Relizen for Hot Flashes

by Michelle Manafy, AfterShock contributor

Relizen is a non-prescription remedy for menopausal hot flashes, part of a product portfolio  offered by the company Bonafide. Their other solutions for menopause-related issues include products for vaginal dryness, libido and the vaginal microbiome. The company has done a very good job of getting its product samples into doctors’ offices. I spoke to several friends in my age group who were offered sample packets of Bonafide products when they discussed hot flash or sex drive problems with their doctors. The CEO of Bonafide previously served as CEO of a nutritional ingredients’ manufacturer and a pharmaceutical company and has clearly leveraged that experience to build brand awareness with health professionals in only three years.

Why try this supplement?

If you’re in peri-menopause or menopause and are starting to be impacted by daily hot flashes, this product might be a good place to start. It’s “natural” – derived from grass pollen (more on that to follow) and in some trials been shown to be safe for cancer patients, according to this information from the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.

How I heard about it

I was offered Relizen samples at my annual ob/gyn exam. In midlife, these visits have an entirely new list of symptoms and things to talk about. Thankfully, they’re no longer about the four “P’s”: Periods, PMS and Pregnancy Prevention! Rather, it’s a new version of what-the-F-is-happening-to-my-body (and mind!) I mentioned to my doctor that I was experiencing increasing intensity of my hot flashes and that they were becoming disruptive to my already-poor sleep. At that point, I woke up every two hours at night to rip the covers off and hope I could fall back asleep again once I cooled off. Repeat. I was just done. I couldn’t take it anymore. I’d already tried another over-the-counter solution, Estroven (find it everywhere – CVS, Amazon, etc.) which worked for a while and then, for some reason, just stopped.

My doctor had tons of Relizen samples in her office and explained that the company, Bonafide, offers a range of products targeted to menopause. Relizen specifically targets hot flashes. And, since it doesn’t require a prescription, it can be ordered online. My doctor may not be a menopause “expert”, but she does know me and how cautious I am about any synthetic or prescription solutions. She suggested I try the non-prescription, botanical solution first and noted there were many other routes to take if it didn’t help.

It’s grass pollen…and pistils

I know, I had never heard of this either! But the science behind it looks good. According to this NCBI article and this article from The Journal of the North American Menopause Society, the use of standardized flower pollen and pistil extracts (PI 82-GC FEM) should be a consideration – especially for persons with safety issues tied to cancer diagnoses, although the mechanism by which it works isn’t well understood. Approximately 30% of women use plant-derived products – or phytotherapy – to address their menopause symptoms. We’ll have to just go with “it works…sometimes.”

I purchased directly from Bonafide, starting with the monthly recurring subscription. I wanted to give myself a solid three months to test the product and to track the results. I will say this, the subscription was really easy to set-up and manage. They don’t make it hard to figure out, or cancel, something that I find highly frustrating with other online subscriptions. You’ve got to love an ecommerce site that makes it easy on you!  They even sent me an email in September noting that the holidays and supply chain issues could make deliveries slower, and I might want to pre-order my supply (along with a discount offer). That felt helpful, not like smarmy marketing.

Initial Results

Despite my lack of love for pill taking, I set myself up for the two pills/day regimen. And much to my surprise (I mean, grass pollen for hot flashes?) I noticed a difference within a month. My hot flashes went from a nightly pattern of every two hours to every three hours and eventually to every four. That held for about eight weeks. And then, they returned.

I looked around on their website and the FAQs didn’t offer very good insights as to why this might be the case. I took another month or two to play around with when I took it during the day, my caffeine intake and whether I took it with or without food. None of my adjustments seemed to make a difference.

At this point, I’m pretty much back to where I started so I will be visiting my doctor to try the next level of attack: A prescription solution called Fosteum Plus. Note that Bonafide does clearly state that Relizen takes up to 3 months to reach effectiveness. If I had steadily improved, or even held at two hot flashes a night, I’d have given it more time.

However, I just can’t function well when my sleep is interrupted three to four times a night. As anyone who deals with sleep issues knows, it throws off everything else. In menopause, sleeplessness can exacerbate other related issues, leaving one with poorer moods, more brain fog and an increased desire for caffeine or sugary foods to increase energy – no thanks!

FIVE THINGS I’VE LEARNED

Track the frequency of your hot flashes. Changes can be subtle and hard to detect. If you’re not aware of your baseline, it can be hard to know if things are improving. Make it simple: just write down each time you have a hot flash for a week or two. While no one wants to do this in the middle of the night, it’s worth it, and related to the next point.

Set expectations. While the product website notes that “70% saw “some improvement” – you need to know what that means for you.  If you’re having 20 hot flashes a day, a 70% improvement may be an unbelievable result. If you’re waking up once or twice a night only, you’ll be looking for complete cessation and “some improvement” just won’t cut it.

Don’t miss a dose. Perhaps because the product has botanical ingredients and, as such is “gentler” on the body, you need to keep your levels constant. They don’t seem to linger in the system. If you miss a dose, you’ll have a bad night or day with your hot flashes.

Cost. At $35/month, the subscription seems like a pretty reasonable first step to take considering some supplements can cost double that amount! If budget is still a concern at that price, think about one or two less-than-healthy habits you spend on monthly (Starbucks Frappuccino perhaps?) and eliminate them while you give this product a run. You might get double the return for your effort.

Be your own sleuth. As with most health care concerns, you need to learn to be your own investigator and advocate. Unfortunately, when it comes to women’s health in general – and menopause specifically – there is less research and education overall. At this time of life you need to be prepared to educate yourself and be ready to learn from a community of peers about all of the issues that come with midlife and wellness. There are a lot of options on the market – something many women don’t realize. Above all, find a health professional – primary care, ob/gyn or functional medicine doctor – who will work with you on your journey.

The takeaway: I recommend Relizen for women who are just starting to experience hot flashes and want a natural solution. It also appears to be a good solution for people who have had certain cancers that prevent them from using hormone-based products. Give yourself three or four months to test, making sure not to change anything else significantly in your routine to help tie the results (or lack of) back to this product. Relizen is a relatively low risk, easy-to-incorporate, affordable solution with the potential to eliminate or greatly reduce a symptom that can be highly disruptive for many people.

This article is for informational purposes only. It is not intended as medical advise. Always consult a medical professional before taking any supplement.