S W England
Thank God I don't still live in Italy- before I was anywhere near meno, I found the baking heat unbearable and would go to the supermarket or to our nearest airport for the air con:rolleyes:

don't know if it's the same around the world but in Brit culture, the menopausal woman is a bit of a joke figure- ' Oh she's got her head out of the window again.' and is either sex mad or frigid. This stuff is so debilitating when you already have chronic illnesses. ( i actually had to strip off a layer whilst writing this- hollow flippin' laughter!)

I really wish I had learnt about this at school.