RYN and Hot Flashes

Okay Ladies, What do you do for hot flashes?  Have you found something works better than another for RYN'ers?

Thanks!!!

bioidentical hormone creams - ask your doctor - they are the most like what your body makes and they are in disappearing creams that you just rub on your skin like your forearms. Works like a charm - I use progresterone and bi-est.  Good book on the subject - Hormone Hell to Hormone Well - available on amazon.com. Diona

I had a hysterctomy and ovaries removed prior to RNY.....doc wouldn't prescribe HRT.  Holy crap- oly!  I felt like a Georgia black top road in august.  Effexor was the key for me.  It is an anti-depressant that is also used for PMS symptoms and menopausal hot flashes.  Didn't need it for the anti-depressant effects, but was a great side benefit.  I was actually through all the menopausal cold turkey stuff by the time I had my RNY.  BUT....the strange thing is the hot flashes reoccured.  I found I could control the intensity of the flash by severely limiting carbs....sometimes even very complex carbs in a larger amount would turn on my metabolism.     In the end, I've found that as you burn off your excess fatty tissue you will experience more flashing due to the storage of estrogen in your fat tissue.  I've also now experience a very heightened metabolism....meaning my metabolism has gotten much more efficient and I'm very sensitive to even the addition of very complex carbs to a meal.  I can feel when my metabolism "kicks in" because I get the heat flash shortly after a meal that includes carbs.  I have noticed a big relief of the heat if I get up and "use"  the energy that is being released by the metabolism of my meal.  The flash is my cue that my metabolism is working and I need to get up and do something physical.   Take care and hope this info helps you.  The flashes are rotten, but a great sign that you're burning fat and your engine is getting tuned up. Tgarr from Indy.