Acupuncture relieves hot flashes as effectively as drugs do, but with no side effects

Hot Flashes & Cold Needles

Why would a woman who isn’t depressed take a high dose of an antidepressant drug whose side effects include nausea, headache, sleep disorders, constipation, dry mouth, hypertension, dizziness, tremor, and loss of physical strength?

Good question.

The answer is disturbing, but the alternative is completely free of side effects.

Going way off label

A few years ago, researchers stumbled upon an interesting phenomenon. Some women who took certain cancer drugs developed menopause-like hot flashes. But the hot flash side effect was less pronounced among patients who were also taking SSRI antidepressant drugs.

You can imagine how the medical community reacted. Not only did doctors begin the off-label use of SSRIs to treat hot flashes in women without cancer, but drug companies also launched studies, hoping to uncover a new SSRI goldmine.

Most of the studies were disappointing, but a 2006 trial showed that Paxil and Effexor reduced hot flashes by about 60 percent. This level of relief wasn’t as high as that of hormone replacement therapy (HRT), but in light of all the health problems linked with HRT, the SSRIs seemed more attractive.

More attractive…as long as you overlook three glaring problems.

Glaring Problem One: Effexor worked best when the dosage was high. But high dosage also brought a high rate of side effects (see list above).

Glaring Problem Tw SSRIs sometimes worsen other menopausal symptoms, such as decreased libido, anxiety, and sleep disorders.

Glaring Problem Three: No one knows what long-term effects antidepressant drug use might have on women who aren’t depressed.

Long-lasting relief

About the same time the results of the Paxil/Effexor trial were published, another hot flash study at Stanford University received much less attention.

A Stanford team recruited nearly 30 menopausal women who experienced at least seven hot flashes each day. Over seven weeks, each of the women received a total of nine acupuncture sessions. Twelve of the women received authentic acupuncture, while the rest received sham acupuncture. In the authentic group, hot flash severity decreased by almost 30 percent, compared to only six percent in the sham group.

That’s a promising result. But how would acupuncture stack up against an SSRI?

That question was answered in a new study presented at the recent meeting of the American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology.

Nearly 50 breast cancer patients who reported at least 14 hot flashes per week were divided into two groups by researchers at Detroit’s Henry Ford Hospital. Over 12 weeks, about half the subjects were treated with acupuncture and half were treated with Effexor. Women in both groups reported similar levels of relief from hot flashes and other menopausal symptoms.

Side effects in the acupuncture group: None.

Side effects in the Effexor group: Nausea, headache, sleep disorders, constipation, dry mouth, etc.

Dr. Eleanor M. Walker, the Henry Ford director of breast radiation oncology, told HealthDay News that subjects in the acupuncture group also reported more energy, greater sense of well-being, and improved sex drive, compared to subjects in the Effexor group.

Dr. Walker also noted that the inhibition of hot flashes lasted longer among acupuncture subjects. After the intervention period was finished, subjects in the Effexor group began experiencing hot flashes again in about two weeks, while subjects in the acupuncture group went nearly three months without treatments before their frequency of hot flashes returned to pre-trial levels.

Certified acupuncturists can be found on the website for the National Certification Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine (nccaom.org). Using your zip code, you can easily search for practitioners in your area.

Sources:
“Antidepressants Emerge as Coolant for Hot Flashes” Tara Parker-Pope, New York Times, 10/9/07, nytimes.com
“Acupuncture May Cool Night Hot Flashes” WebMD Health News, 9/22/06, webmd.com
“Acupuncture Eases Breast Cancer Treatment Side Effects” Serena Gordon, HealthDay News, 9/22/08, washingtonpost.com