Night sweats back - no explanation
Posted by bornin1955 on Feb 6th, 2008
I thought had night sweats licked, havn't had them for months. But they have returned with a vengenace in the last few week, even though it is freezing outdoors and I haven't had a hot flash in a long time. Anyone else have this happen? What can we do? I am on low dose HRT.
at 10:22 p.m.
Well I am going through the same thing. Were you exercising a lot by any chance and now are not? I seem to go through periods of night sweats and moods that SEEM to coincide with periods where I stop eating healthy and don't feel like going to the gym (due to moods or the phase of the mood or who knows what). I don't know if it is actually connected or not. If I can finally get my bu-- to the gym and get back on track I will have another data point I guess and I'll let you know. Maybe they just come and go no matter what you do and we just think we have an effect on it. Wouldn't that just be too funny. I have not taken any supplements at all and do not plan to (actually I tried Black Cohosh but I don't think it had any effect). It's in my bathroom - I look at it from time to time. LOL!
at 1:01 p.m.
Roughly one year into menopause and the hot flashes are bothersome, although I really never had them until two months ago. They are so annoying, and unpredictable that I wear tank tops under my winter coat when I go shopping! I notice that the hot flashes coincided with the birth of belly fat and love handle thingies (I think the fashionistas refer to them as "muffin tops"), which I have never experienced before being thin all my life. I am just doing my best to ride this storm out by layering and an occasional power nap. Exercise is not helping me manage the hot flashes, in fact, they happen when I walk or weight train. Never a dull moment regardless of what I am doing.
mchurchill
at 10:51 p.m.
Over the last couple of years I seem to phase in and out of hot flashes and sweats and tears.... During that time I have on occasion requested an update on my hormone levels from my doctors (both GP and gyno). It appears as though it's not really a steady decline. You think you're out of the woods and boom! the flashes start again.
Learning that I could be hot and cold at the same time was a challenge. Finally, I am hoping I have it licked. I was actually cold the other day. A friend of mine almost passed out when I told him!!! I personally did not take any kind of HRT. The women I know that did take them found that when they decided to stop it merely delayed the symptoms.
at 5:53 p.m.
This past Christmas, being on the verge of menopause (a period every 4 months), I suddenly began to have night sweats. My poor extended family, on holiday at Mom's house, had to put up with a serious reduction in nightly heating temps, but no one complained to me about it. What a sweet family!
This is how I have dealt with night sweats so far:
These night sweats continued nightly since Christmas until I discovered about a month ago that topical application of progesterone cream, something I happened onto at a Wal-Mart in another state. The creams completely, and almost immediately, stopped the night sweats. I continued applying less-than-the-recommended-amount daily for a month, when I remembered to put it on. Then I stopped applying it to see how fast the night sweats returned. A period came days following application cessation, the first one I had had in 4 months. It has been two weeks since I stopped the progesterone cream, following one month of using it, and the night sweats have yet to return. I have barely dented the initial progesterone cream supply. At this rate, the $12 cream could last a year and I would have very few night sweats and hot flashes.
I also noticed that the chronic pain, lasting for well over a year, between the shoulder blades diminished and stopped within days following the continued application of progesterone cream. Also the pain in my feet, which happened every morning, stopped as well. Neither pains have returned yet tho sometimes I do get some tension between the shoulder blades these days.
More in next post
at 5:53 p.m.
From this experience so far, I conclude, with obvious redundancy:
-Always moderate the applications.
-Use the cream as it suits your personal and physical needs, never exceeding recommended dosages.
- Be body-aware and don't ignore your "body talk".
- Tailor the applications to your own needs, knowing that they may vary form time to time, as your body cycles and flows.
- Go for minimalism in application amounts always.
- Vary application sites.
- Be aware that application on fatty tissue is slower to absorb the progesterone.
- Avoid applying to any skin area where cancer has already been found or is likely to be found. In fact, if you have had cancer already, think twice and seek professional help before using this stuff.
(I use the arms, the shoulder blades, the back, the legs, buttocks and sometimes the stomach. I avoid areas around the breasts.)
Cancer is always a concern with replacing reproductive hormones. I today I did some internet research on it.
http://www.smartskincare.com/treatments/...
http://www.puritan.com/vf/healthnotes/hn...
Two sources say that topical application of progesterone is virtually side-effect-free.
If you can access this website, then you are able to do more of your own research.