Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[Hollysmum]

Good morning to you all! Having been deprived of a full night's sleep for two weeks now because of night time hot flushes and sweating, I'm prepared to try almost anything!!  Has anyone tried sage supplements, and if so, have they had the desired effect?  I'm getting through several sets of nightwear a week at the moment, and my poor husband is lying next to a human radiator!!  Many thanks in advance.

[Taz2]

Hi  Hollysmum. If you put Sage into the search box in the blue bar top left of the screen it should bring up any posts about it.

I found that only HRT kept flushes at bay I'm afraid. Is this something you'll consider?

Taz x 

[SadLynda]

I have been on sage two weeks now, I thought it was working.. but maybe the nights were a little cooler, or I had a reprive as last two nights have been same as usual

maybe its needed for a longer try, but just to let you know it certainly will not work instantly.

PS  I am waiting results of bloods to start hrt.

[Hollysmum]

Hi Lynda and Taz - I did do the search - a very mixed bag of comments!  I suppose it's like everything, even HRT, we're all different, and different things work differently for everyone.  If I can find some relatively cheap sage capsules/tablets, I think I'll give it a go.  However, I'm still not sure on HRT - it seems such a huge step to take.  If I get no joy from the sage, and am still suffering night horrors in about a month, then I may have to reconsider.  Added to my hot flush misery is an ongoing issue with a bruised nerve in my neck, which causes pain down my arms, so if I'm not waking up because I'm roasting hot, I'm waking up because one or both of my arms is throbbing.  It's just not fair! 

[Taz2]

I can understand that HRT seems a big step but you are really replacing what should naturally have been yours for a few more years. The lack of oestrogen can have a significant impact on your health and is not something that will miraculously increase again. You seem to have been suffering for a while now. I was definitely never going to take HRT and, like you, put up with horrible night sweats - eventually also horrible dripping day sweats every twenty minutes - before finally, as I thought of it, "giving in". My only regret was that I waited until I was literally almost incapable of working or enjoying anything before starting it. I think I had around three years of various symptoms before I started it. I was still having periods every few months and was 53.

I do understand that you prefer to try various options but please bear HRT in mind should things get more difficult.  Did you try the magnets?

Taz x 

[SadLynda]

Totally agree about how unfair it all seems.  But also agree with Taz about not waiting, though I have put up with it for over 3 years too.. but nobody told me what it was, and it never occured to me I might be 'this old'

About your nerve pain, my wonderful acupuncture guy sorted out all my nerve pains, took me 3 visits but well worth it.  He is indian trained, not nhs and my fave person in the world, I do yoga with him too.

[Hurdity]

Hi Hollysmum

I agree with Taz re the HRT and I was exactly the same and at the same age too! I was all for the natural approach but hadn't read enough about it all to know that most oestrogen and some progesterone is now bio-identical so as natural as you can get apart from making it in our bodies!

Where are you in menopause - how old are you and how are your periods? When I was peri-menopausal and periods came and went for several months - the flushes would come on when the periods stopped and disappear when the periods started again. I used Black Cohosh which I was convinced was working - but of course you're not supposed to use it for longer than 6 months and after a while the flushes got so bad that nothing worked - not even my phytooestrogen cake and all the seeds I sprinkled onto my muesli!

Personally if you are waiting a little while longer (eg a month) before possibly considering HRT (maybe you are over 50 and periods still farily regular?) then I would increase the phyto-oestrogens in my diet initially - but they are only behave weakly like oestrogens. However if you are well into peri then sounds like HRT is your answer.  At least it replaces oestrogen and will eliminate your flushes and sweats for sure. it is really miraculous the effect it has and provided you found the right type you would not regret it because of your ability to sleep again! 

Hurdity x

[Lynda07]

I've found this thread really interesting, thanks. I've had my hot flushes (up to 15 a day) and night sweats (about every 60-90 minutes) for about a month. Sleep is a dim and distant luxury. I was/am so against HRT as I am terrified of medication (had an awful experience on Prozac 10 year ago) and also scared of the side effects. But as I am also anxious, tearful, possible atrophy (haven't fancied sex for God knows how long but the Nurse told me about it when I nearly went through the roof in pain during a smear yesterday) - I have seriously considered it today. I'm taking sage but not convinced. My problem is any little side effect will throw me into a huge panic attack.

I just don't know where the old me has gone.

Sorry for ranting and thanks for listening. x

[Dancinggirl]

Lynda07
I do understand your reluctance about HRT but it certainly is not like Prozac as these days most HRTs at least have bio identical oestrogen so is the same as the hormones we would produce ourselves.  Yes, there can be side effects and to start with it's a good idea to try the sequential HRT which will bring a monthly bleed (this can be a nuisance) but you may be really surprised at how good you feel - for me, at 59, HRT gives me 'quality of life' and the benefits really outweigh the side effects and risks  DG x

[Cthrnstowe]

Hi lynda07
I feel the same way you do, I'm terrified of taking hrt, but after reading other ladies stories on here, I've made an appointment with the doctor, not my usual doctor because she doesn't like prescribing it, I don't think that helps when the doctor doesn't agree with it xx

[Hollysmum]

Hurdity - the voice of reason, as always!  I'm fifty next month, and have been irregular in the period department for about a year now.  I was confirmed as perimenopausal about this time last year by my doctor, who I consulted when the flushes became very frequent.  I've done well on starflower/evening primrose oils from the point of view of soreness, tenderness and suchlike, and hadn't had any serious flushing for around ten months until about two weeks ago.  I've had infrequent days of aching like a 90 year old (you advised me on the magnet stuff) which I've relieved with standard painkillers like ibuprofen.  Taz - no, I haven't tried magnet therapy.  I really think that the main beneficiaries of this are the companies that supply them, although I know there are women out there who will swear that they make a difference, and that is fine by me - we all make our own choices.  I have acquired a bottle of sage capsules, and have only taken one so far, and I'm prepared to go the course of 30!  If the current flushing continues (I'm actually noting every time it happens, and it's now 8 since 8am this morning), then I'll know that sage is not the answer, and will most certainly be bothering the doctor again.  I'm also seeking further advice regarding my neck problem - it so doesn't help!!   It's really helpful to hear good things about HRT - the media seem hellbent on scaremongering, and I also think that some of us women have an in-built mechanism for "not giving in".  You can bet your Black Cohosh that if men had to deal with menopause, there would be a complete cure in place by now!

[Dancinggirl]

If a GP is really anti HRT then ask to be referred to a gynae or menopause clinic.  GPs are rarely up to speed about the latest findings about HRT and meno treatment, so do print stuff off from this site as it is run by a recognised UK gynae and everything is correct and current. GPs should be treating menopause symptoms appropriately and HRT should be the first line of treatment unless there pare other risk factors to be considered e.g. breast cancer in close family members.  Risks etc. only really kick in when you reach 60 and in fact it is now known that 5 years of HRT in our 50s can give real benefits in the long term in preventing heart disease, bone loss and even help to reduce your risk of bowel cancer!!!! As my gynae said - more women suffer long term problems with osteoporosis due to oestrogen deficiency compared with those who get breast cancer and bone loss can result in many years of disability and loss of quality of life. I personally hope that we will see a day that HRT will be offered as a preventative treatment in a women's 50s because of the long term benefits.
Using HRT is still a personal choice but giving it a try is not a sign of weakness - you can always stop if you don't like it.  DG x

[SadLynda]

DG - it was, my Aunt is now 67 she was put on hrt when she was 40 till 50 and all was well, just 3 hot flushes and no problems at all.

Agree with the comment about 'the old me' I think I remember her and I keep getting some of her back, determined to find all of her.

[Hurdity]

Better to "give in" than be a miserable (but virtuous) martyr, and suffer needlessly for years!!! 

Hurdity x

[Mary G]

I agree with everything Hurdity has said.  I'm afraid poor epidemiology has wrongly given HRT a bad name but don't forget, the million women study that caused the panic back in 2003 has now been discredited.  Badly conducted scientific studies cause pain and misery to millions and I feel angry that so many women have lost years of their lives thanks to a flawed study. 

Medical opinion seems to have shifted the other way now and many doctors in the know think that HRT should be given to women as soon as their oestrogen levels start to drop.  The time limit of 5 years for taking HRT was plucked out of the air after the discredited 2003 study, it doesn't actually have any substance. 

One more thing to bear in mind... HRT preparations have moved on tremendously in recent years and do not compare to the stuff prescribed to women in the 1990s.  As Hurdity said, nowadays they are bio identical and far more effective that the earlier forms and they also have fewer side effects.

Whether or not to take HRT is a personal choice but I think that too many women are suffering from an unacceptable level of symptoms that are ruining their lives.  Please don't suffer, you don't have to.