[Mmckellen]

In case anyone hasn't noticed, I'm in perimenopause (as evidenced by my constant posts about AF and her scheduled visits which are no longer on schedule) and I'm wondering if anyone has taken black cohosh or estroven while in perimenopause. I was taking chasteberry (Vitex) for a while, but I felt it stopped working, and I became a little freaked out because it works directly on the pituitary gland and I wondered a bit about this.

I'm interested in hearing from anyone who has been in perimenopause and taken any supplement that was helpful to them. TIA.

[CyndiM]

I have no useful information to add but thought I'd commiserate I've begun to amuse my coworkers with summer moments. Since losing weight I've been cold all the time so it is a change. Actually a couple of years ago my cycles were all out of whack and I had some serious PMS. For awhile I took Estrotone made by New Chapter and it really helped. Not sure what's in it but I know they are online. FWIW

[Chelby29]

I am hoping you get some good info for your question. I'm 41 and my cycles are getting wonky, even thought I still take the birth control pill (Yaz). I have a cycle about every other month. Occasionally, I have to get out of bed in the middle of the night to change clothes, too. Nothing like night sweats! Yuck! I wondered if Estroven or an OTC supplement would help, without affecting the Pill.

[murphmitch]

I 52 so I've been in menopause for a while. I tried black cohosh for 6 months after I started having hot flashes, but found it to be of no help for me. I think the brand I used was Remifemin (sp?). When I couldn't take it anymore, I tried bio-identical hormones for about 3 months. That didn't help either. I'm now on a topical estrogen patch, which I've been very happy with for the last few years.

[femmecreole]

I tried it the FIRST time I went through menopause and it worked somewhat.
The second time I just did it with nothing. (second time was after hysterectomy..joy, twice) I still get hot flashes occasionally and had the hysterectomy 5 years ago...so I've been flashing for almost 20 years..pretty used to it by now. I never wanted to take any hrts, so it was my choice to just keep flashing.

[WarMaiden]

I started taking melatonin to help with sleep and also because some studies show it has positive effects on hormone levels for perimenopausal women. My past two cycles had shortened drastically (to 25 days) but since being on the melatonin, this last one was 29 days. So I'm not sure yet, but I am hopeful that it is working. (And of course, I sleep amazingly well on melatonin.) I take just 500 mcg (one-half of a milligram) and am actually considering lowering that to 250 mcg to see if I can maintain the benefits on a smaller dose.