Wee, I've just been through another night of interrupted sleep, waking up every 45 minutes or so soaking wet and soooo hot.  When I began to have these hot flashes about a year and a half ago, they were insidious at first.

I started out having a few here and there, but then the numbers really ramped up.  After a trip to St. Louis and southern Illinois, I began having sometimes 40-50 a day. I don't think St. Louis had anything to do with it though.

My sleep really began to suffer.I can't remember now when the last time was that I slept for more than 4 straight hours. Since I normally don't sleep more than 6 hours, it meant not enough good sleep, and, as an end result, a cranky girl.

So I went to the doctor, the nurse practitioner actually, and we discussed hormones. The split is 50/50 on whether hormones should be taken, whether they really work at all. At least that was then. The medical advice is conflicting and confusing . Do hormones really reduce your risk for cancer? Do they assist in maintainence of your overall health? The prevailing opinions seem to keep changing with the wind. There is no concrete answer.

So I tried the hormones and found myself sleeping better but "Little House On The Prarie" bawling at every turn. So that was not going to work for me. I stopped taking them and told my doc.

We decided that when the symptoms got unmanageable or unbearable again, to come back and we would try another alternative. Maybe one that would work better for me. Maybe the bioidentical patches.

It's the wee hours of the morning now, at least it was when I first wrote this. Those bioidenticals are looking better and better.