Menopause

[spoul]

Think I've asked this question before so excuse me repeating myself.....I blame it on brain fog! Ha

Since coming off hrt 6 months ago my hot flushes and night sweats have returned with a vengeance. I'm reluctant to go back on hrt and my doctor mentioned prozac but I'm already on mirtazapine. Herbal remedies don't seem to work and I've researched black cohosh and that's not favourable because of liver disease. Any comments, recommendations and your own experiences would be gratefully accepted.....thanks in advance

[Hidden]

Hello spoul.

Once of a day the herbal flowering plant agnus castus (or chasteberry) was used to control hormones. It was actually referred to as chasteberry for the reason it was given to monks for sustaining natural sexual urges due to their following.

It has been said that it can shrink fibroids in the womb naturally.

But like a lot of herbal products there can be side-effects that might not be good and quite frankly now I myself have PBC with certain elements I'd not be preapared to take the chance.

Sorry to read that you are experiencing symptons again that HRT alleviated for you. I am currently in the throes of going through the change myself, started 20mths ago but I've not really encountered any problems that seem more over-blown and keep my fingers crossed I do not.

Someone on here mentioned a form of HRT that is just oestrogen but I can't help you there as I dont' know much about HRT or other such medications for menopause.

[spoul in reply to Hidden]

Is that something you can get from health shop? Yes I saw the post about hrt today......it's very tempting to succumb

Sue

[Hidden in reply to spoul]

Hello again, you did used to be able to pick them up at the health stores but can't say for sure now due to all the new legislation that came in nearly 2yrs ago.

(I did experiment myself for awhile using milk thistle pre-legislation and then just after. Found before it was altered in mgs due to new licensing it seemed better but I am not sure if it was just fluke due to the fact not taken any for 18mths now and my last LFTs (July this year) were pretty good. I think the new mgs are pretty useless myself and that's why I stopped bothering with it.)

My sister apparently was found to have a fibroid 10yrs ago and the option that was put to her was hysterectomy which she had. I then did read in Reader's Digest book on herbal supplements that this chasteberry was apaprently supposed to be good for regulating the menstrual cycle and also it had been found to shrink fibroids so no need for hysterectomy. I also read in WDDTY (What Doctors Don't Tell You) magazine a similar article.

I have used a site called Nature's Best in the past and jsut checked online and chasteberry is no longer available as I know they used to manufacture it pre-legislation. So it doesn't appear that there is any from reputable sources maybe. I know I did contact Nature's Best when the milk thistle they sold shot up but also the mgs went down. They explained about the legislation nd mgs at the time and it is now being marketed by them just for a short term 'over indulgence' remedy I have noticed.

[spoul]

Ok thanks for that......back to the drawing board

[Hidden]

I was on a low dose HRT for 5 years but came off it after PBC dx, like you the flushes returned. I used 'Menopace' you can get this from most pharmacies.

[GrittyReads]

I found that tiny doses of Amitriptyline helped me hugely, but I'm not sure how much it controlled the hot flushes, or if it was just helping me to sleep through them. My problem had been that the flushes were worse - and incredibly frequent - at night, and once they had woken me up, as soon as I was nodding off another one came along, so I was having no sleep.

My GP prescribed the Amitrip. but I don't know how okay it is for PBC as I don't really have it, just at risk. Amitrip. was originally developed as an antidepressant, but has not been used for that for ages. Is now mainly used (in hugely smaller doses ... eg I took 1/3rd of a 10mg tablet, while doses for depression began at about 50mg and went up and up!) to treat insomnia, migraine and fibromyalgia.

It might be worth asking about it.

[spoul]

Thanks for your replies I've made an appt to see my Gp next week