Any women taking Paxil or Brisdelle for hot flashes?

[jaminhealth]

Well sure enough, here it is on thyroid and hot flashes. My body suffered thru this from 1991-2002 (finally got on thyroid med) and during those years had very active menopause. Thyroid is so overlooked and misdiagnosed. As I said those numbers are not what it's all about, it's symptoms.

https://www.sharecare.com/health/thy...ed-hot-flashes

Just thinking and I think of my own mother and she lived to 91, and thyroid was never mentioned that I can ever remember. Something tells me she went all her life without support. Most likely MANY of the women in her lifetime. If they did get support, there were no labs and doctors went by symptoms if they had smart doctors and then back then so many did not go to doctors.

[suzy_q2010]

https://www.webmd.com/diet/dhea-supplements#3


"Because DHEA can raise the level of both male and female hormones, the supplements can have a negative effect on hormone-sensitive cancers, such as breast, ovarian, or prostate cancer."

"Use of DHEA carries some risk and can cause a range of side effects, though this usually just occurs at the higher end of the dose range."

If you are trying to avoid estrogen, you need to avoid DHEA.

Other side effects at the link.

[jaminhealth]

Originally Posted by suzy_q2010

https://www.webmd.com/diet/dhea-supplements#3


"Because DHEA can raise the level of both male and female hormones, the supplements can have a negative effect on hormone-sensitive cancers, such as breast, ovarian, or prostate cancer."

"Use of DHEA carries some risk and can cause a range of side effects, though this usually just occurs at the higher end of the dose range."

If you are trying to avoid estrogen, you need to avoid DHEA.

Other side effects at the link.

I've read plenty on DHEA and nothing like pharma drugs and estrogen levels and cancers. As I said my breasts got rock hard on pharma estrogen, that was pretty scary. Get with an MD who knows this hormone and is willing to work with it and patients.

[suzy_q2010]

Originally Posted by jaminhealth

I've read plenty on DHEA and nothing like pharma drugs and estrogen levels and cancers. As I said my breasts got rock hard on pharma estrogen, that was pretty scary. Get with an MD who knows this hormone and is willing to work with it and patients.

DHEA can increase estrogen levels. If it helps hot flashes, that is likely how it works. If someone cannot take estrogen (such as the poster who had deep vein thrombosis) or just does not want to take estrogen, DHEA is not a good idea.

There are other risks to taking it, too. See the link previously posted.

[jaminhealth]

There are risks to EVERYTHING...some way worse than others.

I've been taking DHEA for decades now and get levels checked every year or other and all is good. Breasts are fine and so is heart and not bad for 79.

[noodlecat]

I will add my voice to the idea of thyroid being involved in hot flashes.

I take a few supplements that support the thyroid. I have NO hot flashes or night sweats. NONE. ZERO.

If I stop taking the supplements, within a few days I start feeling warmer and warmer, and then the hot flashes start again.

So, at least for me, stabilizing the thyroid is the key to the hot flashes.

[otterhere]

Not ALL women experience hot flashes. Neither my mother nor her mother (my grandmother) ever had the first one or experienced any difficulty with menopause at all, so I didn't even EXPECT to have them (or really even believe in them).


But I did; oh boy, did I?


Then I learn that my paternal grandmother was practically debilited by them from menopause until the end of her life...


It is thought to be hereditary, like so many things. And I frankly don't see how anything but hormones can stop them (maybe distract you from them or make you indifferent to them), but YMMV.


No, not everyone can tolerate or take HRT; I'm fortunate that I can. And I do!

[jaminhealth]

Originally Posted by noodlecat

I will add my voice to the idea of thyroid being involved in hot flashes.

I take a few supplements that support the thyroid. I have NO hot flashes or night sweats. NONE. ZERO.

If I stop taking the supplements, within a few days I start feeling warmer and warmer, and then the hot flashes start again.

So, at least for me, stabilizing the thyroid is the key to the hot flashes.

Interesting, I know there are a number of companies who produce OTC thyroid supplements and when I was in trouble starting back in 1991, I was lost as to where to go so trusted MD's. Good for you. My thyroid med which I've been on since 2002 is in short supply now due to the company moving to new quarters so their production is down but coming up. I had thought about buying OTC thyroid supports but worry how thyroid and body would act without the drug. It's true once on pharma drugs, many of us are hooked for life. Do you mind saying which brand you use either here or DM. thanks.

[Parnassia]

In an odd way, I am thankful I can't even consider HRT due to history of estrogen-sensitive BC. Went through hot flashes twice...once for 5 years during tamoxifen chemo followup, and then again at "that certain age" . So, my fellow ladies, while once is bad enough, it could be worse. Using anti-depressants, herbals, supplements never seemed to affect mine. My thyroid level never changed from its normal. Some of the supplements are based on plant estrogens, so no way was I going to tempt fate by using them.

What seemed to help the most were the lifestyle things...changing how I dressed (gave up my beloved turtlenecks for those years), keeping handheld fans in a backpack, purse, on desks, etc. Avoiding temperature extremes in rooms, in food and drink (because extremes tend to kick your internal thermostat on and off), no synthetic clothing or bedding, keeping a bigger fan (with an on button that was bomb proof to find when floundering around in the dark while half asleep) on a bedside table at face level. Many women find there is a daily pattern for flashes so they find tracking and "predicting" them helps. Another thing I found helpful was not trying to hide when one hit, pass it off with a humorous remark, and to accept them for what they were. An annoyance, a temporary nuisance, but something I immediately had in common with just about all women strangers at that moment.

[noodlecat]

I use just regular health food store brands of minerals. But this is probably going off-topic for this thread.