“Am I going through early menopause”? That was the question I was asking myself one year ago today (which also happens to be my birthday). I had delivered my 2nd child, Alexis, a few weeks earlier, and had started experiencing horrible night sweats nearly every night. Luckily, the menopause symptoms were solely at night. I wasn’t having hot flashes during the day. Since I never experienced night sweats after my first child was born, I had started to wonder if I might be going into menopause… at the age of 36.
I consulted a dear mommy friend of mine who was actually surprised that I didn’t get night sweats after my first pregnancy. Evidently, post-partum sweating, especially at night, is quite common. Sweating is one of the ways your body gets rid of the extra water retained during pregnancy. It’s also possible that the drop in estrogen that occurs right after delivery contributes to the night sweats. Who knew?
So, here I am, one year later, no longer having the night sweats, but knowing that menopause will come one day. Luckily, for all of us, there are now natural solutions for menopause relief. We do not need to suffer like our mothers once did. And, we certainly don’t need to put ourselves at risk with hormone replacement therapy.