hot flushes and testosterone

Has anyone continued to have hot flashes despite being on estrogen and progesterone?

In the past six months, I have been having hot flushes which seem to be getting worse all the time despite bio-identical estrogen day 5-25 of cycle, and bio-identical progesterone (Utrogstan, 200 mg) day 15-25 of cycle. My cycles have been erratic lately, as well...my last period started on day 20 of cycle, so not sure how accurate the timetable really is nowadays...I'm 48, and have had regular cycles (every 28 days) for the past 20 or so years. My periods have always been heavy, to the point of causing iron deficiency, and lasted for up to a week; however, in the past few months, my periods have been light and short (2-3 days).

I have to change my bed sheet every morning as everything is drenched in sweat. I can have several hot flushes during the day, and it's awful when it happens right in front of people. I need to take a shower and wash my hair twice a day, and I can feel it having a negative effect on my skin (dry, itching).

It's unusual for me to sleep through the night, as I tend to wake up around 3 am and, if I manage to go back to sleep at all, I most often wake up every hour or so until it's time to get up. I take melatonin (1,5 mg) every night about one hour before going to bed, and it does make me relax and feel tired, but it does not help me sleep through the night.

I recently read about testosterone deficiency in women approaching menopause, and many of the symptoms match mine: excessive sweating, dry, itching skin, poor sleep quality, difficulty getting a whole night's uninterrupted sleep...

On the other hand, I found another article saying that women do not need to take testosterone, as their bodies can make it from progesterone (which I already take).

It's like HRT is no longer helping...

There is a theoretical possibility that I'm overmedicated on Thyroid-S, of course, but if you are indeed suffering from drug induced hyperthyroidism, don't you tend to sweat all the time? I can feel normal for several hours, and then I start sweating like crazy. It's worse during the night; I don't think I've slept through the night for several weeks, and never getting more than five hours of sleep a night is beginning to take its toll on me.

My GP, of course, claims I'm overmedicated as my TSH is suppressed.

[Clutter]

Anna69,

I'm sorry you've had no replies. Feel free to repost your questions.

Suppressed TSH does not mean you are overmedicated as long as FT3 is within range.

[Hidden in reply to Clutter]

Hi Clutter,

Thanks, and I'm not sure I need to repost as, out of sheer desperation, I decided to take pregnenolone and DHEA capsules (each capsule giving me 100 mg of preg and 20 mg of DHEA). I already bought them some time ago but, for various reasons, never started on them...I did not know what else to do, and those hot flushes and night sweats were driving me crazy...right when I needed it the least, I read about a woman in her early 50s (so a couple of years older than me) who had the same problems, and they started around the same time they did for her mother...who is now 81 and still suffering from hot flushes...I told myself I could never live like that, although I know that, most realistically, this period lasts 2-3 years for the average woman, and it's extremely rare to suffer from hot flashes and night sweats well into your 80s...

Anyway, I started taking the DHEA + preg complex, and the results were nothing short of amazing...within 24 hours, my hot flushes and night sweats were practically gone. Last night, I had my first night of undisturbed, restful sleep in weeks.

I am not sure this effect will last indefinitely but, for now, I am SO grateful something finally made those awful hot flushes go away...it's one thing to wake up every morning more tired than when you went to bed because you wake up every hour or so from being drenched in sweat...at least, then, you're alone. But when you start sweating in front of someone at work, that's a completely different story...

I cannot help but wonder if people with endocrine disease, such as myself, are more prone to this kind of problem...? My mother, who does not have endocrine disease, never had any of these problems when she was about my age.

If DHEA and pregnenolone gave me such immediate relief, that must mean that I was deficient in some hormones as they are supposed to convert to these hormones...however, it seems (from some US sites I've visited recently) that DHEA and preg do not work the same way in the body, which is why you need to replace both for optimal results...I'm definitely no expert, and I've taken DHEA in the past without any positive results (which is why I eventually went off it) but, this time, it really seems to help...along with pregnenolone.