Hot Flash Forum!
Comments
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Hot flashes wake me up, peeing is an afterthought.
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REN and Omaz----------Ren has the right idea -----------remember the aura, and the feeling, I believe here we have identified much that is useful scientifically. I think someone should write to FREEDMAM and make him a part of our group . Let him set up the questions and test group. We have much to offer his research. If I'm still here I will do it.
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Oh last night was one of those toss, turn,creepy aura feeling, freeze, blankets on, blankets off, creepy aura feeling, bathroom, toss, turn, rearrange pillows, bathroom, freeze, creepy aura feeling, etc. etc. I have not had a night like that in a long time. The worst part, is that I run through in my head what I might have done or not done differently that day to make it so much worse, which only exaserbates the toss turn, creepy auro...whew. It is like a nightmare, but I am wide awake.
Curious to see if not drinking anything before bed helps Renn. Good idea.
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Ahh Shannon - sucky night!!!
Good idea SAS!
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I had a sucky night last night too, in spite of 10mg of diazepam!! It was humid.
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Shannon........really sucky, booey!!!
Wenweb.....me too!
Thank goodness the aircon is working again yay!!!! Only one prob with that is I keep making it colder and hubbs keeps making it warmer!!!! So now it's a battle over the thermostat! I wake up in middle of the nite thinking, wow, I'm sweating like crazy, get out, go pee and check the temp......someone snuk it up to 25celcius......back down to 20 I put it!
If food and drinks are contibuting to these hot flashes I think I'd rather sweat it out than give up my chocolate and coffee. That would just make me bitchy on top of it all and that would be no fun!
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crazydaisy In this situation, you have to be able to have complete control of the thermostat!! No kidding. The partners can always add more clothing, we are stuck with hot flashes regardless of what we are wearing. My husband has not had flannel sheets or the down for many years, and that was something I had to put my foot down about. Good-luck!!0
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Sharron and Ren drinking what?-------Water, alcohol, Something with cornsyrup in the ingredient listing?
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On any nights where I've taken a sleep aid, I don't get flashes at all. I wake up dry, so I've always believed that because these somehow settled my brain down, that the hypothalamus, where the flashes originate was also settled down by the pill. This is my theory.
Jora, it's possible that you may need a few months to completely get the tamoxifen out of your system, then maybe the flashes will calm down. It also depends on where you are at with menopause status, as being peri or post menopausal can also keep the flashes coming.
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On any nights where I've taken a sleep aid, I don't get flashes at all. I wake up dry, so I've always believed that because these somehow settled my brain down, that the hypothalamus, where the flashes originate was also settled down by the pill. This is my theory.
Jorf, it's possible that you may need a few months to completely get the tamoxifen out of your system, then maybe the flashes will calm down. It also depends on where you are at with menopause status, as being peri or post menopausal can also keep the flashes coming.
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AGeorgiaDeb, maybe you can start your own forum on this. I'll PM you about my experience with lumpectomy, since this forum is about hot flashes.
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rgiuff - what sleep aid have you tried? I fall fast asleep pretty quick after the hot flashes but can't go more than about 2 hours untils another one. I think my record for continuous sleep in the last year is 3 hours.0
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Like Omaz, I've used ambien, and no flashes during those nights. The problem with ambien is that it doesn't work as well once you start using it often and starts to become effective for only a few hours. So I ended up with a prescription for the long acting ambien, which kept me asleep longer than the regular, but once I used it for a few nights, I suffered rebound insomnia on the nights that I tried to go without it, meaning that I could not even fall asleep at all and lay there pretty much the entire night. It also seemed to play havoc with my digestive system, which many drugs do, I started having horrible gas pains. So I went cold turkey off the ambien and suffered quite a few nights. I haven't used it in close to a year now.
I occasionally use restoril or one of the OTC pills, like diphenhydramine (benadryl) or doxylamine succinate (also sold as Unisom) and I've noticed the same effect, no hot flashes during those nights. And I reserve these items only for nights that I'm really worried that sleep might be an issue. I've tried most of the herbal sleep aids as well, and sorry to say, they just don't seem to work for sleep. I've tried formulas that contain melatonin, valerian, L-theanine, hops, chamomile etc....
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Hey ladies....well, I'm a relative youngster...and I always used to crack on my mother about her hot flashes....I think she cursed me! haha.
I haven't had the sweat-drenched hot flashes, just the 105 degree feeling when the air conditioning is set at 72 (already turned down for me....).
I am NOT enjoying my personal summer.....that's what I have been calling it for years, my mother having her own personal summer. Well, I've always been a fall/cold weather kind of girl. And this just proves it.
Here's keeping my fingers crossed it doesn't get worse.
Oh, thank you Lupron. {{{{{sigh}}}}}
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Ladies, DO NOT take Benedryl while taking Tamoxifen! Benedryl competes with Tamox for the same enzyme in the liver thus causing the Tamox to be less effective. (Per my DH the pharmacist.)
Great news that Ambien works for some of you! Though yes, the r"rebound effect" is a drag. And it's easy to get hooked on Ambien. I take Xanax to sleep but still wake up with 2-3 flashes a night.
I have yet to test out my cutting out all drinking before bed theory... and by that I mean liquids of any kind (water, juice). I limit alcohol to one glass of red wine (or Bloody Mary) on the weekends only.
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Rennasus - Chlorpheniramine which is another old fashioned make you drowsy anti-histamine like benadryl is ok with tamoxifen I think - what does your DH say??0
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thanks hillck. Last night was pretty good, I really don't know what I would do without my fan though!!0
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Sorry to hear about hot flashes, I still get them here and there. My problem in sweating so bad from the neck up, my face is dripping, how embaressing that is. Is anybody else going through this?
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TO All ------do we have another item to add to our list of things we have identified about Flashing?
rguif-------I believe yours is the first post on a sleep aid and no/reduced flashing. It's different than saying a sleep aid b/c of just plain insomnia.-------(right just plain insomnia-------to have normal sleep again, when those long ago nights were so taken for granted.)
Okay________new project-------anyone taking a drug sleep aid try to remember if your flashing was less and report it here.
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Not for me
It seems like it's all a crap shoot. I take a sleep aid every night, sometimes I sleep well and sometimes I don't. USUALLY if I sleep well it's because the conditions are on the cooler side. If I don't sleep well, I might or might not be flashing. Personally, I think there are too many variables to pin anything down. Perhaps others have more definative reasons.0 -
Hillck----read the reviews on the gelmat. It seems to me that those that were disatisfied with the mat didn't read the directions well and had a different expectation of what the mat should do. Would you agree that that is a correct assessment?
If anyone who has a chillow and a gets a gelmat let us know what you think?
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Thanks WEN-------after a couple three weeks I will try and tally responses and see if there is any consensus . BTW my DH and I were the same way with the thermostat-------also fans. Then I wasn't flashing, but he'd want cold , cold, cold-----in cold OHIO winters he'd want the temp down (68)and a fan blowing directly on the bed. Until I said the fan goes or I go, serious then----LOL---The fan went until we got to Florida.
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Hillck-------I have to go back and read Freedman's Article that you sited and try and absorb it better. Your sentence that says "I'm positive that I don't flash when I sleep soundly with a sleep aid b/c I have such wet flashes" does support the new question of "how do sleep aids affect flashing?" "On nights that you are restless and awake"---why on those nights have you chosen not to take a sleep aid? Please don't consider this a criticism, your answer is important
I have terrible insomnia--------I get to 4-5-6 in the morning and then say to myself ------why didn't I take my Ativan. Well, when I tried to sleep, I was hoping I could do it without a drug. AND as you say the body adapts. So, I try to save the drug for the worst times, so, it still works for me. But to often I end up sleepless, feeling wreaked. I can't predict a "no sleep night". If I could I would have taken something. This dovetails into my question in the above paragraph, as we all are modifying "Behaviors" to control problems created by our responses to therapies. i.e fluids, exercise, drugs, routines,diet,cooling devices. Their is a major insight that I had in regard to my insomnia in the recent past that time is helping and that has to do with grieving. I needed to be exhausted to sleep in our bedroom. So, I let myself sleep on the couch and that has helped.
So, I will wait for your response , I hope the question is clear?
When I talked with Freedman's secretary and described the preflash aura -------She said he had never written of such a thing. So, "the observation that some women in his sleep study had flashes sparked by interruption of sleep before the flash-not the flash interrupting the sleep". Could this be what we are describing as the preflash aura, that since this preflash aura has previously not been recognized as a component of the flash as causing the wakefulness-- then flash. Hmmmm. Wakefulness is controlled by the Reticular Activating area in the medulla. Back to the Anatomy/ Physiology book. Darn should add to "behavior " change-------don't come up with an interesting clue at bedtime.
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I had my yearly gyn apt this past week and asked her about hot flashes. She immediately went in to how Effexor wasn't meant to work on hot flashes but she said her patients all had positive reports from using it. Well, grand but I can't take it. About 7 years ago I was on anti-depressents - think I went through all of them and none really worked and just gave me horrible side effects. Effexor was the worst and I was on the lowest dose but couldn't get off - it would send me into blinding migraines such that I couldn't get out of bed or just such pain I couldn't function. It took me a year to get off and I won't ever try that again. Now my body does NOT react typically to most meds so I know I'm going to have a different experience from most of you. So basically she just said sorry guess you are out of luck.
I'm going to my PCP this week and will see if he has anything thoughts. I have been using evening primrose oil - 30mg X2 a day and I'd say it helps the tinest bit.
As for using a sleeping pill - I do sometimes take one but I have to take on they barest and tinest bit or well I might not wake up. I usually take a 1/4 of an over the counter pill and nibble off the tinest bit I can get. If it works - I'm totally out - no hot flash no waking till I get about 12 hours. However if I'm really worried or keyed up about something than even if I took a full pill it won't touch me and I will still have hot flashes. Now I also can recall taking a pill and sleeping basically well but some tossing and getting a hot flash but it wasn't enough to fully wake me. Don't know if that helps or just confuses things.
Back a number of pages Cycle.... was talking about this episode and it reminded me of something that used to affect me when I was much younger. I can remember every where I was that it happened and never could figure it out. Once it was a cool day standing in line to go see The Book of Kells in Ireland and all of a sudden I broke out in a cold sweat, was dizzy and nauceous and thought I was going to faint. I sat down on the cold pavement with my head between my legs and it took about 10 min. - my head and clothes were soaked but then I felt totally and perfectly fine. I was about 22 at the time. This kept happening probably about 3 -4 times a year summer, winter, morning, night, after I had eaten, before I had eaten you name it always totally different. Now I cannot remember the last time it happened but probably in my early 40's was the last time. I never found out what it was but it just stopped. Not sure if that helps or not...... but thought I'd put it in for whatever it is worth.
I have two sisters and none have hot flashes nor did my Mom. Always thought that was interesting.
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SAS. Are you planning on some kind of official questionnaire that those of us on this thread will answer ? Or, is it something more broad than that?
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WEN------The questionairre is io the back until my yearly testing is done. Couple of weeks.What it will take to do it is read from page one to pull questions from one to may be several posts. And of course my head is in the worry phase b/c of the testing. If it isn't one thing it another with BC-UGH.
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sas I know what you mean about the testing. I just had my second to last 6 month mamo. It's very anxiety provoking. I wish you the best.
hillck et al I'm going to admit something that I'm not overly happy or proud of...I've been using Ativan for sleep (practically) since my DX 2 years ago. At my last PCP visit, I told her that it doesn't always work, and in the event that I need it for real anxiety, it doesn't seem to do anything. (I am going through an extremely stressfull time in my marriage) It was at that time that the PCP started me on the Clondine for hot flashes, but she also gave me diazepam to try for sleep because she said sleep was important. What I have been doing is alternating between the Ativan and Diazepam for sleep and I have been sleeping much better. The funny thing now is that I predictably know that I will sleep well on the nights that I take the Ativan, and although I sleep better than not, the diazepam is not quite as predictable.
I always used chlortrimeton for sleep (and it worked like a charm) until I realized that it was adding to the overall dryness that I have experienced since Arimidex and Tamoxifen. In addition, it caused me to have to get up many times during the night to pee. I only realized this when I stopped taking it.
Anyway...that was my true confession. I never saw myself as being the type to take "mothers little helpers", but I'm in a position of needing help and they work. I can think of things that would be a lot worse.
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Hillck--------I didn't want to influence your response. But we are just alike. RE: post from previous page and from this page
I was flipping channels tonight and passed by DR. OZ he was talking about melatonin. He said to take it 1-2 hrs before the time you want to sleep. I was a bit wondering about this b/c it seemed that any thing I took would take that long, so , I going to try taking them earlier.
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WEN --I have the drugs you mentioned , plus melatonin, plus a few more. I would hazard a guess every person on this thread, were non pill oriented till BC wreaked it's havoc on our bodies. Sleep disruption b/c of flashing/insomnia/pain/ whatever can lead to so many other dysfunctional things with the brain and body. Sleep deprivation is our greatest problem in the overall picture. The flashing is awful, but the lack of sleep is causing much more physical damage. WEN don't feel guilty here for what you have said. We are all seeking to get away from the problems created by our lifesaving treatments. Our problems are SERIOUS enough that we are choosing to take another drug to counteract the drug created side effect. We are also seeking alternatives to fix things , so, we don't have to take the drugs.
Valium is a very good drug. What allot of medical people don't know, is it was actually invented as a skeletal muscle relaxer. It was only recognized after it came to market, that it had an anti-anxiety affect. It's skeletal muscle relaxation was forgotten for decades. In this last decade, it has been rediscovered, but still that knowledge is limited. The reason I tell you this, is when you are trying to make a choice which pill to take. If your back and neck muscles are sore and tense and tight------choose valium, But the dose needs to be at least 10mg to get the skeletal muscle relation. If you want to try at a lower dose ----don't hesitate. Low is good, but again it won't likely be as affective for SM relaxation. Trail and note response and adjust dose as needed.
Valium may give you acid stomach,if so take tums. Don't get talked into anything stronger, that would just open the door for more s.e's.
Hillck- Ditto
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Hillck it's been known for at least a decade that graveyard shifts have a higher incidence of BC. It's been studied and published. I think the data came from the Harvards Nurses Study
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