Menopause and metabolism concern question?

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  • SafariGalNYC
    SafariGalNYC Posts: 913 Member
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    kshama2001 wrote: »
    kshama2001 wrote: »
    I'm 56, and still not in menopause according to my hormone levels from Nov 28. I had a hysterectomy November 3, but kept my ovaries.

    I never had hot flashes. I have struggled with always being hot for years, getting worse. I think part of the problem was the progesterone I have taken off and on for 20 years, which I stopped taking on Nov 2; I seem to have less heat intolerance since.

    One thing that might have prevented me from getting hot flashes was black cohosh with dong quai.

    A family member takes 200 mg of gabapentin at night for night sweats. Works great for her, but did not help me sleep cooler, but I continued to take it as it seemed to help me sleep better. Now that I am off the progesterone, have more bladder capacity thanks to the hysterectomy, and switched my antidepressant to Remeron, I am sleeping comfortably and through the night.

    Have you had your hormone levels tested? My endocrinologist said too little estrogen can cause women to feel hot. When my results came back, he said my levels were that of a young woman, so that's not the case for me, but could be contributing to your issue. Even if you don't want to do traditional HRT, it would be good to know if your hormone levels are causing issues. Also, you might be opposed to Estradiol but willing to take a bioidentical estrogen.

    Spring 2022, we increased my previous antidepressant, Cymbalta, to try to help with my heat intolerance. That probably caused several super-heavy, go to the ER, get blood transfusions bleeding incidences, and is why we switched to Remeron. Now that I no longer have a uterus, I could go back, but I like the Remeron better. However, if you are depressed, that could be an option for you since you've also had a hysterectomy.

    Note: if I were 45 minutes late for a dose of Cymbalta I would start to feel withdrawal, and was concerned about eventually discontinuing. However, tapering and discontinuing turned out to not be an issue. I think I tapered off over two weeks.

    One last thing - what's the temperature in your bedroom and can you make it cooler? I slept comfortably fall-spring at my last house, where I controlled the thermostat and so turned it down to 57 degrees F at night. There is a wood stove below my rooms here, so I have to open the window to cool it down, and still don't get it into the 50s >.<

    Well, it was strange reading my post from 10 months ago!

    Turns out both the Remeron and Gabapentin increase appetite so I am off of both of them and back on Wellbutrin.

    I kept my ovaries and strongly suspect I am still ovulating. I'm visualizing my little eggs lost in space...

    If I didn't have ovaries and had symptoms I would definitely look into HRT, with bio-identical hormones such as Prometrium for the progesterone.

    Almost 57 and still no hot flashes!

    My Mom didn’t enter menopause until her late 50s!
  • Skylightsauc
    Skylightsauc Posts: 14 Member
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    I'm glad you had some success with supplements. I used hormone replacement for 20 years after surgically induced menopause. I loved it. I was normal! Now that I have stopped the hormones I have insomnia, hot flashes and night sweats constantly. I started Ambien a few months ago and it helps but nothing else has. For many, menopausal symptoms dissipate over time, so that's all I hope for now. But honestly my life is kind of hard to deal with at the moment. Moderate exercise does help. You might try that too. Good luck.
  • JustSmitten77
    JustSmitten77 Posts: 28 Member
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    Like you, I had hot flashes before my menopause too. I had my ovaries removed and put on HRT. I’ve heard great things about Black Cohosh and just started taking it myself. Can’t give you an honest opinion since my hot flashes/night sweats aren’t every night, but if I do notice a difference I’ll report back.
  • allmine4me
    allmine4me Posts: 1 Member
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    I started taking previtalize and provitalize about 10 months ago and after a month I was sleeping through the night again which was my biggest issue from menopause. Yes I have been very lucky but 3 hours of sleep turned me into a real *kitten* and oh the weigh gain was a very close second. Since then I have also lost nearly 13 kg. So all in all very positive results.

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