I understand that Premphrase is for Peri-menopausal women, right? Is it all natural? It can take between 30 and 90 days to start feeling the effects of a natural supplement. Hope this helps. Bobbi

To repeat some of what I've said earlier in multiple posts, I've taken a multi-faceted approach: sunlight therapy light for 30 minutes each morning during the shorter winter months making sure to eat healthily, esp. lots of legumes exercise (which for me also includes social partner dancing...not only provides exercise but physical interaction and music!) bamboo sheets have greatly helped with night sweats. I sleep much better. join a menopause support group or else start your own such Meetup group (I did, in NYC!) I take Rainbow Light Menopause One make it a point to be social....to get out of the house and be around other people. Go for walks...be around nature. If you are a night owl (like me), try your best to change your schedule little by little. Waking up earlier and going to bed earlier means you will have more waking hours in the natural light, and fewer waking hours in the dark, which in turn helps with serotonin levels and mood. Talk to a shrink if you are depressed and/or try to engage in cognitive therapy on your own. Be aware of how you are able to somewhat impact your own mood. For e.g., I noticed a pattern, whereby I was constantly assessing my mood multiple times per day. 'Am I feeling depressed right now?....Yup, I am. I am indeed feeling down...just like I was earlier today...just like I was yesterday. Ugh.' I realized that in doing that, I was then creating a sub-conscious 'reality' for myself, that if I am feeling down today, and I felt 'down' yesterday, and the day before that, that it stands to reason that tomorrow, and the next day, will also be the same. And how on earth can I expect to be in a good mood, if I believe this to be my reality, for the foreseeable future? Talk about creating a sense of doom for oneself. ;-) So.... I realized that this thought pattern I was exhibiting was not serving me one iota. Of course, we all know the expression of 'living in the moment'. I decided to purposefully try this at every moment of every day. 'Oh, doesn't this cup of coffee taste so good?.... this is so great that I just finished this work spreadsheet on my computer...I can now cross this off my to-do list.... this is great... Oh, this is a great song I'm listening to ...this salad I'm eating tastes so fresh!.... don't my two cats look so cute sleeping together..." And so on. By doing this, at the end of each day I found that I was able to look back and think 'you know...today wasn't that bad actually...'. And if I practiced living in the moment the next day as well, I could say 'this is great...today was pretty good...yesterday was pretty good...'. So that in turn helped to create my own new reality, which then helped me believe that the days ahead would also be pretty good! ;-) (If I assumed the days ahead would not be so good, they usually were not so good. But if I took on a more positive outlook, that my days ahead would be good, or 'pretty good', indeed, they usually were. While we can't control our emotions or mood entirely, much of it IS about perspective, and recognizing the ways we self-sabotage. And on that note....do not believe for one minute that 'older women are regarded with little worth' (as someone else here said). I am so utterly tired of women (and most often, it's American women) making this complaint. If you believe it, so it will be. No one wants to be around an older woman who is down in the dumps about her age. You could take two older women who look the exact same age more or less, and who have a similar appearance. One woman is confident, takes pride in her appearance, dresses attractively, does not feel her age is in and of itself a detriment; she is engaging, curious, outgoing. The other woman goes around believing that now that she's X-years of age, she's washed-up, and that society and men will 'ignore her'. She doesn't bother trying to dress nice, because she figures 'why bother'. Which woman do you think society is going to respond to more favorably. Which woman will more men find attractive? ;-)

Funny the Chillow was mentioned. I've been considering it for a couple of years and just saw it in a catalog again tonight. I am sleeping well again but if I feel the slightest bit warm I wake up and don't go back to sleep until I feel cool again. I've noticed that if I move my feet around to find a cool spot, I almost instantly start to doze back to sleep. A cool spot works like magic for me, so I bet the Chillow would feel terrific. I have always turned my pillow to the cool side. I thought I was the only one until I saw Jay Leno joke about it during his monologue one night. :-) Jen

Just a word of caution: Do be careful about taking these over-the-counter remedies without consulting with your doc first. They can contra-indicate if you're taking other meds. I'm on the "other side" of most of you, having stopped my periods 15 years ago at age 44. (And sorry to say, the hot flashes are still with me.) My experience showed that I was not able to quickly find a successful regimen to hold my menopausal symptoms in check. I consulted with three or four GYNs until I found one who was willing to stick with me until we got it right. I really had to become my own advocate, if you will. We need to be as well educated as we can about the subject. As you look for what you can "take" to help you, you should also research really well the results of the (Women's Health Initiative) study they released back in 02. Don't rely on websites related to drug or supplement firms - read what's available on the National Institute of Health and other medical sites. In '06 the NIH released results of a separate study that showed herbal supplements were of no value in relieving hot flashes. Some women are lucky in that their menopausal symptoms are less severe and perhaps they perceive that herbs like black cohash have helped. But it's not "everyone's menopause," and what works for some doesn't work for all. After lots of trial and error, I was on an HRT regiment with both estrogen and progesterone that was wonderful for my body. I took the pills for about twelve years (referred to them as my "life line"). Hot flashes and night sweats were completely eliminated, and I was able to concentrate once again (although NOTHING NOTHING NOTHING helps for memory loss!). On and off I also tried a variety of anti-anxiety pills, none of which seemed to make a discernable difference. Depression is very common in menopausal women. Many people have had good results with the bio-identical hormones. I tried them for about a year but I didn't find the results comparable at all, so I stopped. I'm no longer on any hormones, and it has been a real struggle. I still have almost-daily hot flashes and nightly hot sweats (although the night sweats are not as severe, yet they still awaken me and that's annoying enough). Since stopping HRT, I don't think I've had a single uninterrupted night's sleep. But, as with every step I've taken since my periods stopped fifteen years ago, being off HRT is my choice. I have just learned to live with it. I think the bottom line is that you need to understand what if any risks there are in your body/family history that would or wouldn't make HRT a good solution for you. I don't think I've seen any mention here of calcium supplements, and that's so very important. We should be taking 1,200-1,500 mg daily if we're not on estrogen, a bit less with estrogen. Osteoporosis is very common in both pre-and post-menopausal women. Here is a link that might be useful: Menopause and Herbal Supplements Study Article