OK, I'm talking the big "M"..menopause, I've been "in it" for several years and I thought the hot flashes and night sweats were bad enough, but now for some reason my body has decided to "sweat" and I mean excessively! I'm talking wringing wet from head to toe many times a day. I'm not daibetic and my thyroid levels are OK (I am taking Synthroid for this). Has this happened to any of you? What on earth is a person to do...I am actually thinking about HRT and a few years ago I said I would never do that, too many side affects and yet, this has me reconsidering...I need your help!!!!

eat soy beans, they really help.

Yes it is very embarassing. the back of my head has recently started sweating so that it looks like I have just gotten out of the shower! It is terrible.I Just posted to sympathize with you, I have no solution.

If you were here in Florida, I would suspect the weather had something to do with it, but probably not there! Check with your doctor.
I was on a low dose hrt for many years because the doctor said the benefits for me far outweighed the risk. It helps protect your bone mass too. For me, with all the problems I have with my back it was great. I could sure tell a difference when I quit taking them. I wish I had never stopped!

I know exactly what your talking about.If you find a answer please share it with me.

I was having hot flashes pretty bad, I started drinking soy milk and taking a 400IU Vitamin E every day (in addition to already taking Black Cohosh, flax oil and ground flax seed). Well the hot flashes stopped!! I have my fingers crossed that it is not a temporary hormone fluctuation, but it has been over a month. It is so nice to sleep through the night again, esp. in this hot weather.

I am going to keep drinking the soy milk and will be looking for some soy flour as well my next grocery trip.

Oh I do know how you feel I had a very early hysterectomy due to cancer in my very early 20s and HRT was in it's experimental stage and didn't really help. Years later I took it. for 10 years, to counteract Osteoporosis and due to that I managed to get over the early stages of it and now my bone density is "about normal" for my age, whatever that means. For that reason alone I would recommend any ladies to go on a HRT course, thro' their physician of course.

As far as the sweats are concerned I still get them, at night, due to pain medication and am in the process of making my own special bedding! http://www.quiltingboard.com/t-135929-1.htm it helps me at night as the sheets don't stick to me and the quilted ones soak up the sweat and makes me more comfortable.

I hope you discuss it with your Doctor as I know a lot of people swear by natural remedies but there is not a lot of proof that they help and as far as the Osteoporosis danger is concerned as far as I know only HRT helps, and taking regular doses of Glucosamine tablets, again the Doctor may prescribe them for you my Doc does.

I didn't realize that Soy milk was good for that. I might give it a try. thanks,

try for 1-2 cups a day. I get my supermarket house brand, it is good enough to drink straight.

if you have a thyroid condition, please consult your doctor before starting any regimen that is based on soy.

i recall reading something that said too much soy is not good in combination with a thyroid condition.

best to ask first.

I would never have survived without HRT. I had hot flashes every 10-15 minutes throughout the day and night. Horrible!!!!! I probably took it from age 43 to 56. No problems since then.

Yes talk to your Dr I took two soy tablets a day and mine went away, I still have night sweats sometimes.

I was 43 when I had to have a hysterectomy & went into instant change while in the hospital. Dr put me on hormones & I became dreadfully ill with the beginning of terrible migranes. Turns out I couldn't take hormones of any kind & it took 10 long yrs for the hot flashes & migranes to fade away.
Tried Glucosamine tablets,every vitamin & natural remedy I heard of & nothing worked.Ruined a good,new mattress with night sweats.So glad that's over. Find a good Dr & maybe look into massage etc.....anything that helps.

Thanks...I keep thinking "if guys had to go through this they would find a solution very quickly!" I started with night sweats around age 42 and the hot flashes hit at around 50...wasn't done with the monthly thing until age 55. I'm now 61 and this other element has surfaced...does it ever end? I am so very tired of it all! Excuse me while I go mop my brow and change clothes! LOL I'm not so anxious to try HRT as I use to have migraine headaches related to my cycle, which thankfully stopped when it did.

I take soy since my surgery and do very well.

I would wake up wringing wet from head to toe. I was getting ready to go to MD for HRT. I heard about Estroven with energy. It worked. I am sitting in my living room without A/C and it's at least 95 degrees. My mother also tried it and it helped her too.

My DH was on Lupron shots to control his prostate cancer while they took care of his bladder cancer. The Lupron gave him night sweats and hot flashes. He had them as bad as I do. That was in 2005 and the effects of the Lupron have not completely gone from his system. He gets hot flashes really bad in our little church, no air conditioning. He takes paper towels to mop his brow. The Lupron also made him very "chatty". For someone who didn't talk very much before, he talks all the time now. Part of the problem could come from the effects of the chemo for his colon cancer. I bought him Hot Flash Relief spray from Avon for his chest at nights. And he would sleep with one of those Chillow pillows laying across his chest, and switch it out with the spare that was kept in the fridge.

I'm like another poster here--every 15 minutes all day, all night, lasting about 15 minutes each time. Not much relief in between I suffered with it for two years waiting for it to go away as I'd heard it would. Then I read something that said for some women they never go away. That's when I decided to go the hormone route. I take the lowest dose there is and I've managed to get by on taking only every other day to reduce any dangers that might be associated with it.

So don't suffer with it; see your doctor.

There are natural alternatives to the usual HRT stuff.

Like one nurse told me "Nobody ever died for lack of horse pee" which is what it's made from. The urine of pregnant horses.

i'm sure that you could find such on the Internet.
I used to innocently (read..stupidly) believe what my doctor told me to do. After a period of taking the two hormones, and minus one breast, I am now very cynical about a lot of things.

Try the internet..lots of interesting stuff there.

Also took Vitamin E long years before the HRT "Just in case" after which I developed breast cancer....the vitamin E stopped my just beginning sweats, never had any more trouble with that part.

I had hysterectomy when i was 39--have been on vivelle-dot for 7yrs. Still have hot flashes--doesn't completely go away. All my Drs said no problems being on it forever --no increased risk for anything. Best to talk with your Dr.

52 here and "thrown" into meno after chemo and meds. My doctor suggested UnderArmour clothing, the sort of stuff athletes wear to stay cool. I must say, while I still get the hot flashes at night, sweating has definitely calmed down some.

is Vivelle-dot an over-the-counter med or is it a prescription?

I had a full hysterectomy at 42...and went into instant hot flashes...first six months I wasn't allowed to take anything...after that the doc put me on Estradiol (estrace) - 1mg...lowest dose possible.

If there is an OTC med available, I'd prefer to take it over taking the Estradiol forever. The estradiol works...just don't like taking Rx meds.

Vivelle-Dot is a prescription - I take a small dose and I can cut them in half also - it is a patch that I replace twice a week.

Okay, thanks....I did go google it after I asked....lol

It is the same type of meds as mine..it's a Estradiol Transdermal Patch...but I like the fact that you can cut it in half and just use half of it.

I'll have to see if my insurance will pay for it...thanks for the info.

Watch the soy with the Thyroid meds -- my doctor said if I start eating/drinking soy in any quantity he wanted to test more often and would probably need to make dosage adjustments.

I finally caved and started on a low dose of HRT. It was the best thing I've ever done. The hot flashes got to be unbearable. I would have one every half hour all during the night not to mention the ones during the day. I would sweat so much I felt like a salt lick. Now I sleep through the night and feel so much better.

You should never start any over the counter meds until you check with your doc. Especially if you are on prescription meds too. However, after checking with my doctor, I used New Phase which I got at Wal Mart. After a little while, I did switch to extra strength, but it was a wonderful help. I am now done, and wound up taking it for only about 2 years. Also, please note that soy is helpful because it has "natural hormones" (estrogen). One of the reasons to check with your doc is to review your hx or risk of certain cancers as some respond or kind of thrive on estrogen.

I had a hysterectomy in '85. Left my ovaries...I had such a chemical imbalance as a result it took 2 doctors 2 yrs to get me straightened out. Thank the Lord for HRT's. After twice trying to get off them in the last 5 years I am now on the lowest dose possible and will stay on it the rest of my life if possible. If I go off of them for 1 week my eyes get dry and the hot flashes start immediately. I have always sweat like a horse all my life but as a result of exertion. The hot flashes I have are horrible and irritability and jittery feeling make me and those around me miserable. I will just be happy to stay on them as long as I need to. My mom was on them till she died.

Several have mentioned soy milk or soy beans. As another poster stated, check with your Dr. before starting with this. All the info. that I have read, states that soy interfers with thyroid function.

I sweat like that too, wish there was a easy solution for it.

I have been taking Vit. E (make sure it says "mixed tocopherols" on the label) for years for hot flashes. I was taking four 1,000 i.u. caps a day, but have gone down to one in the morning and one at night. I did not have to take all the other stuff- so I would suggest starting out with the E before eating all that soy. I hate the taste of soy flour and soy oil. I can tolerated soy milk but some of it is really high in calories and makes me gain weight.

I take calcium and soy tablets once a day. Helps me a lot.

At 42, my doc says i'm in early menopause (since april). Black cohosh seems to help.

Dear Kappy, I take synthroid too and if you have thyroid problems, DO NOT ingest extra soy. I have had these sweats too and they do pass in time. If yours are so severe or frequent, please discuss with doc.

knock on wood . . . cancer at 40. found it when they told me I was pregnant with my last daughter. so I told em after I had my punkin they could take out anything I didnt need. nearly 60 now and I have only had a handful of hot flashes. period. like I said. knock on wood

I use soy milk. There is a natural plant hormone in soy that DOES help!

My Aunt went thru a rough menopause and they put her on that Syntrhoid -well she looked like she was playing in the hose all the time She was having an adverse re-action to the meds She quit taking them and went to GNC and they were real helpful and she walked out with a couple bottles of minerals and vitamins The hot flashes calmed down the sweats went away completely and she was able to stay asleep all night and was back to her un-grouchy self in no time.I was lucky I got thru it with only few months of flashes and was completely thru at 37

I have hypothyroidism and yes, the first thing my Dr told me was NO soy products....it also reacts with Synthroid and other meds and stops them from working.

Take the one a day for women tablets and also take
200mg of vitamin E tablets twice a day. That is what I do and it seems to help with my sweating and hot flashes.

Ladies please check with your doctor before trying anything, including "natural" stuff. Many foods contain estrogens, including many veggies, which can feed cancer. I am an ovarian cancer survivor. Was dx'd in 2009, had surgery & then chemo. I've also had thyroid disease since 1983. My doctors wanted me to avoid ALL food estrogens. It wasn't possible, as there wasn't much left for me to eat except junk food, which I won't do.

Most, if not all, HRT meds & OTC products contain plant estrogens.

Green Tea & Soy are 2 that contain allot of plant estrogens. You can have cancer growing for years & not know it, as many female cancers carry little or no symptoms until well advanced. Many breast & female cancers start during peri-menopause or soon after menopuase. Taking anything for hot flashes/night sweats can & will feed cancer. For me I sweat buckets, but choose not to feed the "beast". I wear summer t-tops year around. My winter coat is a fleece shirt, I use fans 24 x 7 and AC if it gets real hot. I eat cooler foods & drink allot of herbal teas & water. You learn to live with it if you have to. I'd rather sweat than have cancer!

If you chose to take any of those products then you should be tested for cancer & thyroid on a regular basis.