I've cut out most all alcohol (just the occasional glass of wine if we go out for dinner and, of course, a beer when I golf!). Alcohol seems to trigger hot flashes, and it's just not worth it! Also, sleep with a fan blowing on you. That helps a lot!

My best survival tip is exercise, walking and yoga. Eating healthy and watching portions, particularly carbs has also been huge in reducing the number of hot flashes that I get thru the day. I will be interested to hear what the rest of the ladies on this blog say.
Thanks for posting!

Making jokes about it..I have to or I'd be msierable to be around!

I'm still trying to discover those as I've only been pre-menopause for about a year and just recently the hot flashes have gotten to be a daily occurance so I am trying to find natural things to help with that

Ditto on the alcohol and the fan:). Chocolate and sweets also do it me as did calcium with magnesium. I am not sure if the alcohol and calcium/magnesium is because of my arthritis medication (Vimovo). Anyway a good reason to cut calories...

Hello All!!!
I just turned 50 and Allegra has become my best survival tool. I suffer from incessant itching and extreme skin sensitivity. The hot flashes are sporadic and I sleep with the fan on low to medium. I also believe that I will be going from a summer season person to fall season person. LOL.

Avoid alcohol or caffeine like the plague, both were guaranteed hot flashes for me. but your mileage may vary. some ppl say for them, spicey foods or beef also increased hotflashes.

Avoid silk tops, wow, those will display your 10am sweaty hotflash for entire rest of the day....yuck.

Dress in lightweight fabrics, and even on freezing days, dress in removable layers.
Find a way to pleasantly answer the question, "Aren't you COLD?" forty-seven times each day, for about a year. Be creative.. Best answer gets a prize...


Take deep breath and count to ten prior to replying to anything annoying.

Stock up on great books for the insomnia, and try putting a tube-top over your eyes at night.

If you are at work, and can not strip naked for a hotflash, run your inner wrists under freezing cold water, it seems to help.
If you DO strip naked, have your resume ready to go for next job.
Look over various types of small fans to buy to keep around you at the next job.:laugh:


Admit,
and warn your loved ones,
you may not be yourself right now. do reassure them it is temporary, probably for the bulk of a year.
Ask them to be patient, and to let you know if they have anything they want you to hear them on.
Hear them.
~As well as you can, take your own self, with a grain of salt for now. Mentalpause is similar to puberty, only in reverse....

Don't tuck in your bedding anymore.

Try a small fan pointed towards your bed. If this does not help, try a larger fan.:bigsmile:

Use cotton sheets only now.
Dress in cotton.

Get a footboard, in case you get the jumping legs thing which occurs juuuuust as you almost fall asleep/half asleep. Sleep on stomach, and press feet into footboard. this takes less time than standing up each time. Having sex or orgasm is supposed to help reduce jumping legs, but, one has to fall asleep soon after, before the endorphins fade away.

For walking, try walking right after a shower, with your hair already wet.

Some women say sleeping with one's head/upper body propped up a bit more higher, and a fan on, can help reduce the heart palpitations at night.

Be prepared to reconsider/throw out/replace any customs, habits, or products, from the shampoo you once used, to the type of fabrics you once liked to wear, to the type of lotions that used to work........ be open to realizing,
stuff or customs that once worked great,
like how much you get away with eating without gaining weight,
no longer work for you now.


for some of us, it's like waking up in a whole new body...

and we have to sort of learn how to 'drive' the new body from scratch.:laugh:

Invest in icepacks of all types. I recall, sitting on icepacks, or stuffing them into my waistband, or bra, or wherever,
to use a curling iron or a blowdryer, determined i would stay cool enough to complete the task. Eventually, i gave that up, and wore a bun for a while to avoid any heated items. Having slightly damp hair also helped me stay a bit cooler as i rushed around getting ready for work, and for first hour or so of the day.

Write notes to help you remember things. Use calendars, buzzers, notes, whatever it takes, to counteract mental fuzziness. It passes. Near the toilet might be good place to keep to-do lists, at least, it will give you something to do til all that urinary frequency subsides.

LEARN about the dozens of symptoms of mentalpause so you won't feel nutz for noticing these things.

find supportive ppl who will both understand, yet, not let you whine too much nor use excuses too too much, and instead, help you refind your inner strength to cope with suddenly having a whole new body to drive....

and remember,
it is temporary, it does not last forever,
and for most ppl,
the worst of the full-on rager symptoms is over in less than a year.

Hello Group! I went into mental pause after surgery 7 years ago and after almost killing my ex husband and divorcing him, now we are back together. I have learned through a lot of exercise that peace of mind is the MOST important thing. I put myself first now which means I exercise and eat right. What keeps me calm (er) is Boxing! I feel so happy when I punch the hell out of the bags and pads. I just wish I could lose weight, but I know that 5 am getting stronger and fitter. I am the boss so I do control the AC at work and insist on it to sleep. It helps to like reading and writing. I want to add yoga an supplements to the mix. I think it would help.

best to all.
R

OH, AND BE PATIENT with other women who scoff, "ah, my mentalpause was no big deal"
and be aware,
like puberty,
it is not the same for each of us.

Your concerns are valid,
even if no one else admits this IS really going on.

and smile when men in their 20s and 30s say "it's just a matter of self control and calories in and calories out".:drinker:

If laughter is the best medicine then I think I just got my daily dose!

Lots of good advice there - my only addition is to give up on the idea of ever wearing a nightdress ever again. And consider camping in the Uk as a holiday option - it was definitely cool enough to sleep in our tent last weekend!

Jane

Could you all post the supplements you are taking, and what symptoms they address? There is so much out there - and I suspect a lot of it is crap - would like to get some good advice on specific brands/vitamin/supplements that really work...

great question.

I took nothing. at all.
Maybe i should have, but, my family has huge risk of breast cancer, (it's a birthright in my family)
so i am leery of anything hormonal,
and skeptical of stuff the FDA hasn't approved (almost all over-the-counter items, anyone can sell anything and say whatever)
and just as skeptical of stuff the FDA has approved, lol.

The worst of my symptoms passed or greatly lessened in a year.

For Hot Flashes: #1 - Giving up all Alcohol - for sure has helped. Ice water all day, every day, Ice pack to the back of the neck when I'm hot, and finally, Cotton Only Clothing as much as possible.

I agree!! Alcohol brings on my flashes too. The best thing to keep the flashes under control is 2 Tbsp. of ground flax seed daily. You can put them in your yogurt, a protein shake, on cereal, even tossed on top of a salad. They are a phytoestrogen and really work wonders. I've tried a million other supplements specifically for hot flashes and nothing worked until I incorporated the flax in January. Now I feel like a human being again!

I am at work right now and have a fan blowing directly on me, even though the office is air conditioned. Fans are our friends!

I use Evening Primrose oil for breast cysts and fish oil for dry skin and whatever else its supposed to be good for - 3 capsules a day of each. (I take them all at once, I don't know how efficacious that is but I'd forget otherwise.
You have to be choosy about the brand you use due to low and uneven dosing during the manufacture.

Also when I remember I take a vitamin B compound (Berocca)

The Evening Primrose oil definitely works, if I don't take it every day within two days the cysts are back.
The fish oil seems to help my dry itchy skin. I have come to appreciate that the skin is an organ and needs to be treated with respect, something I often neglected previously.

Other than that, a coma would be nice until the whole phase passes, or just a quick reincarnation into a new younger, healthy over-privileged Western body would be good!