Night sweats, Nocturnal Hyperhydrosis, rank as the worst aspect of “the change.” Studies show 75% of all women will experience night sweats during menopause or perimenopause. Some people refer to them as night hot flashes. All I know is some mornings I wake up in sopping sheets.
A woman’s body has ~2.4 million sweat glands. Sweating enables the body to cool, keeping the body’s temperature within an acceptable range.
During perimenopause or menopause, the level of estrogen in a woman’s body declines, When a rapid decrease or drop in estrogen occurs, sweating increases. If the amount of sweat produced exceeds 100 mg in less than five minutes, the body is in a state of hyperhydrosis: e.g. night sweats. This, my dear, is the precursor to sopping sheet syndrome.
Over my perimenopausal stage in life, I have heard a myriad of suggestions to thwart, reduce and eliminate night sweats. Although difficult, I narrowed the list to the postulates I believe most insulting to my intelligence.
- Do not sleep under too many blankets: blankets? What are they nuts- I don’t even put a sheet near me
- Do not wear heavy sleepwear- honey, I gave up pajamas a long time ago- just added to the sopping sheet syndrome
- Fix a poorly ventilated bedroom: I keep an industrial size box fan blowing directly at my face all night. I don’t know where the air it goes after it moves over my head-
When I experienced (e.g. woke up sopping wet) five episodes in one night, I declared war on night sweats. I vaguely remembered a dear friend D mentioning her relief using a naturally formulated hormone cream. I called her to get the exact name (with my luck so far I would pick up testosterone cream and grow a beard!)
With coveted information in hand, I zoomed to Vitamin World. I grabbed the progestin cream and marched to the counter. I looked the sales clerk in the eye pleadingly and said, “tell me this works.” She gave me the sales clerk blank stare look.
The instructions say to apply a 1/8 tsp to skin and rub in thoroughly. Do you know how much 1/8 tsp is? I don’t. So I guessed. I did not think LT would appreciate it if I used his measuring spoons to measure my hormone cream. As the time grew near for me to go to bed that night, I got anxious. If this did not work, I was going to have to bring in a walk in freezer to our bedroom.
Next thing I knew LT’s pager is blasting, followed by his alarm-
I made it through the night.
I was dry.
A woman is afforded certain luxuries when she reaches 
