hot flashes

About 6 months ago my wife (47 years old) started experiencing hot flashes.  To the point now that they are waking her 4-6 times per night.  Is there a natural cure/help for them?
Thanks,

Soy milk can help with hot flashes because soy contains phytoestrogens, which mimic estrogen. Hot flashes are thought to be caused by lower estrogen levels that mess up the hypothalamus and cause the body to over-react to small temperature changes. The part about mimicking estrogen is well documented and it can even affect males (hence the term "soy boy").

As bad as hot flashes are (I had them and remember) they can disappear as quickly as they appeared, while some women suffer for years others find they disappear suddenly after a few months.

Also here is a bit of unsolicited advice for you, as a husband. The change in hormones very often changes some aspects of a woman's personality. In short women become more assertive and straight forward in their opinions/goals/expectations.

There is an upside as while some women lose interest in sex, many others maintain a strong interest, or even stronger interest. Plus hormonal moodiness/pms is no longer an issue because the hormones stabilize.

If you have been married for any length of time, or have a  fair amount of experience with women, you know females are hormonal creatures. Be aware -- the hormones are changing!

"With menopause, women around the world become much more aggressive, much more assertive, in every single culture anthropologists have looked at," Fisher said. "They become heads of the village economic group. Or they become powerful religious leaders. Or they move into politics."

"Middle-aged women and on up are very willing to tell you when they don't agree with you. They're no longer playing eager-to-please. They're not sacrificing their point of view to keep friends."

https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1999-07-21-9907210001-story.html

Thanks Lucrecia I'll let her know.  BTW we have been married 27 years!

We have had some discussions here on permies about hot flashes and natural remedies.  Here is one that might help:

https://permies.com/t/67352/kitchen/Natural-relief-hot-flashes-night


Usually women do not eat soy due to it messing up their estrogen. The below article doesn't mention that although it gives other reason for not eating soy.

"Soy is not healthy, it can cause health problems, and it’s widespread use is destructive to the planet… don’t eat it! ... Besides the lectin and phytic acid in soybeans, they aren’t the complete protein source they are touted to be. Like all beans, they lack the amino acids Methionine and Cystine. While they are often promoted for being able to provide Vitamin B-12 to those eating a vegetarian diet, the Vitamin B-12 in soybeans can not be used by the body and actually cause the body to need more B-12."

http://wellnessmama.com/3684/is-soy-healthy/

Anne Miller wrote:
Usually women do not eat soy due to it messing up their estrogen. The below article doesn't mention that although it gives other reason for not eating soy.

Yeah soy is very controversial. I never consumed it though it is one of the most common home remedy attempts, and probably safer than HRT.

And for the OP, while hot flashes seem to come out of no where they are usually triggered by tiny rises in body temperature due to the environment or sometimes by triggers that make the body/brain think the temp is rising (i.e. spicy foods, hot beverages, sometimes caffeine or alcohol).

Many women get cold easily and like to wear warm night clothes and bundle up under lots of blankets which makes managing hot flashes more difficult. Sleeping in a cool bedroom, running a fan, wearing lightweight pajamas etc... to keep things a bit on the chilly side can help a lot. I get cold really easily, if your wife is the same way maybe even consider getting an electric blanket to heat the bed up before she gets in it, then turning off all the heat and using lighter blankets for the rest of the night could work.

. In short women become more assertive and straight forward in their opinions/goals/expectations.  

There is an upside as while some women lose interest in sex, many others maintain a strong interest, or even stronger interest. Plus hormonal moodiness/pms is no longer an issue because the hormones stabilize.

Yes, yes! and yes

I did not have one hot flash...I always thought it was due to cutting out dairy for the duration.  In retrospect I kind of wish I had had just one to have had that experience  

During that period of time we had my mom living with us who had Alzheimer's and two teenage sons so I'm not really sure what behavior I can credit to menopause?

After a couple of years, my hot flashes lessened in frequency, but were still miserable when they appeared. Then I developed miserable migraines. Bad. Baaaad. Pain.

I was pointed toward Black Cohosh. Within two days the migraines were GONE! My leftover hot flashes have become mere flushes, just a couple times a month. On a 'bad' month.

You can pay a lot of money for the capsules, or not. I use these from Swansons. One at breakfast, one at night.

Black cohosh has done wonders, for me! Keeps me sane, & 'power bursts' are kept to a minimum!

Been a few days since I've been able to sit down in front of the computer and check email.  
Thank y'all for all the information.  Much appreciated!  I feel confident that we can find a solution, or at least something to help minimize the effects.
Interesting you mention migraines Joylynn.  Her headaches have seemed to increase lately as well.  One of which she called a migraine.

Ashwaghanda tincture 3 or 4x a day- has eliminated hot flashes for me. I'm also taking B vitamins and eating cordyceps daily, so maybe it's all. But I'm pretty amazed.

Joylynn Hardesty wrote:After a couple of years, my hot flashes lessened in frequency, but were still miserable when they appeared. Then I developed miserable migraines. Bad. Baaaad. Pain.

I was pointed toward Black Cohosh. Within two days the migraines were GONE! My leftover hot flashes have become mere flushes, just a couple times a month. On a 'bad' month.

You can pay a lot of money for the capsules, or not. I use these from Swansons. One at breakfast, one at night.

Same dose I use! Works like a charm, and I know within a day or so, if I've run myself out of them, & missed a few days. That sux, but had the advantage of letting me know that yes - I do still need to keep taking them!

Andy Youngblood wrote:About 6 months ago my wife (47 years old) started experiencing hot flashes.  To the point now that they are waking her 4-6 times per night.  Is there a natural cure/help for them?
Thanks,

I have already been through this part of my life. The hot flashes ended 3 years ago for me. My advise is #1- tell her to take sage capsules several times per day-works great. And also, make sure her adrenals are strong- much stress leads to loss of sleep, hot flashes and weak adrenals. Take ahwaganda for that a couple of times per day. Also, holy basil, rhodiola, and shizandra with it are very helpful. Herbs are more powerful in combination too, rather than by themselves. Valerian helps sleep- I took Sleepytime Extra tea at night with hops extract- only at night for that one. The hops is a natural source of estrogen- no side effects, but puts you to sleep within less than 30 minutes, like if you took a Benadryl. Make sure the liver is well too- I too milk thistle nightly too- best absorption at night, and I drank a lot of dandelion tea. Get her to nix sugar out of the diet, alcohol and too much caffeine- all will make the hot flashes worse. Eat foods high in natural estrogens- I got a list from just looking on Google. I hope this helps your wife a bit. Helped me a lot! y hot flashes were minimal after this- takes a couple of months to really see a difference, so don't give up.

My go-to for peri-meno issues has been black cohosh. It works, is simple, and... It works.

Tried the black cohosh! SLEPT FOR A DaY AND A HALF!
Most and best sleep I've had in years...Thankyou!

Normally the liver gets rid of excess hormones which are causing the hot flashes.  Any time you have one, it means the liver is congested right then.  Help it out by hydrating, and this is done best with plenty of pure well or spring water with a teaspoon of good sea salt (unrefined) added to each quart, at least 3 or more quarts a day.  Nourish and heal the liver by taking milk thistle so it can work at optimum.   Hot flashes mean the body is toxic and the salt water works better than anything I’ve seen to help the body detox.  

I took a supplement for menopause, that was available at Walgreens, I don't remember the name, but it helped immensely. I took it for about 6 months. Then I no longer needed to take it.
I'm American, but I live in Mexico and have since well before menopause--which hit me on the young side of the spectrum I don't know if that's an issue--but I'm surprised to learn from cousins and high school friends in the US that menopause there seems to go on and on and on? For me it was something I had to go through. From periods first becoming irregular to complete stabilizing in my new life stage was about 3 years. I think there is something going on in the US--either something in the diet (dairy hormones?), or ingredients in personal care products or something, that has created a heck of a lot of suffering, or maybe expectations. I find women in the developing world don't really suffer through "the change"?

Melissa Ferrin wrote:I find women in the developing world don't really suffer through "the change"?

It's entirely possible that people in the US have messed up hormones, but I also think that women in the developing world might not talk about menopause symptoms for other reasons.

Here in India, there has traditionally been no public talk of menstruation or menopause. Women talk about these with only a couple of female close relatives or friends, and have no way of knowing about what is normal for larger numbers of people, or what is uncommon but still normal. Okay, at least now there's some education and knowledge available about menstruation, but I've never seen info about menopause.

A local friend of mine was surprised when I mentioned hot flashes due to menopause. She described hers in and was amazed, had never heard anybody else mention this symptom, and had no idea it was related to menopause. She's a school teacher. I assume most women here have similar lack of information about menopause.