Different things work for different women, swtharleygirl, so keep working with your doc to find what works for you.

I've been having hot flashes for six or seven years, I think.  For a while, I found that black cohosh seemed to help significantly.  Unfortunately, since I was feeling better, I became inconsistent about taking it, and finally just stopped.  It took a while, but the hot flashes returned.  This time, however, when I took the black cohosh, it didn't do anything for me.  I was working from home at the time, albeit not very successfully, but I didn't dare try to get a regular job -- not when every hour or so (sometimes less), I would turn into a bright red, sweaty, drippy, sodden mess.  I was so miserable. 

About that time, I was taking a course in technical writing that required that I  do a research project.  I chose menopause.  Interestingly enough,  through my research, I found that some menopausal women respond well to antidepressants.  I wasn't too keen on the idea, but when I talked it over with my doctor, we decided to give it a try with one that is supposed to have minimal side effects:  Lexapro.    It took a couple of weeks to take effect, but it finally began to do its  job.  I've been taking it for a couple of years, I guess, and I still get hot flashes, but the frequency, duration, and intensity are significantly less.   Also, they're dry flashes, not sweaty, which is much more tolerable.    The doc and I played around with adjusting the dosage to see if we could make them stop altogether, but that didn't work.  I take a fairly low dose (10 mg) and that seems to be the best for me, 20 mg didn't work any better, and 5 mg didn't quite get the job done.  I also stopped taking the meds for a while (slowly, of course, it's not a good idea to just stop this kind of medication) to see how I did, but the flashes returned fast and furious, so I'm back on the Lexapro.

Anyway, I sure hope the Zalestra does the trick for you, but if not, you might discuss antidepressants with your doc.  Good luck.



--- In menopausal@yahoogroups.com, "swtharleygirl" <harleygirl1@...> wrote:
>
> I just want to jump into ice cold water. I have day and night sweats
> that are just so bad, I just am at my wits end, they are just taking
> such a toll on me mentally and physically, I literally ache from head
> to toe, I sleep only 2 hours a night and that is even with taking
> something to sleep and I am up and down with crying. I am going to
> try one more thing a product called Zalestra and see if that helps. I
> have gained nearly 20 lbs, my doctor gave e an older medication to
> try, prem pro, but I have had a hysterectomy and my ovaries are left
> but they are not up to par any more and I just do not know what to do
> anymore. I can not take much more of this, it has been for 2 1/2
> years now, and this last 6 months have been the worse, I had my
> surgery in 1991, so I guess I am lucky that I have only been dealing
> with this for 2 1/2 years. What can I do, most over the counter stuff
> just is not doing it, I have the combination of hot flashes with the
> sweats...........
>