Hot Flash Forum!
Comments
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I went to visit my friend in Dallas and ended up with a new nickname - Hot Flash.
She is nowhere near going through menopause so she had a hard time understanding what I was going through but she did let me use her hand fan the entire time I was there.We have a swamp cooler system so we are not hit with high electric bills in the summer and I have this place down to 55 degrees. In the winter it is more like 36 degrees and even less because I have the window wide open and the ceiling fan going. Even then I have the flashes so I stand outside in my undies in the snow until I cool down.
The only reason I can sleep is because I am taking ambien at night and if it is really bad I will take a lorazepam instead which does totally knock me out.
I am going to have to google Chillow - a cold pillow?? When I was bald I would just take a cold wet cloth and soak my scalp and cool down instantly - the hot flashes got worse as my hair grew in VERY THICK.
Never dealt with beads of sweat running down my face until menopause or riding my horse and my entire ponytail was soaking wet from sweat, my shirt was wet - I am sure you get the picture.
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I just looked Chillows and I am going to have to get me one tomorrow! I am so tired of flipping my pillow over all night long. Now if they made something like it that was only 4" x 4" I would be on cloud 9 as I could put it inside my riding helmet and keep my head cooled down while riding.
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Jancie - frog togs would be great for riding ! I take one with me whenever I am outside.
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Very funny idea that works. You really have to have BC to enjoy this, though. I was whining about these hot flashes to the point that I think I drove DH crazy. I said one of the worst parts is that the prosthesis gets so damned hot and sweaty. So he said, well then throw it in the freezer!
So...I did. For about a half hour. Guess what? It is great! Works. For as long as it stayed cool, I stayed cool. Really hot here now and I've got built in AC. Just a suggestion to make lemonade out of lemons...
(Hope you all got a chuckle out of this.) Shari
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does anyone know if the flashes get better once your on tamox for awhile---it's about 6 weeks for me--and they are steadily increasing--YUK!
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Onc office offered me megace or effexor for the hot flashes but I didn't try them. So those are two possible medication approaches.
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Shannon: Chillows and frog tags? I have some research to do! ;-)
sgreenarch: Sticking the prosthetic "foob" in the freezer is fabulous! I'll be using a foob after my TE removal in July so thanks for the idea!
Sashasz3: I've been on Tamox for 3 months. The hot flashes haven't lessoned yet. But I am hopeful!
Omaz: My doc put me on effexor and I have NOT noticed any difference in hot flashes. Been on it over a month now.
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Thanks Rennasus---just wishful thinking on my part I guess---
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Great subject. I've been on Tamoxifen since January 2010. As another victim of the DC-area summer, I find my window-unit AC does ****-all to cool me down and I'm losing a lot of sleep. I also have a freezer full of ice packs, and I use a cloth bag thing that you put ice cubes in and then seal with a screw top. My problem is I'm so warm at night I melt those very quickly and have to replace them in the middle of the night. I shower before sleeping so my wet hair will cool me.
I am a little worried that some of the ice packs I've been using have plastic stuff that is leaching on me. I need to be careful to cover them. I also vaguely wonder if holding an icepack next to me is doing some kind of tissue damage....but can't imagine doing without them.
I really miss winter. I slept every night under an open window no matter how cold it was outside. I've been taking melatonin sometimes, but it is only partially effective. It does produce some really wild dreams. Sleepily yours, C.
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Hi fellow flashers!
Iam not on Tamoxifen, but had A/C for 2 months and then Taxol 1x weekly for 4 months. My periods stopped and I have had horrific hot flashes every day since. It's been a year and a half since chemo ended and I'm still always drenched. Thank God for Gabapentin, which does me little good during the day, but wow, can I ever tell if I forgot to take it at bedtime!.
I'm going to check out chillows right now! Stay cool! Janice
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Cary: maybe slip the ice pack into a baggie before you use it so you don't worry about stuff leaching on you?
jTeach: Gabapentin...Hmmm...another thing I gotta look up!
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Great forum! I started with night sweats before diagnosis. Still doing chemo and wake up every night with hot flash and several during the day. So crummy under my wig!
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Sashaz, I've found that the hot flashes on tamoxifen tend to come and go in cycles. Any type of heated condition definitely brings them on worse. There are periods where I've gone several weeks with hardly any at all, and then I notice them getting bad again.
Omaz, megace is a progestin (synthetic form of progesterone). One of the main things it's used for is to help gain weight. I think I'd feel better using the bioidentical progesterone instead, but most conventional doctors really don't know much about this and won't prescribe it because it hasn't been studied and FDA approved. It is available over the counter however.
I sleep with the fan blowing on me at night and this seems to help a lot at preventing the night sweats, which I don't have a problem with unless I have a lot of covers on.
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Please excuse my ignorance.
What is a Chillow and how does it work?
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"fellow flashers" - lol!
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http://www.gearlive.com/news/article/soothsoft-chillow-review/
I love the name
I have hot flashes throughout the day too. Doc said it may take five years! They aren't as bad as the resulting bone loss of estrogen. My pain is constant and so real.
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i also get hot flashes, it gets so annoying when im asleep wake me up , then not long after im cold have to put my beany on (hat) it gets frustrating so im with blankets on off on off ,,
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Yep, that is what I do...blanket on, blanket off...DH is freezing with AC up as high as I need.
Off to play tennis
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I have hit on a great strategy I wish I had thought of a long time ago: dueling fans. My DH has one on his side of the bed blowing across, and I have one on mine doing the same thing. It's fantastic! A breeze from every angle! Highly recommend it. (Of course, we also have the A/C blasting too!)
Thank God DH likes it cold too!
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When I was put on tamoxifen, I did get hot flashes.They were doable but I did experience them. In April I had my ovaries removed and I didn't experience any. I thought that it was great, maybe I was one of the lucky ones but a month later the hot flashes returned and they weren't easy on me. My doctor put me on Arimidex and that intensified them. But now, I can say that they are easing up to where I can say that they are doable. Sending every one cool breezes!!
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Am entering my first summer on the Tammy train. Can't swim due to delayed healing issues (right TE is coming out next week). It's gonna be a long, hot summer!
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This may be controversial for er+ women, but my integrative onc put me on a supplement called menoret. The primary ingredient is black cohosh.
I recently started waking up at 3:00 am feeling hot and sweaty due to being thrown into chemopause. Took the supplement the last 3 nights and sweats no longer intense and I'm able to sleep until 5:00 am.
I will have to research black cohosh to find why it's not recommended. I will run by my MO. But bottom line, who has the last say... Integrative onc or Onc?0 -
New studies seem to indicate black cohosh isn't an estrogen stimulator/mimicker!
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My NP that I saw for the first time last week is recommending the same thing.
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Interesting!! DebRox, let us know what your MO says!
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Rennasus: I have a feeling she either wont know anything about it or will be opposed to it. But I will run it by her on Tuesday when I am in the chair for chemo. I will be so glad to have this portion of treatment over with! BTW I am in SoCal as well.
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My 4th night using menoret and it worked like a charm.
I did increase my melatonin from 3-6 grams this week as well. Increasing the dose caused me to dream profusly again which does go away after a few days.
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DebRox - I couldn't find info on menoret - is it spelled differently?0
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Oops menoret is the name of the product that is manufactured by Biornica.
5 days now and last night, no hot flash.0 -
I have used black cohosh and also have read that it is not estrogenic. The only thing negative I've seen written is that it could affect liver function if used for more than 6 months.
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