Ladies, when did your hot flashes end??? (cancer, removed, remedies)
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Mine started late 40's....i'm now 50 and they're still going strong.
I hate when i'm talking with people at work and my glasses fog up because my hot flash is so overpowering....how embarassing....
I'm also getting anywhere from 3-5 hours of broken sleep per night. I've tried the whole OTC, black cohosh route (no prescribed HRT's though) and i've just decided to suffer through them
Mine started at age 50, just a few mild ones per day. Then by age 52 they were much worse, I went on HRT and they were gone completely. Tried to wean myself off HRT and they came roaring back, 10-15 per day with about 3 being total meltdown, sweat running from my face and scalp all the way down my back, even my legs were sweating! So I went back on HRT for a year and ended up in the ER with deep vein thrombosis (blood clot in calf). So no more HRT for me. That was about 1 and 1/2 years ago. My doc was willing to let me try any prescription that would supposedly help, we tried everything from Paxil to gabapentin. I tried Amberen, I tried Estroven, black cohosh, everything, nothing helped even a little. I had electric fans in every room. I was having at least 20 flashes per day, about 6 or more were total meltdowns. I would wake up drenched at least 4 times per night. Suddenly about 2 months ago I went from ^^^THAT^^^ to having maybe 3 or 4 teeny tiny flashes per day. I hope this is the end (I'm 56). I feel like I won't be sure that I'm over it until hot weather returns next summer. Meanwhile I am SO happy to be almost done with them. Starting to feel like a normal person again.
I never had the feelings of dread or anxiety, but I definitely had triggers which included: anything even remotely stressful, heat, exercise, sunshine, red wine, spicy food, embarrassment, etc. Plus many which had no trigger at all. I also had RAGING mood swings. I feel so sorry for the way I sometimes acted to my hubby.
Very inspiring! To just imagine a day without a hot flash is exciting!
At the 6 year mark myself I do sense a lessening of intensity with most flashes but it has also cooled off a lot from the swampy summer so that may be a factor.
When you say suddenly 2 months ago they calmed down significantly did you do anything specific or was it spontaneous?
I went into surgical menopause instantly in August 2005 at the age of 33 when I had a total hysterectomy for endometriosis and both of my ovaries were removed. I was a complete wreck for three years. I could not function without some kind of HRT, but I couldn't find one my body would absorb. I tried all the commercial ones (except Premarin which I refused), even the vaginal ring, and went to a compounding pharmacy and tried customized troches, drops, creams, you name it. Not just estrogens but progesterone and testosterone as well. Either it didn't work or made me worse. I had fifteen to twenty hotflashes per day but those were a piece of cake compared to the drenching nightsweats, debilitating joint and muscle pain, migraines (never had a migraine in my life until surgical menopause), brain fog, fatigue, forgetfulness, mood swings, weight gain. I had always been 116 to 120 lbs before my hysterectomy and suddenly found myself at 126 to 132. Even with hrt my levels tested ridiculously low and I had constant symptoms. FINALLY I got on Vivelle Dot patch. I don't know why I had not tried that one before. Climara is another hormone patch I had tried first and it didn't work. I am still on the Vivelle Dot patch seven years later but have very very slowly weaned down (I cut the patch myself). If I run out or can't get to the pharmacy for my refill and have to go more than a day without it, the hot flashes start again and all the other symptoms. Still. I think because I have no ovaries that I would always have menopausal symptoms to an extent. I am still terrified of going off the patch, and pray they never stop making it! I had to go down to part time at work for a number of years because I could not function. The patch gave me back my life and I have been back to working full time for a year now. I also started exercising more regularly since I was no longer in so much pain from endometriosis (and had my energy back and no more muscle/joint pain on the Vivelle Dot) and I find that exercise helps regulate my hormones as well. I have kept a very regular and strict schedule of exercise five days a week or more for the last seven years. Unfortunately, due to the trauma of surgical menopause, I developed anorexia nervosa and went through living hell with that for a long time. I am in my second year of recovery from that (having reached a normal weight from very underweight for six years). That plus menopause and being on thyroid meds for 27 years has put my bones in the osteoporosis range, severely so. In fact the year after my hysterectomy, in 2006 I had my first DEXA scan as a baseline due to all my risk factors and surgical menopause. I was shocked that even then my numbers were very low. T score was -3.2 in spine and -1.8 hip. I held off on any osteoporosis meds until 2014 when I had my fourth dexa scan and my scores plummeted to -3.8 spine (hip stayed the same). It seems the HRT didn't do much to protect me, nor did loads of weight bearing exercise or calcium/d supplements. But then the eating disorder and low weight probably accelerated the loss.
At any rate, I still get the occasional hot flash if I am under extreme stress, but my hrt helps a lot. I do worry about long term exposure to these hormones, although the Vivelle Dot is a bioidentical estradiol. I just can't fathom living without it though.
Very inspiring! To just imagine a day without a hot flash is exciting!
At the 6 year mark myself I do sense a lessening of intensity with most flashes but it has also cooled off a lot from the swampy summer so that may be a factor.
When you say suddenly 2 months ago they calmed down significantly did you do anything specific or was it spontaneous?
It was just spontaneous. I suddenly realized that I hadn't had a major meltdown in days and the ones I was getting were so mild I didn't even have to turn on a fan or get a paper towel to dry off. I don't think it's just the cooler weather (I hope!!!!), because I would even get them in a cool air conditioned house. I guess I really won't know for sure til next summer, but oh my gosh, I feel so much better!
Last edited by TheShadow; 11-21-2015 at 07:07 AM..
I'd take my periods back any day rather than suffer with hot flashes multiple times almost every night and sometimes through the day. At least my periods didn't wake me up every night and only lasted a week each month, not for 10 freaking years LOL
Yeah.. I know. I'm sorry that you (and others) are experiencing this.
It was just spontaneous. I suddenly realized that I hadn't had a major meltdown in days and the ones I was getting were so mild I didn't even have to turn on a fan or get a paper towel to dry off. I don't think it's just the cooler weather (I hope!!!!), because I would even get them in a cool air conditioned house. I guess I really won't know for sure til next summer, but oh my gosh, I feel so much better!
SO happy to hear this! Enjoy the tapering off and let's hope it's for keeps!
I am in the 6th year of hot flashes. I feel that I am coping well without HRT so have no plans to use it at this point. After 6 years they are coming less frequently and are less intense than in years past. However, I am very much looking forward to a time when this is concluded.
If you have not used hormones I would like to know how many years your hot flashes went on for before they finally stopped. I need something positive to visualize!
Thanks for contributing!
Honestly, I know this is not much help to you, but here's my story:
I had a hysterectomy at age 40, including ovaries. They slapped a hormone patch on me in the recovery room. I had one hot flash in the hospital.
Around age 47 or so, about the same age my mother went through natural menopause, I quit taking the very minimal dose of HRT I'd been taking, and never had a hot flash or any other sort of issues.
I also never had any significant PMS, other than a craving for chocolate sometimes, and every once in awhile I'd twist off into a major project and couldn't understand why the rest of my family was looking at me like I was a Tasmanian devil.
Oh, I take that back - I did have migraines occasionally right before my period. I haven't had one since the hysterectomy.
I guess I've never been all that sensitive to hormonal ebbs and flows. I honestly never had any menopause symptoms other than the ONE hot flash the night after the hysterectomy and the occasional migraine. So I guess I'm really lucky. Menopause was the best thing that ever happened to me! I LOVE IT. I wish my waist hadn't gotten thicker but overall, it's a great trade off. I hated having periods and mine got completely out of control the last two years before I finally had the hysterectomy (due to precancerous cells in my uterine lining and a family history of ovarian cancer).
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