I can handle the hot flashes. The night sweats and even the fatigue I can live with. But the bloating is killing me!! There are some days I look like I'm 7 or 8 months pregnant! And I'm a thin gal, So I'm a skinny gal with a gut

And it's not just that I don't like the way I look, it's that it's so bad that sometimes it's sooooo uncomfortable.
OOO,
Cindy...this was happening to me for a # of years (the bloating)! I just could not figure out what I was doing wrong??? I am also skinny and yup, I know the "gut" thing!
Last March '08...I went away for a week on vacation. Had the best time, no issues with the bloating at all...as you say it can be so darn uncomfortable.
Returned home and after few days home I had a bad bloating day....I immediately said to myself that I was so glad I did not feel like this while on vacation.......and then it hit me..........
M I L K!!!!!!! YUP, I did not have one glass of milk while I was on vacation at all..........????
Now I WAS a HUGE milk (skim) drinker. Several glasses a day. BUT that week on vacation I just drank a ton of water. I immediately decided this bloating was lactose related. I stopped ALL milk and milk products.
It has been over a year now and NO MORE BLOATING AT ALL.

I could not believe at my age of 54yo I would find myself lactose intolerant.
One day last summer I was at RUBY's Diner with DH having dinner and not even thinking I ordered a milkshake...DH raved about their milkshakes SOOO I had to try one. Boy o boy, did I pay for that with the bloating..that lasted about 2 days. It just never entered my mind that it contained MILK.....
So if you are a milk drinker...try cutting that out. Buy the lactose free milk at the supermarket...takes a little to get used to BUT if you love milk like I did...you will find in time it is tasty.
Also SOY...I make a soy shake every single day for my hot flashes. I pour a cup of low-fat cranberry juice into the blender, I add soy, brewer's yeast and ground flaxseed. It is my "healthy" drink of the day.

AND the best is I have noticed a huge drop in the # of hot flashes I was having.
Good Luck!!!