by Janie Emaus (Thu Aug 06, 2009)

It used to be that a hot guy could turn my body upside down, filling me with anxiety and making it hard to think straight. As the adrenaline rushed through my veins, my heart would pump loudly and I’d forget what I was trying to say, mumble something incoherent and hope that my smile was getting to him the same way he was getting to me.

Nowadays, I still have anxious moments where my adrenaline pumps quickly and my heart pounds loudly. I quite frequently lose my train of thought, not to mention a particular word. And I often mumble incoherently, causing those around me to think I’ve entered early Alzheimer’s. (OMG, they are talking about me! This STILL happens, unfortunately!)

Unfortunately, this time around, it’s not because of a hot guy, but the result of a hot flash – one of the symptoms of out-of-whack hormones. And I can no more control these raging hormones than I could tame the ones that raged when I was a teenager.

Back then I was taking my clothes off for something fun. Now I’m shedding layer by layer for survival.

For those of you who have not yet reached the hot flash zone, let me tell you how it is:

The heat starts from deep inside your body, and begins slowly to creep out of your pores, drenching your neck and forehead. It can be subtle at first. You might think it’s just an extremely warm day, although no one else seems to be experiencing this ‘summer effect.’ You may attribute it to having just eaten hot, spicy food or to walking too fast on the treadmill.

Once it passes, you’re left with a slight chill and several seconds of reorientation as your body returns to normal. And with the hope that it won’t happen again.

But there is no fooling yourself once they arrive. No turning back. You’re merging into a new lane on this highway of life and you’ve got to keep going forward.

There are a few remedies you can apply, but as of yet, I haven’t found any real cure, only temporary solutions.

First, and most important, always dress in layers. Whether you’re going walking along the beach, sitting in an air-conditioned restaurant or skiing down a black diamond mountain: think layers.

Second, there are pretty fans made from wood or plastic. You can purchase these to match your outfits or buy one for each day of the week, much like those little girl underpanties that we used to wear. Or if you’re so inclined, you can buy one of the electrical fans. But here’s a warning: the whirring noise will attract attention and it does often sound like a mini vibrator!

Third, you can take hormone pills of one variety or another. But the verdict still hasn’t come in on the benefits of these.

And lastly, you could give up those activies known to trigger hot flashes.

In my case this would be all of my favorite things: coffee, my work-out sessions, fine wine and those extra-dry, extra-cold martinis. But these are also the things I share with my best friends. Women who relate completely to what I’m going through. Things I do not want to give up.

So, pass the fan and that bottle of wine…oh, here it comes…off with my sweater…

Pt. 1: Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT)

In 2002, the National Institute of Health was conducting a ten-year clinical trial, involving over 16,000 women, which studied Hormone Replacement Therapy, a program that Doctors had been widely prescribing to women since the 1960’s. The study was abruptly discontinued because the level of dangerous side effects and diseases was found to be so great. These diseases all increased:
Pulmonary Embolism risk (blood clots in lungs) increased by 114 per cent!
Strokes by 41 per cent!
Heart attacks and cardiac deaths by 29 per cent!
Breast Cancer by 26 per cent!
There were slight reductions in colon cancer and hip fracture but not significant enough to outweigh the dangers.

For thirty years, the safety of this process was debated in the alternative health world and it has now finally been scientifically proven that Premarin, the drug in the Pempro Estrogen therapy, can cause way more harm than good in the general female population. For forty years, drug companies promoted the myth that Estrogen deficiency was the major factor in menopausal symptoms. What has surprised me is that more women aren’t extremely angry that this went on for so long before something was done about it. Natural or Functional Medicine follows the view that these problems are a sign of overall hormone imbalance in both the ovarian hormones and the ones that generate stress response by the adrenal glands.

If anything, it has been shown more and more that women are more Estrogen dominant then deficient. It’s all relative. Even if a woman’s Estrogen drops, Progesterone, the other female hormone, drops much more dramatically near menopause. Plus, many other factors can increase Estrogen.

An inactive woman who consumes more calories than she uses, will have elevated Estrogen. Estrogen levels are also increased from Xenostrogens, chemical compounds found in our daily lives that are mostly byproducts of the petroleum industry. These are found in plastics, Styrofoam, many beauty and hair products, meat from any animals given growth hormones and pesticides used on non-organic fruits and vegetables. Birth Control pills have Estrogen also.

Progesterone needs to be in balance with Estrogen. Emotional and physical stress can significantly reduce Progesterone by affecting the levels and ratio of cortisol and DHEA produced by the Adrenal glands. The key to rebalancing the overall female hormone system is to balance the Adrenal system, establish an appropriate diet and specifically balance the Estrogen and Progesterone levels naturally till the Adrenal system takes back over.

The first step is to take a saliva test, which shows the specific levels of female hormones available for the body and the state of health or exhaustion of the Adrenal glands. The Adrenals are responsible for 33 per cent of the overall hormones in pre-menopausal women and half of them in menopausal women. This is why many female hormone treatment programs are often unsuccessful unless you include the Adrenal system as well.

Part 2: The part of your brain that regulates heat gets a trigger from somewhere, so your blood vessels dilate to release that heat. More blood rushes through the upper half of your body, which releases it and voila, you’ve just had a “hot flash”. Don’t be alarmed, 85 percent of women will experience them at some point. “Night Sweats” are just hot flashes when you’re sleeping. If you are too young for menopause and have them, see your physician. They can be caused by many ordinary things; alcohol, nicotine, caffeine, spicy foods, fat, chocolate, climate, medication etc. But fluctuations in hormones are usually the trigger if you‘re having them consistently and taking HRT (Hormone Replacement Therapy) is a sometimes successful but more dangerous option. (see HRT dangers http://fabulously40.com/blog/id/female-hormones-for-women-over-40-11158 ) Other “traditional” medical options are antidepressants and epilepsy medication while a newer option being tried is an injection of a local anesthetic into your neck!

Many women take Black Cohosh to help with hot flashes and menopausal symptoms in general. Some succeed, others don’t. Like anything taken on your own, you need to be careful about possible side effects or interactions with medications. Incorrect amounts can cause anything from indigestion and headaches to seizures and liver damage. There’s bad with the good in natural or herbal remedies, just like pharmaceutical medications. The “bads” aren’t typically as bad or as dangerous as medications but they’re still there.

The Natural Medicine approach to hot flashes addresses the specific imbalances of female hormones found with diagnostic testing. The patient then gets specific amounts of natural, plant-based substances that turn into female hormones in the body. The Adrenal glands control up to 50 per cent of all hormones in menopausal women so that aspect of their health always needs to be checked to see how much that’s affecting the hormonal imbalance. A saliva test finds the Adrenal and hormone levels to give the Physician a place to start for the amounts of treatment supplements. When adrenals are stronger, many aspects of your life can stabilize also: fatigue, weight gain/metabolism, insomnia and immune system, to name a few.

These specific Bio-Identical hormones are much safer than HRT. If the amounts of these hormones can be determined with the help of a saliva test and you address the Adrenal issue also, you may be more successful in dealing with menopausal symptoms. The treatment goal is to balance the hormones so that menopausal symptoms stop and then strengthen your adrenals enough for your body to keep things that way.
Here is a link to my website for further information on female hormone symptoms.
Please contact me with any questions you may have.

http://www.drmichaelmadden.net/

Here is a link to Fab 40 member, Janie Emaus’s page about what practical, daily steps you can take to deal with the discomfort from hot flashes.

http://www.powderroomgraffiti.com/feel-it/warning-hot-flashes-ahead.html

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