Women to Women

[itself]

Anyone ever try any of the treatments on this website: www.womentowomen.com ? My partner has had it with my sleep issues (and I don't want to treat with drugs!)

Thanks!

Lisa

[Norse]

No, but if you try it, please let us know how it works. My biggest problems are irregular periods, mood swings w/irrational anger and the worst part, night sweats. I was on hormones (low dosage birth control pills) for a couple of years but stopped this summer because I don't want the risk.

[azfiddle]

I am currently on hormone replacement- since February, because waking up 4 times a night was disturbing my sleep cycle so much I had trouble focusing at work (I teach 7th grade!). My doctor has recommended a commercial version of black cohosh root: Remifemin. I haven't tried it, but you might check it out.

[Cataboo]

Anyone ever try any of the treatments on this website: www.womentowomen.com ? My partner has had it with my sleep issues (and I don't want to treat with drugs!)

Thanks!

Lisa

I don't know what your sleep issues are - but you could try valerian tea. it should relax you & put you to sleep.

[badger]

I find that taking GABA or melatonin (some people take them together) lets me get quality sleep.

As for hormonal fluctuations, I was getting wicked PMS where I would turn into a dragonlady for a week before, and various other symptoms like night sweats. I started using natural progesterone (wild yam) cream, and it has significantly helped with mood swings, night sweats and breast tenderness. I really noticed the difference when I forgot to take the cream with me on vacation once. Keeps my cycle regular, too.

[VeloVT]

Don't know what your sleep issues are... but I"ll be interested in hearing your experience. I am not menopausal (hopefully nowhere near, I'm 29), so I don't know if that website is geared towards me. However, I've been having terrible insomnia for the past few months that's connected to anxiety. It's been really disruptive to my life and to my studies. My doctor gave me a three week precription for Ambien. She gave me the weakest strength. It works ok, sometimes I still wake up at 3 and can't get back to sleep. The bigger problem is that a three week prescription isn't really going to do much for me, I'm either going to need to use it continuously for a while or find something that replaces it/does a better job addressing the root problem.

I've considered trying kava. Next time I see the doctor (next week) I'm going to see if she objects strongly to this.

[OakLeaf]

<caution drift>

Liza, I hope you get it sorted. I hate it when a doctor treats a symptom like that...

Will your insurance cover therapy, or psychiatry to get you on an appropriate anxiolytic? Is there underlying depression, as there often is with early morning awakening? Has your PCP tried you on BuSpar (pretty inexpensive in its generic forms, non-sedating, non-habit forming, and the side effects are generally minor)?

</drift>

[Tuckervill]

I had sleep problems--waking up at 3:30 every single night and not being able to go back to sleep until 5:00 and then sleeping until 8:00 (I don't have a job to get up for).

During the time my son was in Iraq, I took Ambien. I had pretty fitful dreams on that stuff. He came home and I stopped taking it and a couple of months later the symptoms came back (I'm definitely perimenopausal). I tried Tylenol PM (the same ingredient as Benadryl) and I have never looked back. I cleared with my doc that it is safe to take every night. I've been taking it for 3 years, maybe? Every once in a while I go without, and I sleep through for a couple of nights, but then I'm right back where I started. So I keep taking it.

I'd try that if I were you, but not at the same time as the Ambien.

Karen

[shootingstar]

For Liza: Hope you find a good solution. I had insomnia for first few months of begining a job with an employer...it was on a project with demanding timelines and high expectations.

Found regular exercise helpful . If time/expense allows, would recommend a good yoga teacher who integrates movement, breathing exercises and simple meditation.

I'm taking a combined yoga-pilates course now which I've never taken before. Suddenly I was breathing deeper voluntarily when I went to bed in evening, several hrs. later after the class. Benefits are real. Of course it helped that I took a warm shower after the class and bike ride home.

[SLash]

I take bio-identical hormone replacement therapy and have for a couple of years and can't begin to tell you how much it has helped me and the difference it has made in how I feel (I'm sure my husband and daughter could chime in too on that).

Although both my estrogen and progesterone are bio-identical (not synthetic like Premerin etc.) they are both pharmaceutical meds which are prescribed for me by my gyn. The estrogen I take is Estrogel, the progesterone I take is Prometruim.

A couple of years ago at my annual gyn. appointment I had a range of symptoms and complaints that my doctor attributed to a lack of estrogen. After she said this several times, I laughed and said to her "you make estrogen sound like a wonder drug", her response was that for me it would be - she uses the same stuff she prescribed for me. I was skeptical but she was right. It made a significant difference in how I felt and really almost immediately. No more hot flashes for one thing, less moodiness i.e., normal moodiness and better sleep (the progesterone helps you sleep).

I am high risk for breast cancer but since it is bio-identical it poses no more risk to me than my normal hormones, and besides I am monitored closely for breast cancer.

I am not saying all menopausal women should take bio-identical hormones but I can say that for me it has made all the difference. There is a lot of information on the web about Prometrium (and compounded forms of progesterone) and Estrogel (which is Estradiol) and other types of estogen, if you are interested.

Good luck, I hope you find something that works well for you.