I have really struggled with hot flushes at night for the last 18 months, mainly because once I’m hot it has taken up to an hour with all the bedclothes thrown off to cool down. With 3 or 4 flushes a night, sleep deprivation has been a constant problem.
I decided I needed to replace my very old duvet and in my research I came across a Climarelle duvet. This is NASA technology and the fibres detect when you are too hot and draw the heat away from you. When you cool down, the fibres release the stored heat. Anyway, I ordered one and it arrived about 10 days ago. It’s brilliant! I don’t get anywhere near as hot as I used to and when I do have a flush, I cool down in a matter of minutes. Bliss!
The duvet wasn’t cheap, at over £100 for a king size, but it’s worth every penny, as I’m finally getting enough sleep. I’m sure DH appreciates it too, as I’m not the most cheery person when exhausted!
Thanks for the tip about the duvet. I still have odd nights when I wake in the night with a flush but I am 5 years down the line, still on Tax but had Zoladex and oopherectomy and hysterectomy! I too had 3-4 flushes at night, absolutely boiling and took ages to cooldown. But there is light at the end of the tunnel and they do get less in number and severity in time.
Hi
Your information about the Climarelle duvet is just what I’ve been looking for. I was about to post the same question whether anyone had one and if it was effective, as I didn’t want to spend £200 on something that doesn’t work.
Hot flushes are the bane of my life but 200 quid is 200 quid.
I’ve also just sent for a Chillow for £18 from Amazon, so hoping for cooler times ahead and better sleep.
Thanks.
Denisthemenace
Hi Denise will be interested if you can let us know how you get on with the chillow as when I googled it I found so many contrasting resports, from the fact it warms up from your body heat after only 30 minutes and they sometimes deflate and have to be returned to manufacturer who will replace with no problem.
I have read a cheaper alternative is one of those travel pillows that you can inflate and also insert cold water and stay colder longer, I haventa clue myself but was so hot last night I thought I’d wet the bed this morning, lol.
I have two chillows, one up on the bed and one downstairs on the settee. When I have a flush I feel I am going to faint and I find the chillow cools me down enough for that feeling to pass. The only side effect I have found is that I am now getting ear ache from falling asleep on the cold!!!.
I haven’t had a decent night’s sleep in over 3 years due to night sweats. I bought a chillow which has been great but gets warm after a while if you fall asleep on it. I read your posts about the Climarelle duvet, ordered one and it arrived yesterday (after a 3 week wait - and am still waiting for the Climarelle mattress cover and pillow!). I know it’s an expensive layout but if I can just get some sleep it will be worth it!
Didn’t sleep particularly well last night but then had had a couple of large glasses of wine and this tends to make the night sweats worse!
Will let you know how it works.
I have heard (but don’t have personal experience) that a very low dose of amitriptylene, also prescribed as an anti-depressant, can help a great deal with night flushes. The dosage is much lower than normally used for depression but it’s supposed to be pretty effective at keeping them manageable. It might be worth discussing it with your doctor.
Hey Jo
same thing happened to me! I ordered the Climarelle duvet, mattress protector and pillow, having read this thread, and it finally arrived yesterday!!! Early days to see whether it has made the difference. Personally I’d rather avoid meds, if at all possible, to control these annoying hot flushes! (mine started after EC number 4. I finished chemo 2 weeks ago. Yay!)
Lulu xx
Have got my chillow and feel a bit mixed about it. It works best for me if I have it to hand either during the night or day and sort of cuddle it to cool down. But i don’t like lying on it like a normal pillow because it’s cold even when I’m not hot, which I find uncomfortable - a bit like a cold hot water bottle.
Must confess I didn’t fancy the chillow once I read about it, for the same reasons you mentioned, Denis. I have a spare pillow by the side of my bed. When i wake up during the night in a sweat i switch to that one, which is cooler. If I wake up again, it’s back to the original pillow…Basically I play musical pillows all night long. The joys,eh???
Lulu x
Hey Lulu, did your mattress cover and pillow arrive with your quilt? I still haven’t got mine and am getting no response from The Duvet Store.
Bit of feedback after the first poor ‘wine’ nights sleep. Laid in bed last night thinking I’m really hot and the quilt just seems to be getting hot with me. Fell asleep and woke up at quarter past six, which is about 3 or 4 hours more sleep than I’ve had in the past 3 years! Hopefully it was due to the quilt and not that I just didn’t get hot!!
Hi Jo, I got my mattress protector before my duvet . About a week /ten days ago. But they sent me an email to inform me that the duvet would come later.
So did I sleep any better? Not yet but ironically my husband said he noticed a difference. What I must bear in mind is that the duvet ain’t magic and is not there to prevent me from having these blasted hot flushes (which is what wakes me up). The jury is still out.
Lulu x
Lulu, have you considered medication? For mr clonidine works, I couldn’t sleep at all with the night flushes! There are few drugs your GP can try you on to help! X
Hi Tina
I want to avoid medication, if at all possible. Mercifully I CAN sleep in between the hot flushes so it’s not desperate yet. If it gets to the stage I become an insomniac I’ll reconsider.
Nice to see the bunch of flowers back!!
Lulu x
I know what you mean, we have had enough poison in
our systems to last a lifetime, but the tamoxifen made it so bad no proper sleep is just bad! Hope your new duvet does the trick! X
I’ve been taking what ChoccieMuffin described - a very low dose (20mg/day) of Amitriptyline - to help quell the night sweats and to deal with the nerve pain from lymph node removal. It has helped quite a bit but now I’m back at work in an over-heated air-conditioned office I’m finding it’s not doing enough for the overheating at night and the lack of sleep is impacting on my return to work. However, it was fantastic at killing the nerve pain.
I’ve also tried Clonidine, which someone else mentioned, that was great at stopping the night sweats but gave me such a dry mouth (known common side effect) that I had to stop taking it.
I’m now testing out Citalopram, which is another anti-depressant, again at a very low dose (10mg/day). So far (only 5 days) it does appear to be helping, but my GP said it would take a week or so to gain the full effect. At least I’m not getting any unwanted SEs from it.
At this rate I’ll be able to start an alternative career, writing reviews on the efficacy of low dose anti-depressants for nigh sweats! But I’d rather just find one that works…
