# Older Women Dopers - Anyone tried a "Menopause Relief" product? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 23, 2011, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/older-women-dopers-anyone-tried-a-menopause-relief-product/568623 "2011-01-23T03:24:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![loshan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ce73a5/32.png) [@loshan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/loshan)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2011, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/older-women-dopers-anyone-tried-a-menopause-relief-product/568623/1 "2011-01-23T03:24:54Z")
I have been having horrible night sweats (47 yo) and it is driving me crazy. I have been wondering if these help or not. What product are you using and has it helped with hot flashes/night sweats at all? ---
**Author:** ![CanvasShoes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@CanvasShoes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CanvasShoes)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2011, 7:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/older-women-dopers-anyone-tried-a-menopause-relief-product/568623/2 "2011-01-23T07:43:05Z")
Hmmmmmmm…okay, I’ve been dealing with peri-menopause for around 5-7 years now. From what my body says, I think I’m pretty close to being done with it, and moving on into actual menopause. I got a product (Schiff I think?) from Fred Meyer’s health food vitamin section. It works very well, I don’t even have to take it all of the time, just when I notice that I’m having particular hot flash issues (despite being overweight, I’m one of the few lucky ones who has fairly mild symptoms). There’s another one (I have the whole insomnia thing too), called “Knock out” that’s a natural sleep aide, I picked it up one time thinking “oh why not?” and in a very skeptical mood. I’ve never been terribly impressed by natural supplements. But that one, and the menopause aide one really work. You may also want to try vitamin D. I know, I know, I felt the same way when my doctor told me to start using it. She had me tested and it turns out I was also extremely vitamin D deficient. I was very skeptical, I’ve never found that vitamins help with anything. But I was astonished that that did the trick. My fatigue and myofascitis symptoms decreased dramatically, along with a lot of the peri-menopausal symptoms like irritability. ---
**Author:** ![BigBertha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/d78d45/32.png) [@BigBertha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigBertha)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2011, 7:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/older-women-dopers-anyone-tried-a-menopause-relief-product/568623/3 "2011-01-23T07:56:43Z")
I am in menopause and may be already ‘done’ with it (age 52). I do have some hot flashes, no sweating but take nothing. I asked on another board, and they recommend black cohosh, whatever that is. ---
**Author:** ![loshan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ce73a5/32.png) [@loshan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/loshan)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2011, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/older-women-dopers-anyone-tried-a-menopause-relief-product/568623/4 "2011-01-23T19:45:38Z")
😕This has been happening off and on for about 3 years, usually for a night or two before my period started. However, in the last 3 months it has been going on at least 3 nights of every week. It is driving me batty. I wake up sweating AND freezing and can’t get back to sleep for an hour or more. This happens two or three times a night. I have an doctors appointment in March, but until then I thought I would try some of the otc stuff and see if it helps. I just wondered if anyone here had experience with any of them and if they work at all. ---
**Author:** ![thirdwarning](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecccb3/32.png) [@thirdwarning](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thirdwarning)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2011, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/older-women-dopers-anyone-tried-a-menopause-relief-product/568623/5 "2011-01-23T23:46:07Z")
> [@BigBertha](#): > > I am in menopause and may be already ‘done’ with it (age 52). I do have some hot flashes, no sweating but take nothing. I asked on another board, and they recommend black cohosh, whatever that is. I can’t be absolutely sure of it, because there were contributing factors, but black cohosh seems to have been a major cause of anxiety and almost panic attacks for me. I’d say be very careful. I’ve never had anything like the reaction to fairly simple situations, that I was having while I was taking it, and since I stopped taking it, I haven’t had those reactions, even with the same or similar contributing factors. You might want to check with your doctor on this one. ---
**Author:** ![not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_what_you_d_expect/32/3246_2.png) [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_what_you_d_expect)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2011, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/older-women-dopers-anyone-tried-a-menopause-relief-product/568623/6 "2011-01-24T00:05:50Z")
My sister in law takes niacin and says it helps her. She also has an estrogen cream from her Dr. I know it’s not conventional, but Marijuana helped me get through the worst of my symptoms this summer. I did not have a single hot flash when I would smoke a little bit, and it helped me sleep. I was desperate and had already tried prescription estrogen to no avail. I don’t smoke it now because my symptoms have abated with the cooler weather, but it made my life bearable and I would use it again if the need arose. I’m 54 so I’m hoping I’m done with Menopause. It’s truly awful. I hope you find something to help. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2011, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/older-women-dopers-anyone-tried-a-menopause-relief-product/568623/7 "2011-01-24T03:59:07Z")
And we have a winner for post/username combo. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![CanvasShoes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@CanvasShoes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CanvasShoes)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2011, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/older-women-dopers-anyone-tried-a-menopause-relief-product/568623/8 "2011-01-24T06:01:39Z")
> [@loshan](#): > > 😕This has been happening off and on for about 3 years, usually for a night or two before my period started. However, in the last 3 months it has been going on at least 3 nights of every week. > It is driving me batty. I wake up sweating AND freezing and can’t get back to sleep for an hour or more. This happens two or three times a night. > I have an doctors appointment in March, but until then I thought I would try some of the otc stuff and see if it helps. > I just wondered if anyone here had experience with any of them and if they work at all. OMGoodness. YES! I used to have the waking up sweating and freezing to death at the same time thing (and yes, it seemed to coincide with my period). This is gonna sound crazy, but you know what used to help? Turning UP the heat, either before I went to sleep or when I woke up frozen and drenched. ---
**Author:** ![not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_what_you_d_expect/32/3246_2.png) [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_what_you_d_expect)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2011, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/older-women-dopers-anyone-tried-a-menopause-relief-product/568623/9 "2011-01-24T13:05:00Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > And we have a winner for post/username combo. 🙂 Exactly! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![MLS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MLS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MLS)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2011, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/older-women-dopers-anyone-tried-a-menopause-relief-product/568623/10 "2011-01-24T19:08:02Z")
Why not contact your doctor for hormone replacement therapy? ---
**Author:** ![loshan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ce73a5/32.png) [@loshan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/loshan)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2011, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/older-women-dopers-anyone-tried-a-menopause-relief-product/568623/11 "2011-01-25T23:40:12Z")
I plan on talking to the doctor at my appointment in March, but I may have to be locked up before then if I don’t get some sleep 😃 ---
**Author:** ![gallows\_fodder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8c91f0/32.png) [@gallows\_fodder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gallows_fodder)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2011, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/older-women-dopers-anyone-tried-a-menopause-relief-product/568623/12 "2011-01-26T00:36:51Z")
> [@MLS](#): > > Why not contact your doctor for hormone replacement therapy? Because it puts you at a higher risk for cancer. My mother was on hormone replacement therapy in her early 50s, and her doctors believed this is what instigated her breast and uterine cancer. (That’s right – she had two distinct types of cancer diagnosed within two weeks of each other in 2006.) [Link](http://www.cancer.org/cancer/cancercauses/othercarcinogens/medicaltreatments/menopausal-hormone-replacement-therapy-and-cancer-risk) ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2011, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/older-women-dopers-anyone-tried-a-menopause-relief-product/568623/13 "2011-01-26T02:15:48Z")
Is there an age when hot flashes can be expected to stop? Or at least taper off? (cause mine seem to be getting worse, though a little less frequent) ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2011, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/older-women-dopers-anyone-tried-a-menopause-relief-product/568623/14 "2011-01-26T02:24:56Z")
I watched a programme on menopause, and the doctor giving the talk said something that really stuck with me - she’s aware of the dangers of hormone replacement therapy (HRT), and the ongoing debate about it, and she suggests what she calls “a dusting of hormones” when things get pretty awful and you’re not sleeping and hot flashing all the time and want to rip everyone’s face off. She suggests just enough of targeted hormones to take the edge off the worst of the symptoms you’re experiencing. ---
**Author:** ![j666](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@j666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j666)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2011, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/older-women-dopers-anyone-tried-a-menopause-relief-product/568623/15 "2011-01-26T02:41:46Z")
I enjoy hot flashes. Really. I don’t get face sweat or redness, so they’re not obvious. I sleep under a ceiling fan in summer and in a very cool room in winter. Apparently, I toss and turn and throw blankets on the floor, but it doesn’t bother me. (We have a king size bed, so my spouse doesn’t suffer too much.) If I have trouble sleeping, I sleep in the tv room in a crisp heavy cotton sheet… ---
**Author:** ![MLS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MLS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MLS)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2011, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/older-women-dopers-anyone-tried-a-menopause-relief-product/568623/16 "2011-01-26T17:45:39Z")
> [@gallows\_fodder](#): > > Because it puts you at a higher risk for cancer. My mother was on hormone replacement therapy in her early 50s, and her doctors believed this is what instigated her breast and uterine cancer. (That’s right – she had two distinct types of cancer diagnosed within two weeks of each other in 2006.) [Link](http://www.cancer.org/cancer/cancercauses/othercarcinogens/medicaltreatments/menopausal-hormone-replacement-therapy-and-cancer-risk) I thought that in recent years they changed the formula so that this was not so much of a risk any more. ---
**Author:** ![MLS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MLS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MLS)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2011, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/older-women-dopers-anyone-tried-a-menopause-relief-product/568623/17 "2011-01-26T17:48:04Z")
> [@salinqmind](#): > > Is there an age when hot flashes can be expected to stop? Or at least taper off? (cause mine seem to be getting worse, though a little less frequent) Theoretically, yes. But it varies considerably from one person to another. I rarely experience anything any more, but I do get them sometimes. Not enough to wake me out of a sound sleep because of the bedding being saturated like it was at one time. Enough to make me throw off the covers. During the day I am often taking off or putting on my sweater. ---
**Author:** ![loshan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ce73a5/32.png) [@loshan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/loshan)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2011, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/older-women-dopers-anyone-tried-a-menopause-relief-product/568623/18 "2011-01-26T19:26:31Z")
> [@salinqmind](#): > > Is there an age when hot flashes can be expected to stop? Or at least taper off? (cause mine seem to be getting worse, though a little less frequent) My mom is 69. She said hers were terrible for about 3 years, then tapered off. She also said that even at her age she still has them once or twice a year. I bought some Estroven PM and took it for the first time last night. I slept through the night for the first time in weeks. YAAAY 😃 Only one hot flash just as I was waking up anyway. It has Black Cohosh and Valerian, but at least it let me sleep. I am a much nicer person today 😉 ---
**Author:** ![phall0106](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/phall0106/32/5934_2.png) [@phall0106](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phall0106)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2011, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/older-women-dopers-anyone-tried-a-menopause-relief-product/568623/19 "2011-01-26T19:35:36Z")
After a complete hysterectomy threw me into instant menopause, my body promptly threw me into major hot flashes (in August, no less). I elected not to take hormones (choose your reason–there are many), but I found relief in OTC Estroven, which is NOT estrogen, but combination of herbs and such. They have a nightime formula, I believe. I started out with Extra-Strength. My GYN told me that surgical enduced menopause lasts about three months and he was right. I held out for three months and haven’t have a hot flash since then. For nights, it’s also helpful to use a Chillow, which is a flattened pillow like thing, filled with water and sealed. (Google it.) It’s very cool and slips between your pillow and pillowcase (put your head on it). Keeps your head/face cool and reduces hot flashes. Worked like a charm for me. ---
**Author:** ![loshan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ce73a5/32.png) [@loshan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/loshan)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2011, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/older-women-dopers-anyone-tried-a-menopause-relief-product/568623/20 "2011-01-26T19:45:59Z")
> [@phall0106](#): > > snip…but I found relief in OTC Estroven, which is NOT estrogen, but combination of herbs and such. They have a nightime formula, I believe. The Estroven PM is the same, just added Valerian (I think that is what makes it a little stinky). After only one night all I can say is “ahhhhhhh, bliss”. I will update in a few days if it continues to work. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/older-women-dopers-anyone-tried-a-menopause-relief-product/568623.md?page=2)