[Diana Dilley]

Hello everyone. My CMT has been pretty quiet lately ( .... I took a second to knock on wood) but am thinking of adding one of the following supplements to my regimen and would like to know if anyone is aware of any negative affects in relation to CMT / neuropathies.

I am in menopause and am losing sleep due to hot flashes. I am considering taking either black cohosh or natural HRT. However, since I seem to be on a "roll" and feeling good, I don't want to upset the apple cart by adding something that will trigger my CMT. These symptoms are not bad enough that I would consider anything other than a natural remedy.

My current supplements are: B-12, Calcium, Magnesium, D-3 and iron.

I did troll through the different health items listed and couldn't find an area dealing wtih menopause .... does anyone know if there is one available here?

Thanks! Diana

[cyclelops]

Hot flashes are awful. I tried but no supplement helped. I think I ate an acre of soy. Really, ask my neighbor the farmer. I still owe him for grazing rights.

I used 2 fans on full blast which did wonders for my dry eyes....I drove hubby nuts. Hot flashes have passed now....in their place tho, is an issue with errant solitary dark facial hairs that can pop out and grow an inch overnight!

I get up in the morning and look in the mirror and my gosh, Rip Van Winkle is staring back at me....and there on my lip or adjacent cheek is a thin, long, dark solitary hair....just one, only one, but prominent, none the less. I panic and run for a tweezer, refusing to speak until it is plucked and disposed of.

I am trying real hard to find redeeming qualities of aging....no luck yet.

Hot flashes do pass eventually, but I know it is of small comfort now. I would have rather kept my menses all my life. I guess mother nature has decided my eggs are no longer viable, and then to make her point, she has made me 'ever so attractive' by blessing me with solitary lip hairs, just to make sure no breeding male mistakes me for a fertile female.

Where ever did I leave my broom today??

[Rrae]

Originally Posted by cyclelops

Hot flashes have passed now....in their place tho, is an issue with errant solitary dark facial hairs that can pop out and grow an inch overnight!

I panic and run for a tweezer, refusing to speak until it is plucked and disposed of.

The REALLY disturbing part is......Mine crawl back out of the trash !

[plgerrard]

Originally Posted by cyclelops

...in their place tho, is an issue with errant solitary dark facial hairs that can pop out and grow an inch overnight!

At least yours are dark. Mine are white, and the light has to catch them just right. Only yesterday the light caught a long white hair dangling from my chin.

Diana, back to your question. At age 49, my doctor yanked the estrogen supplements I had been on since age 24. (I had a hysterectomy young due to endometriosis. But, it kept growing back. So, doc finally said no more estrogen.) I thought I was going to die from hot flashes. Cy is right - there are no supplements that work. I tried them all. What did work was standing in front of the freezer, fanning myself with the door. Several times a night.

Then, a good thing happened - I got PN. Why is that a good thing? The neuro put me on gabapentin. The next time I saw the Gyn, I told him about the miraculous disappearance of hot flashes. He told me it wasn’t a miracle, but gabapentin – it is known to relieve hot flashes, but not approved for treatment of them. So, I was one of the lucky ones, since gabapentin is approved for the treatment of PN.

As proof my Gyn was right: A year later I started a clinical trial of a different drug. The hot flashes returned and I had to endure them through the trial period. As soon as I stopped the trial and started back on gabapentin, the hot flashes stopped – even at the starting dose of 300 mg daily.

All that to say, you might ask your neuro for a small dose of gabapentin.

[mrsD]

I noticed when I was in menopause that certain things would bring on a flash/sweating. Caffeine was one, and sugar another.

Since I follow a low sugar diet and have done so for years, my hot flashes weren't really that bad considering what I have read about others.

The sweats may be worse at night if you don't wear breatheable fabrics. I don't wear flannel anymore, or sweats. I wear that waffle weave stuff, which breathes. Also cover sheets do not breathe either, so I have a light cotton comforter instead. Easy to wash, easier on the feet, and doesn't contribute to night sweats. The other thing that may be happening at night is a big dip in blood sugar...that really does cause sweating. So a protein snack before bed (low carbs) like a protein bar, or cheese or piece of chicken etc, may reduce the sweating. If this works, then you need to get a fasting INSULIN done to see if you are prediabetic. Your glucose blood tests may still be normal in the morning, and won't show the big dip at night during sleep.

[Diana Dilley]

Well, it's a good thing you all have a great sense of humour! I got a great laugh, thanks ladies! Better than Martin & Lewis!

I'll keep the tweezers nearby, invest in a magnifying mirror and keep the lights off in the house while my husband is home.

Thanks for the tips and tricks!

[cyclelops]

OH MY Rrae! You may need to try a forceful flush! Kind of like for those jumping spiders! Just no telling what those solitary face hairs will do!

I too had my estrogen, 'yanked'. That was a few years ago. I can't say it was pleasant, but I survived, kind of.

[JoanB]

At least yours are dark. Mine are white, and the light has to catch them just right.

Second to that, plgerrard...sometimes ones along my jaw line escape detection long enough that they look like Yeti hair.

[cyclelops]

Isn't it the pits when you find one after you arrived home from a social engagement? I tell myself it grew on the way home.

[plgerrard]

I tell myself it grew on the way home.

Oh, that's much better. I just try to convince myself the light was so poor no one else would have noticed.