Hot Flashes what are they like?

[Anonymous]

I am a breast cancer survivor and I was thrown into menopause due to treatments. I am currently taking tamoxifen drug and it keeps me in that state but keeps the cancer at bay. I get up to 20 to 30 cold and hot flashes a day particularly in the evening. I was wondering how people who are in a real menopause or perimenopause how often they experience hot flashes and/or cold flashes and if has decreased over the years. I am approaching the 5 year mark on my meds. I want to stop and not continue another 5 years, which would slightly increase my odds. But I was hoping I would feel better off of it but maybe it doesn't really matter because menopause is just as awful. I will probably be hitting a regular menopause maybe in the next 3 to 5 years.

Thanks

[Anonymous]

I think it varies wildly. My mother did not have them at all. I have had a few months of "warming spells" several times a day- that correspond to the months that I miss my period, but only once a hot flash (at night- woke up head almost drenched)- but I am still in the midst of it.

[Anonymous]

Yes, it really depends on you. When I started perimenopause I had hot flashes every 20 minutes or so. It drove me crazy but I resisted taking drugs. Years later I get a hot flash maybe every other day and it's not so bad. But I know people who have had very few hot flashes.

[Anonymous]

It varies widely. First, that is a lot of hot flashes - I don't know how you handled it.

I get about 10 a day, and have for about 10 months. The worst is that when it happens, I can think of nothing except getting my sweater off and some relief - sometimes I get nauseated. In the night, I sleep with three pillows so there is always a cold one to hold against my chest. If I get one in the shower, I get faint.

In some ways the worst part is that I feel like I am never comfortable. I wear less clothing to avoid the hot flashes, but then I am underdressed for the rest of the time.

Not everyone has this happen.

I used to drink 4 glasses of wine a week, and am now down to 1. That helps.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am a breast cancer survivor and I was thrown into menopause due to treatments. I am currently taking tamoxifen drug and it keeps me in that state but keeps the cancer at bay. I get up to 20 to 30 cold and hot flashes a day particularly in the evening. I was wondering how people who are in a real menopause or perimenopause how often they experience hot flashes and/or cold flashes and if has decreased over the years. I am approaching the 5 year mark on my meds. I want to stop and not continue another 5 years, which would slightly increase my odds. But I was hoping I would feel better off of it but maybe it doesn't really matter because menopause is just as awful. I will probably be hitting a regular menopause maybe in the next 3 to 5 years.

Thanks

I've just finished treatment for breast cancer and have been on tamoxifen for six months. I've only had 2 hot flashes which makes me worried that maybe it's not working. I have no words of advice but my oncologist recommends I stay in it for 10 years (I'm 43).

[Anonymous]

I've been in peri now for 5 or 6 months. I've experienced some mild hot flashes. Just a general warming sensation in my body. Sort of feels like your blushing all over.

I'll have a day where hot flashes might happen 3 times and then I'll not have another one for over a month or more. With me, there doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason to it.

[Anonymous]

OP Here: Thank you for the responses. It sounds like natural menopause will be better than my chemically induced menopause.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It varies widely. First, that is a lot of hot flashes - I don't know how you handled it.

I get about 10 a day, and have for about 10 months. The worst is that when it happens, I can think of nothing except getting my sweater off and some relief - sometimes I get nauseated. In the night, I sleep with three pillows so there is always a cold one to hold against my chest. If I get one in the shower, I get faint.

In some ways the worst part is that I feel like I am never comfortable. I wear less clothing to avoid the hot flashes, but then I am underdressed for the rest of the time.

Not everyone has this happen.

I used to drink 4 glasses of wine a week, and am now down to 1. That helps.

16:17 again. Yes, for me it's a huge control issue. I have been wearing short-sleeved t-shirts for years, even in the winter because I have to be able to take off a layer when I have a hot flash. I can't stand not having control over my body temperature -- which doesn't make a lot of sense some days because there are places where it's inconvenient to shed a layer so why not just wait till it passes? But I can't stand to wait!

[Anonymous]

I'm in my 42 and it's been 5 months of irregular menstrual cycles, night sweats and hot flashes. I really think that I'm too young for perimenopause but that's how it should go. You might want to check the wonders of soybean. It lessens hot flashes and is also good for preventing osteoporosis and coronary heart disease. I'm quite surprised from http://www.enhancementscosmeticsurgery.com/5-simple-tricks-jumpstart-weight-loss/ that I should eat more healthy foods and I did include soybeans to my diet in preparation for my post-menopausal.

[Anonymous]

I was thrust into early menopause because of cancer. My severe hot flashes made hubby goes to the guest room to sleep while I burned like coal. A lifelong vegetarian and supporter of holistic medicine, I rolled without the help of medications, in an effort to experience a natural occurring change to my body. Now, in the postmenopausal phase, they are less frequent but still occur, a bittersweet reminder that time is passing..... My experience for what its worth

[Anonymous]

I get night sweats, which I find annoying. But I have yet to have hot flashes.

I'm 48.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I get night sweats, which I find annoying. But I have yet to have hot flashes.

I'm 48.

during that day, that is

[Anonymous]

Menopausal hot flashes vary so much both in intensity and frequency from woman to woman. I don't get them very often, and they just feel like the burst of heat you get when you open a hot oven and lean in. They don't make me sweat and they don't last more than a few seconds. I can go months without them.

I sleep in a cool room with fans on and just a sheet year round, or I wake up too hot and sweaty. It's not bed-drenching night sweats, though.

Your natural menopause might be milder than how you feel on tamoxifen. Or it might be much the same. I hope for your sake it's milder!

[Anonymous]

I'm menopausal and get them throughout the day and night. They suck. They only last a few minutes, but I get really sweaty, which is why I start every morning with a shower! My only advice: Dress in layers, and buy some fans and put them in your handbag, desk drawer, and nightstand.