Are your hot flashes debilitating, can you work?

[Anonymous]

For various health reasons, breast cancer being one, I can not take any of the medications prescribed to help with hot flashes.
Mine are extremely debilitating. I don't sleep. At work, I often have to excuse myself and run to another room.
I am actually thinking of early retirement.
Anyone else have to make such a decision?

[Anonymous]

Thank goodness our office is always cold! I purchased sleeveless top and light weight cardigans that can be removed when needed. I also stood below good vents on occasion. I drank tons of cold water and put the cold water bottle on my neck to cool down. Some colleagues had it way worse, so know I was fortunate. I didn’t take any meds, I’m always concerned about side effects. Kept temps low to help me sleep. Poor DH was wearing winter caps to bed. Also, kept an extra pilllow so I could switch out during the night loved that fresh cool pillow! good luck!

[Anonymous]

Did you ask your doctor if you can try gabapentin? I have found it remarkably effective for night sweats.

[Anonymous]

Mine come and go. They made life miserable over the summer, when I had to take multiple showers every day to deal with the sweat. Nights were awful. Now I’ve swung in some other hormonal direction and I’m perfectly comfortable, aside from the sore breasts.

Have yours been nonstop for a long time? Retirement seems like such a drastic step if you wouldn’t do it otherwise. Is this something you could take a medical leave for?

[Anonymous]

They were really bad for three years. And yes, that was me, the red sweaty mess with my makeup running down my face and my hair soaked...all in a few minutes, sometimes three or four in an hour. In the last year of it, I bought some of those smaller freezer balls and packed them in a freezer bag in my purse. That and cold water to drink would lessen the effects.

[Anonymous]

My high school math teacher worked through her hot flashes. She was always sending us out to get her a cup of ice.

[Anonymous]

I’ve described hot flashes as ruining my life. My mother had breast cancer and I still have young children, so I didn’t want to risk HRT. They lasted 5 years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’ve described hot flashes as ruining my life. My mother had breast cancer and I still have young children, so I didn’t want to risk HRT. They lasted 5 years.

That was my thought. It was so hard to work through them, I was really disgusting, and many times I got dizzy, but HRT isn't worth it just for that. Mine passed and lessened in the years before they passed, about 3 years, maybec3 1/2 years. Seems longer!

[Anonymous]

I work long hours (24 hours sometimes, healthcare) and the night before call, sometimes I am up all night sweating. Then I face a 24 hour shift. I fall asleep behind the wheel while driving home at times.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’ve described hot flashes as ruining my life. My mother had breast cancer and I still have young children, so I didn’t want to risk HRT. They lasted 5 years.

That was my thought. It was so hard to work through them, I was really disgusting, and many times I got dizzy, but HRT isn't worth it just for that. Mine passed and lessened in the years before they passed, about 3 years, maybec3 1/2 years. Seems longer!

They didn’t bother me as much during the day, I think because they weren’t so intense that I broke out in a visible sweat. But, they woke me up several times a night for years. I felt like I was living the newborn baby stage forever, where you just go around in an exhausted fog because you’ve only slept in 90 minute increments night after night after night.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They were really bad for three years. And yes, that was me, the red sweaty mess with my makeup running down my face and my hair soaked...all in a few minutes, sometimes three or four in an hour. In the last year of it, I bought some of those smaller freezer balls and packed them in a freezer bag in my purse. That and cold water to drink would lessen the effects.

That's a good idea! Not OP, but I have also been breaking out in soaking sweats a couple of times a day. I carry a small washcloth or cloth in my purse just to wipe my face. And, I have to wear most of my hair pulled back off my neck. And, keep some extra underwear around, I case I sweat thru it.

[Anonymous]

I was practically confined to my house because of them. I relented to use hrt after 5 years. What a relief. If I worked outside the home, I would have had to quit my job. It was a nightmare.