By Ed Goode in Ask the Past — 1 Aug 2024

Ask the Past: menopause

I have been having a lot of hot flashes recently, and I would love a good home remedy for them. What can you suggest?

There aren't a lot of useful home remedies out there for hot flashes or menopause generally, but I have found a few things you might want to try. Domestic Medical Practice (1913) has several pages on the subject, and says that this remedy has "been found to give most excellent relief":

Sodium bromide, grains sixty

Potassium bromide, grains sixty

Strontium bromide, grains sixty

Mixture of Rhubarb and Soda, ounces four

Mix. Dose: a teaspoonful, after each meal.

Unfortunately, all three of those bromides have been banned from use on humans because of their toxicity, but Wikipedia says that potassium bromide is still used to treat epilepsy in dogs, so you may need to consult your vet for this one.

If that doesn't appeal, or if it proves impractical, you might want to consider Lydia E Pinkham's Vegetable Compound, first sold in 1875, and fortunately still available today. The old formula was a mixture of unicorn root, life root, black cohosh, pleurisy root, and fenugreek seed in 18% alcohol, and apparently the modern formula includes many of the same ingredients (not the alcohol, but you could always have it with a stiff drink to get the same effect). Here's an ad from a 1944 edition of Modern Screen:

An ad for Lydia E Pinkham's vegetable compound. A painting of a woman with the title "A young matron is perplexed", and text about a charming wife and mother in her 40s who has been confronted with menopause symptoms. "In case you are annoyed by hot flashes and feel nervous, restless, irritable, highstrung, so tired, weak, and a bit moody at times, why not try Lydia E Pinkham's Vegetable Compound to relieve such symptoms?"

Like a lot of companies, Lydia E Pinkham put out a cookbook that was loaded with ads and testimonials for her vegetable compound. Here is a testimonial from Favorite Recipes Save Time and Money (1919):

It certainly built me up'

"Since 1913 I have taken Lydia E. Pinkham's Vegetable Compound off and on. First for a rundown condition, and now at the Change of Life. It built me up till I could do my house work lots better. I also take care of the garden and poultry."— MRS. FRANK P. STONE, Ponoka, Alberta,

And here's a sample recipe, from a page titled "These are Delicious":

CABBAGE AND PINEAPPLE SALAD

3 cups shredded cabbage, 1 cup crushed pineapple, pinch salt

Moisten with salad dressing to taste and mix lightly with two forks. Serve on a lettuce leaf. Sprinkle with paprika if desired.

I'm sure that will help.

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