I had struggles with sleeping, night sweats and more similar to what Kathy talks about as well as fatigue, and joint issues. Turns out for me it was a tick borne disease called Babesosis along with Lyme which is like malaria and a red blood cell parasite. After 7 months of treatment, I sleep through the night, and don't have sweats during the day or night which is amazing after struggling for 4-5 years.

Testing for Babeosis isn't that accurate which makes diagnosis challenging.

I am so glad you finally found out what was wrong! Are your joint problems any better now that you've got a diagnosis?

Yes my joint issues are much better. I've been on oral antibiotics since September.and IV since October. Finally in last month my joints don't hurt all the time. I had a spec scan and brain MRI that showed white lesions and blood flow issues...scary stuff.

I'm not able to do much as far as normal tri stuff. I try to ride my bike 15-30 minutes every few days. Sad to go from IM to sick couch potato. When picc comes out I will try to get back to the pool.

I'm now having hot flashes as often as once every 22 minutes, and waking up 3-5 times/night. Now I'm back to trying black cohosh (2x540 mg) in addition to 2 cups of soy milk, and 1 T of maca root. If it gets better, I won't know which one of these is working.

Not sure whether it is the large fat loss or my age which has created the return of my hot flashes.

Also, came across this article which rates treatments on a scale of 10, with none of the treatments receiving higher than a 5/10 rating.

Really tempted to just take the hormones.

Also looking into cooling blankets using "Outlast" material, which supposedly takes heat from you and returns it to you when you need it. Priced $100-200 for blankets and sheet sets (each!).

Yeah, pretty desperate.

update - so I started 1/4 tsp powdered maca root the 1st week of April and the last week or so I've noticed I have NO hot flashes At All, not even warm flushes. I can wear clothing multiple days in a row (as long as I don't go outside (live in the tropics) :)) and libido is starting to make a comeback. I'm at 1/2 tsp a day (not measured - eyeballed). Highly recommended.

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Kathy, I'm giving it a go. Be sure to monitor your bp. Seems a potential side effect is to raise bp.

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No coasting in running and no crying in baseball

 

And... they're gone.

My hot flashes are suddenly gone. One day last week I just noticed that I wasn't getting any more hot flashes during the day. Weird.

But I also stopped intermittent fasting, and I gained back 4 pounds, so now at 124. Not diligent about taking soy milk, had already stopped with the black cohosh and maca root before the hot flashes also stopped.

I am still waking up once a night, but wow, that's a lot better than 4-5 times.

So I'm thinking it was the fasting twice a week that was throwing my system out of whack.

The Outlast blanket is pretty good, I think.

yes, estrogen is stored in your fat. sadly :) weight / fat loss will affect your levels. i go thru this in the winter when lifting weights and training hard. i had shit for sleep in Jan, Feb, and March.

TriBeer! Do NOT give up. They told me it was "impossible" to be having hot flashes and insomnia at 33. they said i was depressed and needed Xanax. well, bitches be WRONG. it was only when i could not get preggers did they bother to test my estrogen levels, and yes, i was like a 20 which was farrrr below normal for a young healthy person.

anyhow, find a doctor and INSIST on some blood work. it's your money, you pay for the insurance, and your body. stand up to these doctors, i did, and it gave me my life back.

Thank you for the encouragement.

I just had my bi-annual physical and mentioned my hot flashes to my doctor. He said I should try taking evening primrose oil, red clover and sage. I went out to get the 3 herbals and couldn't get the sage but I started taking the primrose oil and red clover. Within 2 days, my hot flashes are gone. I was having daytime and night time sweats. Boy, that first night of full sleep felt great!

Thank you for sharing. Glad the herbs worked for you. I'll check it out. Again, thank you!

I'm taking 500mg capsule once a day of primrose oil and one 400mg of red clover. It's been 2 weeks and I'm hot flash free (there should be a t-shirt for that!). I was worried about how I was going to cope with the hot summer weather but don't have to now.

Holy crap, the other night, I woke up about 2 am and I thought I was really really sick. Tingles up my spine, thought I was going to throw up. The heat that came on? I have never experienced anything like it. Full on sweat like I was running sprints in the 90 degree heat, full sun. Whew, that was rough. You are experiencing this 5-6 times per night? I turn 42 this month, I guess this is the official start of peri-meno. I've had small random hot flashes before but never anything of the maginitude of the other night. Nothing since. Not looking forard to this. Considering going to my internist for a blood work up just to see where I am at estrogen wise. Anything new working for you? Have you tried the black cohosh?

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yup. that's it. what I didn't realize is that you get chills along with them. so double your fun. I used to keep a stack of shirts and towels bedside to soak through. I've been on maca root since April and it is like menopause is on a different planet. I am amazed what an incredible difference it has made. I've started getting some very low level warm flushes - not anything close to a hot flash twice or once a day lately so i've upped my maca root to twice a day (started today). but yeah, the maca root has totally reversed menopause for me. amazing.

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http://harvestmoon6.blogspot.com
https://www.caringbridge.org/visit/katasmit

I have raw maca powder in the cabinet that my husband bought. What do you add it to?

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__________________________________________________
Twitter: @jayasports
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I'm at the point now I can take it alone with a very ugly face afterwards, but dissolving in soy milk works for me or best is I put it on my oatmeal.

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http://harvestmoon6.blogspot.com
https://www.caringbridge.org/visit/katasmit

It can go in kefir or yogurt smoothies. A little goes a very long way; start with 1/4 tsp daily. Be careful, because if you take too much it can really do a number on your stomach.

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No coasting in running and no crying in baseball

Very true! I took a full month to go from 1/4 tsp to 1/2 tsp. I'm now doing a heaping (eyeballed) 1/2 tsp twice a day.

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http://harvestmoon6.blogspot.com
https://www.caringbridge.org/visit/katasmit

Great idea, thanks girls, I'm starting it up! quarter tsp in the smoothie or yogurt mix :)

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__________________________________________________
Twitter: @jayasports
Web: http://www.jayasports.com

OMG how did I miss this??? SO glad you have some relief Kathy! How's it going now?

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http://harvestmoon6.blogspot.com
https://www.caringbridge.org/visit/katasmit

Interesting thread and lots of great information. Hysterectomy 2 years ago plummeted me into surgical menopause and tons of hot flashes. Was on the Vivelle Patch up until 5 months ago, but it did work well.....next to no hot flashes. I was having problems with the patches coming off when working out/sweating. I went to see a mid-wife (funny since I'm well beyond that stage) and she prescribed bio-identical hormones that is a cream that I use every night. Not nearly as effective, but trying to give it 6 months.
About the melotonin.....any side effects? Those that use it, are you groggy in the morning?

I'm letting mine dissolve under my tongue as I type. No side-effects because it helps me fall asleep. Unfortunately, I'll be back up in about 2 hours. My HRT cream has made my night sweats and hot flashes much worse, sooooo, back next Friday to change the dosage and try to dial it in to bring relief.

I guess, at least, something has changed :-/

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DFL > DNF > DNS

Thanks SallyShortyPnts! I'll pick some up this week and give it a try. Sorry to hear our cream has made your flashes worse. I will say that the pharmacist has increased my prescription for the first 3 months and I have noticed it got better and better. It's still not as effective as the Vivelle Patch for me personally, but much better than if I use nothing.

I know you have your hot flashes under control with macca, Kathy, but it didn't work with me. Here is my update.

I lost weight for my marathon and am now down to 117, was 124 when my hot flashes stopped. They hot flashes tend to disappear when I gain weight and come back when I lose.

So I have been having terrible hot flashes. Once every 20-90 minutes round the clock.

My doctor gave me an Effexor prescription for the second time. First time I didn't take it, didn't want to mess my body up with anti-depressants. But this time I was desperate. If I can't sleep, I can't train. I was waking up 6-7 times a night, just really ridiculous. The Effexor works. It cuts down the frequency to about half so that sometimes I even forget I have hot flashes. So now I wake up twice/night. That may sound terrible to some of you, but it is great because then I can sleep for two hours at a time.

The effect on hot flashes is an off label use of the anti-depressant Effexor.

After my A race marathon, I tried to go off the Effexor, but the hot flashes came back with a vengeance within two days and I went back on it again. I use only one pill, 37.5 mg. I don't want to take two even it means I can sleep through the night. I heard that withdrawal gives your brain zaps and that doesn't sound good.