★★★★★
Inositol has greatly relieved my hot flashes! I am 52, and I started having perimenopausal hot flashes about a year ago. Mine are related to estrogen dominance and falling progesterone levels, so any estrogenic substances (i.e. black cohosh, flax seed, etc.) only made things worse.
I used a DIM supplement, which is made from cruciferous vegetables and helps convert estradiol to estriol, very successfully for a year and this kept the flashes and being too hot at night at bay. Then the flashes came back. Mine are not as severe as many people's are, but they were only happening at night and really interfering with my sleep.
I started using a popular brand of an over the counter progesterone cream, along with Vitex (chasteberry) which helps the body favor the production of progesterone over estrogen to help boost my levels. This also helps some, but as far as the cream, I really don't like using hormones at all, even in a low dose. And the flashes weren't gone, they were still happening far too much in frequency and intensity at night.
I began giving my mother some inositol because it is relaxing to many people and helps them sleep. I took some myself one night (1000 mg.) to see if it would perhaps help me sleep through the hot flashes. Well, it had the reverse effect on me and kept me alert and awake for half the night, but I had zero hot flashes! I decided to mete out my dose throughout the day, and yesterday I took 1500 mg. altogether spread out over three 500 mg. doses. I took the last 500 mg. before bed, this smaller amount doesn't keep me awake, esp. if I take it with magnesium. I deliberately did not use the progesterone cream last night and did not have a single flash!
Ladies, I think inositol is definitely worth trying, you can find it at your local vitamin store and it is very inexpensive! I've seen very little research on it for hot flashes, but it works well for me.
Lastly, I eat a pretty low carb diet, favoring seafood. I take antioxidants, high doses of DHA, I drink a gallon of water per day, limit my coffee to two cups per day, and avoid sugars and grains. My diet is mostly Paleo, I guess, although I do eat a small amount of organic/raw dairy. The B vitamin complex I take, however, did not include any inositol, as many of them don't. Inositol is formed by the body from glucose, and I don't eat too many foods that favor glucose production, so I possibly had a deficiency. I also recommend taking the supplement cholin along with the inositol as these two work well together. I hope this works for some of you. Bear in mind that no one supplement works the same for everyone, but at the low price - inositol is definitely worth trying!
