I was 42 years of age. The doctors strongly recommend removing the ovaries because you then do not have to worry about ovarian cancer. It seemed like a logical recommendation.

However, getting thrown into sudden menopause caused very severe and constant hot flashes and dryness. My doctor prescribed estrogen patches, which did alleviate symptoms.

But it took about six months to arrive at the optimal dosage and for the symptoms to more or less disappear. I also experienced “foggy memory” and complete lack of desire for sex.

This also diminished with time. The symptoms were more difficult to control because I also was taking synthroid for a thyroid deficiency and the dosage of this medicine affects the dosage needed for the estrogen patch.

Therefore, constant tinkering of the prescription was necessary. It was very vexing to discover how little attention is paid to women’s health issues. I read many books and looked into many of the alternative treatments and herbal remedies. I tried a number of those.

Sleeplessness also became a problem for a couple of years. I used herbal remedies, mostly to solve this, and cut down on caffeine consumption. When the medical research came out saying that hormone treatments were dangerous, I stopped using the patch (after about 10 years!!).

The hot flashes returned, but not as severely as before. Some of the other symptoms came back in fits and starts, but I am sticking to herbs for menopause, mostly, and topical estrogen cream at this point.

Mind over matter is a good strategy for me right now, rather than worrying about whether the cure is worse than the disease!!

I never thought someone who was forty one could start going through menopause. Most women aren’t getting pregnant till their forty now days. I started just feeling bad.

I ached all over, so naturally I thought I had a cold or the flu. I began to sweat all the time. It was like I had stepped out of sauna. Sweat would just start running out every pore in my body and it would be 20 degrees outside.

I had headaches all the times. My nerves were shot, and I felt awful. I would get the shakes and get dizzy spells. I wasn’t sleeping hardly any. I would just lay awake all night.

I didn’t feel like eating and would not eat sometimes all day long until I forced myself. I didn’t know what was wrong with me. I went to the doctor two times for them to say everything was fine.

I went through this for about five months until I had to go in for my pap smear. I told him I had been sick for a while, so I hadn’t had my period. He took all kind of notes and ask was I pregnant.

I just laughed and thought he was crazy. We did the test. It was negative – thank God. I’m too old for a baby. Finally, he took a bunch more tests. I was going through menopause.

Hello, I’m too young I screamed, but I wasn’t. He actually put me on some hormone medicines. We tried three or four before they he actually got exactly what I needed to help me.

I had to make several trips. But in the end, it was well worth it. I feel much better today. I also had to change my diet and exercise. This helped greatly. I sleep well at night, my diet and appetite has gotten much better, no more shakes, and I’m a much happier person.

I talked to my doctor, family, and friends about what was going on. They helped out a lot. I read and did my homework. Knowing what is going on and what can treat it has done wonders for me.

I had hot flashes.

I would wake up sweating and I would have to change clothes.

I was moody and I found that exercises helped me a lot to get rid of that added emotional state.

I also drank chamomile tea and that calmed me down a lot.

I also took up reading a relaxing self-help book at night.

The hot flashes were severe, and lasted from 30 to 90 seconds. I would soak through tee-shirts with sweat several times per night. My physician wanted to recommend estrogen but I did not want to take it due to potential cancer risk.

Menopause is a natural part of life, even if it is uncomfortable. The symptoms stayed with me for almost two years. Finally, late in my 56th year, I quit having periods. I could hardly believe it.

The hot flashes and night sweats were extreme, but I took some natural substances which did help: black cohosh (Cimicufuga racemosa), and valerian root to calm my nerves.

Black Cohosh has been used by more than 1.7 million women in Europe and Australia to treat menopausal symptoms according to the Life Extension Disease and Prevention book, my main guide to herbals.

I began sleeping in thinner cotton tee-shirts with the idea that I would have several changes during the evening due to the night sweats. I also used an ice pack either on my abdomen or upper chest (over the thorax) to keep my core temperature cool.

At the time we were living in a very hot climate, and experiencing those symptoms with the intense heat outside was completely miserable. At night, I often slept with a fan on, in another room, so as not to disturb my poor husband.

It was the oddest thing, but I found that being able to put my feet out from under the covers at night helped keep me cool, also sleeping at an angle seemed to be easier than flat on my back. I read about everything I could get my hands on during the period, and decided there was nothing really spectacular on the menopause process on the market.

People experience it in different ways. I was assured by more than one doctor and several friends who had been through it that it would indeed get better. I am now 59. I no longer experience intense night sweats. On the rare occasion I will get a hot flash but they do not last very long, perhaps 10 to 20 seconds.

It is a relief not to have to worry about monthly periods, needless to say, although menopause brings its own sets of worries. I am striving to gain additional estrogen support naturally.

I also take a calcium/magnesium supplement and additional vitamins and herbs now that I did not take before. Other changes are less obvious, I seem to be more achy and prone to colds than I was before menopause, and certainly a bit lower on energy, but I think part of that is due to aging.

Just so you know, some other common symptoms of menopause besides night sweats and hot flashes include headaches, vertigo, heart palpitations, tinnitus, nervousness and irritability, depressive moods, and sleep disturbances.

These things can also be signs of other conditions, so it’s best to check with your doctor if you are experiencing any of these symptoms.

I really didn’t have any symptoms at that time, just the irregular periods, but the dr put me on prescription medicine which totally made symptoms appear.

I was getting hot flashes, irritable, craving chocolate one minute, then something salty the next, just nasty.

I refused to take the prescription as it just made things worse, so after some discussion.

After talking to some friends of mine, who were going thru the same menopause symptoms, one of them had a dr who was a holistic dr, who treated her menopause with all natural injections, that he made himself.

I decided to give it a try, and I am totally symptom free, and happy, and healthy. I get a shot every month, I call it my happy shot, and I am fine.

When I first noticed these symptoms, I did not recognize them for what they were. I honestly thought I was getting the flu.

My face and neck would break out in beads of sweat for no apparent reason. Several times throughout the course of a day, and my face and neck felt hot and flushed.

My body would follow with bursts of extreme heat radiating from the inside out. These “bursts of fever” would occur several times a day, for several weeks at a time, and would then subside for a month or two, only to be followed by weeks and weeks of the feverish, flushing bursts of heat and discomfort, and profuse and random sweating.

I do not think I am finished with these symptoms, although they have subsided for the time being.

My menstrual cycles are extremely irregular, when before the cycles were like clockwork. I am not taking any medications for these symptoms, nor have I sought medical attention. I did, however, look online to find out what was causing these bursts of feverish sweating, and the only explanation that was reasonable was menopause!

I also spoke with a few friends that were the same age to find out what they were experiencing. Their experiences were very similar to mine, however, I have found that no two women experience menopause in the exact same way.

I do not know how long these symptoms will last. I do know from speaking with other women that they can last for several years.

When I begin to experience the hot flashes and the sweating and the irritability, I make sure that I always have ice water available throughout the day.

I also ensure that I maintain a daily routine that includes low impact exercise. Yoga is an excellent way to relieve and reduce menopausal symptoms. I drink herbal teas in the evening hours that contain chamomile and valerian to help me get a restful sleep.

This routine seems to help alleviate the symptoms related to menopause, and I prefer to find natural solutions to a very natural cycle of life.

My periods were horrible, very heavy and I was miserable. My periods lasted 2 weeks.

I did not go to the doctor because I wanted to try and deal with it naturally. I started taking Estroven Extra Strength at that time to deal with the hot flashes and it worked okay.

It lessoned the sweats and it also has ingredients that are healthy, like B vitamins, calcium, and cranberry extract.

In the summer of my 48th year, I stopped having my period and didn’t have it for 4 months. I started again, but my periods didn’t seem as bad, even though they still lasted 10 days.

This past summer I stopped again and haven’t started back. It’s FANTASTIC!!! I hope this time it doesn’t return.

I have not had a bad time of it at all with menopause. Neither did my mother, so I am expecting to be done with perimenopause this year.

I will be 50 in August. I still have random hot flashes but the Estroven helps a lot.

I do not want to take any prescription meds that might affect me adversely. I think what I am doing for myself is healthy and adequate to deal with my symptoms.

Yes I have met menopause.

I started losing my hair around 5 years ago and have been having Hot Flashes for the past 3 years.

The hot flashes started during the day and I did not think anything about it at first.

Then I started having the hot flashes at night.

Two years ago I stopped having any period.

I still have the hot flashes.

I have talked to friends and have looked stuff up about menopause on the internet.

I really never have felt bad. I go to work 6 days a week and keep busy.

I did have, what I believe, was peri menopause for about 10 years prior to this. With that came, extreme mood swings, tiredness, and heavy menstrual flow with cramping.

Menopause brought me relief from these things, however, my hormones did go wacky and I became involved in an extramarital affair.

I do believe these raging hormones were mostly responsible for this as an affair was totally out of character for me. I was like a girl having sex for the first time.

I had some hot flashes but, they were not enough to make me too uncomfortable. I was probably bothered more with night sweats, but the mood swings were gone.

My doctor put me on a low dose of Premarin and I stayed on that for about a year. However my breasts contained fibroids and were very tender.

The doctor told me the tenderness was a side affect of the medication and that he had me on the lowest possible dosage.

I stopped taking the Premarin on my own because I didn‘t feel it was that beneficial to me and it was costly. I then began an over the counter herbal treatment which I believe was call Estroven.

Whether or not that helped any I really couldn’t say. I took that for a few months and then stopped all treatment.

I am 58 years now and on a very rare occasion I may experience a hot flash. Unfortunately the aftermath of menopause has left me with extreme dryness. I am not just speaking of the vaginal area but, my skin is always so dry and I developed chronic dry eye.

The eyes are so dry that I need to apply an ointment every night before bed. I don’t need to shave my legs anymore because I don’t have any more hair growth there. Unfortunately I have hardly any eyebrows left either.

I always had very light hair growth. I understand this can be a very difficult time for many women but, honestly for me it was not that bad. Aside from the problems, I mentioned, I feel better mentally and am glad I have menstruation behind me.

I started noticing changes and my period and went to the doctor.

He laughs and said sometimes there are just changes in your cycle and it was nothing to worry about.

I started having headaches and at the time did not connect the headaches to anything but I developed a rare illness and at the age of 32 started having hot flashes that made me very ill.

Again I went to the doctor and he said that it was nothing and I was too young for menopause. This time it was decided that it was female related and I was treated.

I had hot flashes that felt like a hundred lite matches under my skin, night flashes that made me physically sick.

At the age of 37 I was finally tested and not only was I in menopause I had completed it. I talked with family, friends and the doctor.

I now take medication and I am feeling fine.