Good Morning Veterans!

I am in the process of researching the use of essential oils in my daily routine. Honestly this is because I am suffering severe menopausal symptoms. I must get 50 hot flashes per day where I feel my head is simply going to combust, then of course comes the soaking of my clothing, the racing heart in my ears, and yes all the bs emotions that come with it. That does not include the night sweats in which I am soaked from head to toe. I have the air in our house at 66 and a fan blowing on me while sleeping and another fan next to where I sit in the living room. When I am not flashing I am frozen to the core given I have lost all of my fat which I am greatful for.

The other night I went to the movies with some friends and had to dress knowing that would probably have several flashes. I brought 2 blankets with me and a personal fan. LOL. My husband and friends thought I was insane but I knew what would happen.

The emotional crap for someone like me who doesn't cry easily is insane. For example, I was watching an episode of Buffy the vampire slayer which I have seen about 20 times. All of a sudden I am balling like a big baby. WTF!!!! I am not usually a cryer so this actually then pissed me off. It's all kind of funny when you think about it but geez already I need some relief from these symptoms. Of course it does not help that I have a lot of arthritis issues going on that won't allow me to get really moving like I want to.

I exercise everyday for almost an hour a day but it is low impact, more stretching and strengthening exercises. Next week I will be taking Water therapy classes as well.

Anyway, I reached out to a friend of mine who swears by these young living essential oils. She is my age and has been through a lot. As we were talking she asked me what medications or Vitamins I was taking so I explained that I am on several vitamins for life given my RNY surgery.

I plan to ask my Bariatric team about this as well but I am wondering if anyone on BP is using essentials oils in their life and also if anyone has used them to replace certain vitamins?

If you are using them, have you seen benefit in your overall health? Have you seen changes in your blood work? My blood work has been spot on other than my thyroid so I don't want to do anything that might mess that up. After speaking with my friend, she made a few recommendations to deal with some of the pain, energy and menopausal symptoms.

Thoughts?

I use essential oils but I buy the oil in bulk and mix the blends myself. I do not buy Young Living essential oil because they charge so much for their product. Also I am happier experimenting on my own.

I believe that trying to reduce your Vitamin requirements for bariatric surgery with essential oils is problematic. But on the other hand you lists several conditions pain, energy and menopausal symptoms that essential oils may help you.

I have been using essential oils with some degree of success. So I would recommend you buy a bottle from Young Living for each of your conditions and try it. That experiment should quickly tell you whether they will work for you. And realize there are other formulations that may work even better.

@@James Marusek

Thanks so much for your response! How did you get comfortable mixing them?

There are so many to choose from and I think I will try a few to deal with my symptoms for now just to see if I get some relief.

I am curious how people such as yourself learned so much that they are confident mixing. My friend does the same thing.

If they work for me, I will definately take the time to learn and get good at it.

Thanks again!

I'm glad @@James Marusek chimed in because I know he uses them. I haven't, but looking forward to an update from you on how you felt they did!

@@James Marusek

Thanks so much for your response! How did you get comfortable mixing them?

There are so many to choose from and I think I will try a few to deal with my symptoms for now just to see if I get some relief.

I am curious how people such as yourself learned so much that they are confident mixing. My friend does the same thing.

If they work for me, I will definately take the time to learn and get good at it.

Thanks again!

About a year ago my wife said I should experiment with essential oils. So I bought several books on the subject. Many of the books were too New Age for my tastes, but they contained formulas. I bought some supplies and began making up formulas to treat various conditions. Many of these seemed to be effective. In developing formulas, I generally take the following approach:

I review the books on compounded formulas and also the single oil traits, then I search the internet for other ingredients. I am a believer in that more is better. So some of my formulas use between 10 and 20 oils. I only use Bio-Oil as a carrier oil. I have used this oil on my face for a couple years now and it has all the properties that I desire in a gentle carrier oil. Generally I begin by using a total of around 13 drops of essential oil in a 15 ml amber glass bottle, the rest I dilute using the carrier oil. Then if I do not achieve the desired results, sometime I increase the dosage or change the formulation. In general, I have not experienced any negative side effects. There may be one exception. The most powerful formula I created which is almost all essential oils, I call ADT4. I have used it to treat different forms of cancer. But I have also been using it on other types of skin conditions and also eczema. I noticed that it also removes age spots. But it may cause a condition known as vitiligo.

@@James Marusek

That is very interesting and I am glad to hear that starting with a lot of research and reading is the way to go because that is what I am doing at this point.

I am also glad to hear that being a bypassed, you have not had any ill effects which was my biggest worry.

My GF had the same issue, and she told me this:

"Lexapro. Basically was an instant fix. It just takes a few days to get integrated in the system. But even the first day was marked improvement. Within a few days no more hot flashes.

Because skin is the largest organ and the endocrine imbalance was manifesting through the cycle of major hot flashes every hour the Lexapro calmed the bodies stress response to the endocrine imbalance. Then we started balancing the hormones.

Remember this all started due to a partialal hysterectomy. "