sweating a lot

I had a 6 month episode of night sweats when I hit 40 and then nothing since then. Hopefully that will happen to you! The herbal remedies I've heard about are black cohosh, St. Johns Wort and pycnogenol. Eating FERMENTED soy products (natto, tempeh, miso) might also offer some relief. Perhaps increasing intake of lignans via flaxseed? That will give you some healthy fats, too, although I've heard that works for hot flashes and not so much night sweats (but are the just the same thing???).

Exercise, maintain a healthy weight, don't smoke and find relaxation time. Many of us are there with you!

helped me with night sweats. It might be worth adding flax seed and red clover too.They come and go a bit. I get the odd day time one at the moment, but they are only annoying during the day. At night they are a sleep killer. Remember to go to bed early, so your melatonin levels can recover in the dark (highest between 10pm and 3pm). Sleep in the deepest dark that you can manage. Light stops melatonin production. Melatonin is an anti inflammatory substance.

Louise

Ikam, buy the ground/milled flax seeds, or grind them yourself. You can put them in just about anything. The whole ones tend to go right through me. - Surviving

Barleans makes a great flax seed oil in the US to take like you would a fish oil. I also used freshly ground flax seeds in yogurt or just by the spoonful. You may have been overdoing it on the amount or needed to start more slowly? Buy a cheap coffee grinder for grinding flax seed or other spices. Buy organic flax seed if possible to reduce potential for chemical exposure.

Rarely, there can be an allergic reaction to flax seed. I suppose that is a remote possibility if you find that any amount causes loose stools but would likely be accompanied by other symptoms.

Yes, been there :-). I hate them. I have found that adding some soy to my diet (it is enough for me to just drink a glass of good organic soy milk in the evening), along with the red clover tea and ground flaxseeds (I mix them into yogurt, yum) seems to have mostly eliminated the night sweats. Occasionally I wake up in the middle of the night, wondering why I am awake, and I am aware that I feel kind of strange ... but then it passes without a drenching sweat thankfully, and I can go back to sleep. So at least it seems to minimize the severity of the symptoms. I think that the black cohosh is stronger than the red clover tea, I began with the red clover and that seemed to be enough for me. Good luck!

Interesting aside, I rarely ever get hot flashes, but did get night sweats all the time. I know they are both caused from the hormonal imbalance, but are perhaps not quite the same? I know that hormones do some different things at night ...

Same here hockeymom, just nights sweats, and some of the strangest ones too! Sometimes it would be my whole body, but other times, especially right before my period, I would wake up all sweaty just in my groin and thighs! What's that all about?!?
Haven't had any in awhile,knock on wood; hope menopause is coming soon, or is this just the beginning?

I've had night sweats but also never had hot flashes during the day. I wonder if it has anything to do with our cortisol fluctuations, too?

Interesting that the melatonin made you sweat. I think doing our own little trials by adding or eliminating one remedy at a time for a few days is a good way to do it. That's how I worked out that black cohosh worked for me.

It had a secondary effect, maybe connected, of keeping me asleep, or allowing me to get back to sleep if I woke hot and sweaty. Take it, don't take it and measure the difference. I use Remifenin, which I buy from my pharmacy. Two tablets at bed time works a treat. I don't take it routinely now. I was going through a rough patch emotionally at the time. If I am reasonably level emotionally I don't seem to get sweats at night. However, I have had a return recently to waking hot and cold, so I might start them again.

This return of night time temperature moderating problems is a sign that I am not OK, so I will address that too.

Louise, what dosage of melatonin do you use? I have some 3 mg tablets (that's the lowest dosage I've seen on the store shelves). I take one every once in awhile, only when I expect to have problems falling asleep. It doesn't make me groggy or keep me from waking up during the night (which is a good thing, as I'd worry about not hearing my phone if it should ring in the night). I'm not sure it's really doing much to help my sleep at that level, but I don't really want to take more. - Surviving

Melatonin is not normally needed as a supplement.

It is a hormone that is produced by the pineal gland deep in our skulls, buried in the brain. The pineal gland gets its nerve information via the visual pathway. Its levels are lowest during daylight and periods of artificial light, highest at night, between about 10pm and 2am. It is responsible for maintaining our circadian rhythms.The pineal gland can detect tiny bits of light, which affect melatonin production. If we don't have enough total darkness in our lives insufficient melatonin is produced. This is especially important for children because melatonin has a role in delaying sexual maturity, as well as regulating mating times during the year, according to daylight length, in some species (according to my physiology book).

Its main role in people is making us feel drowsy and inducing sleep. This may explain why, when our body is stressed by perimenopause changes we tend to wake around 3am, because our body is not producing enough melatonin to keep us asleep, particularly if we live in urban areas where we rarely experience total darkness. It also has a role in feeding the immune system so it can produce all the anti-inflammatory substances that protect us against disease and inflammation and eg breast and endometrial cancer.

So, if we don't go to sleep in the dark before 10pm we are compromising our body's ability to look after itself and regulate itself.

Some light colours are worse than others too. I cannot remember at the moment which is which.

Melatonin production does go down with age, so the melatonin supplements available are mainly for elderly people who are no longer producing enough to keep them sleeping for long enough each night. The habit of leaving a light on at night so you don't trip over if you get up for the toilet may be sabotaging the person's immune system and making the night waking and general health worse.

There is still a lot for scientists to learn about melatonin. It is not all set in stone.

If you live in an urban area, or are otherwise unable to experience 8 hours of total darkness, sleeping with a lightproof mask over your eyes will help to maintain your melatonin levels and may be*much* cheaper and much more effective than a supplement.

Louise

Some people say that taking evening primrose oil capsules helps. I haven't tried them but a friend of mine said that they help if you take them regularly. One per day. Hope you feel better.........

Much love to you. It sounds like you are going through some difficult times. The loss of your marriage and healing from surgery....and at the same time.....not easy to do. The sun will shine again. Sending best wishes to you!

Divorce is major stress! Right up there with death of a loved one. Even when mutually agreed upon. I'm sure that is part of the reason why you are slow to heal.

Careful when using "some supplement". There are multi ingredient supplements that really can cause more problems than they treat. If it is a specific detox blend there are a host of potential issues. I love supplements, but I also know they have side effects just like medications.

I am in the process of trying to save my marriage. At times I just want to give up and go away somewhere. I know I can't, but I'm tired. I get it!

Make sure you eat well, rest well, exercise reasonably and find time to do things that make you happy.

I wonder how many married or partnered women reach this time just before Christmas, and inescapably think that their marriage is over?

I am not being facetious, Ikam, or saying that you are imagining it.

It can be a terribly stressful time, when so many of us have their telescopes and microscopes trained on Christmas festivities, churning about getting ready for Christmas, in their businesses, their leisure organisations, their friends and family (who are stuck with us, and vice versa), and their communities. Projects are under the pump to get finished. Kids just want Santa to come. Clothing, costumes and food need to be magicked up, sometimes at short notice. People are bossing each other around, and shoppers are phoning loved ones from Malls, for purchase approval for possible gifts that are sitting on shop shelves begging to be purchased. I was doing it myself, yesterday. Yuk! Grownups' minds are on everything other than the wellbeing of the primary relationship that is supposed to sustain us when the going gets tough.

Have we all gone mad?

Don't panic. Only five more sleeps and we can at last enjoy the fruit, and slow down a bit, and attend to what is *really* important. All the retail Christmas glitz will be torn down a couple of sleeps after that, as if it never happened, and will soon be replaced by Back to School stuff, then Easter Eggs by February! Crazy!

The turkey bones are barely stripped and we are shovelling them into the bin, or the dog, as the case may be, and heading for the shed where all the holiday suitcases, surfboards (sleds?), reef walkers(ski boots), fishing rods (snow chains) etc are stored, and piling them into the car for the long drive and the big sigh as we realise that we are on holidays.

Hopefully, the holidays is a time when we can repair fractured relationships and get on with being kind and loving to each other.

Ikam, I am not trying to belittle your concern and your sadness. It is simply not altogether a time of peace and harmony when we are on the threshold of this Feast of peace and harmony and goodwill.

I do hope that you can have a positive and enjoyable Christmas, in spite of the difficulties you are facing.

Louise

take care. :-)

I just was noticing with all of your symptoms, if you had all of the thyroid tests done yet? This is a list of hyperthyroid symptoms from Mayo Clinic... maybe it's not just menopause?

Hyperthyroidism can mimic other health problems, which may make it difficult for your doctor to diagnose. It can also cause a wide variety of signs and symptoms, including:

Sudden weight loss, even when your appetite and the amount and type of food you eat remain the same or even increase
Rapid heartbeat (tachycardia) — commonly more than 100 beats a minute — irregular heartbeat (arrhythmia) or pounding of your heart (palpitations)
Increased appetite
Nervousness, anxiety and irritability
Tremor — usually a fine trembling in your hands and fingers
Sweating
Changes in menstrual patterns
Increased sensitivity to heat
Changes in bowel patterns, especially more frequent bowel movements
An enlarged thyroid gland (goiter), which may appear as a swelling at the base of your neck
Fatigue, muscle weakness
Difficulty sleeping
Skin thinning
Fine, brittle hair

and it's not particularly profound but here ya are:
Ikam,
I've noticed there is all this energy about *fixing* people when grief comes to visit. And that's how I see grief, it's not something that happens inside you, it's more of a presence that visits you for a time. We've forgotten that mourning is an extremely important part of life. So, feeling sad as a result of a profound loss is actually healthy for a time. The trick then is to actively recognize your sadness and grief and sit with it and then process it. There is not a time clock and it's alright to grieve as long as you need. But be careful, self pity and grief are not the same thing.
I hope you will be able to work through your grief and recognize it's healthy to be sad.
Stay aware and watchful for unhealthy expressions of your sadness. Get help before you need it. Even in your grief you can reach out and help others. I think this is one of the ways we grow in empathy and understanding of the human condition. Growing hurts. Losing an important relationship hurts. I'm sorry you are sad and I hope you are able to feel better in time.