Hot Flash Forum!

Come on Omaz, jump in, we will have our own study.  

Ok, Ok!!!

Thanks Candice.  It does help.  Since I am quite sensitive to many meds, my Dr. started me on half of the dose you are on.  It does not seem to be effecting me in a negative way, so I might ask my PCP if I should take the full .1mg.  I don't think the Clonidine would have any effect on your period since technically it's for hypertension.  Do you feel that there is a connection?

NOT A SINGLE HOT FLASH ALL NIGHT LONG - and trust me I am happy to report that.  Keeping my fingers crossed, and still ordering the remote control fan.

The worst part for me is that sometimes the flashes come out when I least expect. I had a bad one during my daughters Softball game and it was only sixty degrees out at the time. I was dripping with sweat. They are annoying. I keep a thing of wet wipes in my purse and it helps.

I have a chillow, too!  Great in the pillowcase...hot flash, turn to the chillow side.  

Renn - Good for you on the Beta Blocker  !  I am on 4000 IUs of D right now.  Yes, I am sleeping better too.  I just have a few warm waves nothing sweaty 

Rose: I finish chemo next week, so I'll wait a few weeks before trying menopret again. It really worked for me. Just took a few days to notice full effects. My flashes went from waking me up in the middle of the night and keeping me awake, to feeling a liitle warm in the morning. I was sleeping thru the night with menopret!



The ingredients per tablet are calcium 46mg and black cohosh 32.5 mg. My int onc recommended this as the best thing on market that works. Good luck.

I have never heard of the menopret. My dermatologist who is uses a lot of herbal and vitamins said to try 300mg of Evening Primrose Oil It has helped me some and that his wife found Zoloft really helped her hot flashes.

Sas, you are so right about the wash-out period! I am strugglling with this, wanting desperately to find some help for my neuropathy AND hot flashes, getting different meds from different docs, none of whom admit that the med they recommed could cause more problems than they can help, and the pharmacist telling me there is no interaction between all the meds, and then I do a search and find they all interact with each other.

Thanks for some of the suggestions here - I had hot flashes for 5 years before bc, was getting better, now they are back with a vengence - every 60-70 minutes all day long, all night long - nearly passing out with the most severe ones. At least I sleep through a few of them with ambien, but am never feeling like I am the right temperature - either too cold or too hot! Am interested in the aromatherapy results!

Sas:  Thank you for that info!  I don't know how Vit D can interefer with the thyroid-can you go into more detail?

mbj------- best I could do on short notict------- thisis from WEBMD-------the bottom line is it effects the parathyroids. Parathyroid balance calcium and phosphorus with D as help. All of wihich work on the bones. Parathyroinds sit on top of thyroid, but are separate form it.

WEBMD____-Vitamin D is a vitamin. It can be found in small amounts in a few foods, including fatty fish such as herring, mackerel, sardines and tuna. To make vitamin D more available, it is added to dairy products, juices, and cereals that are then said to be "fortified with vitamin D." But most vitamin D - 80% to 90% of what the body gets - is obtained through exposure to sunlight. Vitamin D can also be made in the laboratory as medicine.

Vitamin D is used for preventing and treating rickets, a disease that is caused by not having enough vitamin D (vitamin D deficiency). Vitamin D is also used for treating weak bones (osteoporosis), bone pain (osteomalacia), bone loss in people with a condition called hyperparathyroidism, and an inherited disease (osteogenesis imperfecta) in which the bones are especially brittle and easily broken. It is also used for preventing falls and fractures in people at risk for osteoporosis, and preventing low calcium and bone loss (renal osteodystrophy) in people with kidney failure.

Vitamin D is used for conditions of the heart and blood vessels, including high blood pressure and high cholesterol. It is also used for diabetes, obesity, muscle weakness, multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), asthma, bronchitis, premenstrual syndrome (PMS), and tooth and gum disease.

Some people use vitamin D for skin conditions including vitiligo, scleroderma, psoriasis, actinic keratosis, and lupus vulgaris.

It is also used for boosting the immune system, preventing autoimmune diseases, and preventing cancer.

Because vitamin D is involved in regulating the levels of minerals such as phosphorous and calcium, it is used for conditions caused by low levels of phosphorous (familial hypophosphatemia and Fanconi syndrome) and low levels of calcium (hypoparathyroidism and pseudohypoparathyroidism).

Vitamin D in forms known as calcitriol or calcipotriene is applied directly to the skin for a particular type of psoriasis.

If you travel to Canada, you may have noticed that Canada recognizes the importance of vitamin D in the prevention of osteoporosis. It allows this health claim for foods that contain calcium: "A healthy diet with adequate calcium and vitamin D, and regular physical activity, help to achieve strong bones and may reduce the risk of osteoporosis." But the US version of this osteoporosis health claim does not yet include vitamin D.

How does it work?

Vitamin D is required for the regulation of the minerals calcium and phosphorus found in the body. It also plays an important role in maintaining proper bone structure.

Sun exposure is an easy, reliable way for most people to get vitamin D. Exposure of the hands, face, arms, and legs to sunlight two to three times a week for about one-fourth of the time it would take to develop a mild sunburn will cause the skin to produce enough vitamin D. The necessary exposure time varies with age, skin type, season, time of day, etc.

It's amazing how quickly adequate levels of vitamin D can be restored by sunlight. Just 6 days of casual sunlight exposure without sunscreen can make up for 49 days of no sunlight exposure. Body fat acts like a kind of storage battery for vitamin D. During periods of sunlight, vitamin D is stored in fatty fat and then released when sunlight is gone.

Nevertheless, vitamin D deficiency is more common than you might expect. People who don't get enough sun, especially people living in Canada and the northern half of the US, are especially at risk. Vitamin D deficiency also occurs even in sunny climates, possibly because people are staying indoors more, covering up when outside, or using sunscreens consistently these days to reduce skin cancer risk.

Older people are also at risk for vitamin D deficiency. They are less likely to spend time in the sun, have fewer "receptors" in their skin that convert sunlight to vitamin D, may not get vitamin D in their diet, may have trouble absorbing vitamin D even if they do get it in their diet, and may have more trouble converting dietary vitamin D to a useful form due to aging kidneys. In fact, the risk for vitamin D deficiency in people over 65 years of age is very high. Surprisingly, as many as 40% of older people even in sunny climates such as South Florida don't have enough vitamin D in their systems.

Vitamin D supplements may be necessary for older people, people living in northern latitudes, and for dark-skinned people who need extra time in the sun, but don't get it.