Im a little confused and wondered if anyone knew what was happening?
Im not on Hormone treatment - I have just finished Chemo 10 days ago(6 EC) but for the past 4-6 weeks durning the night I wake up and my pillow is soaked from sweat off the back of my head… i think i only wake up because im cold and want to know why and when i check my pillow its soaked.
It only happens at night…
Last night was very bizzare, I fell asleep on couch. I must have only dozed ten minutes but when I woke the back of my head was soaked and when i looked at the couch(leather) the sweat was dripping down the couch from where my head was…
Are these weak sweats due to my body being shattered from chemo? I guess they cant be hot flushes as Im not on any hormone treatment?
Are you still having periods. I have not had a period now in about 11 or 12 weeks (finished EC chemo nearly 4 weeks ago), so am putting my sweats down to hormones due to that. I to am hormone negative so not on any hormone treatment and most of my sweats are at night - one minute I am flicking the whole duvet off and the next its getting pulled back on as I am cold. Again most of the sweat is on my head - very bizarre.
So - I spose my answer is - if you are an alien then I am too!!! Seriously tho - I was on one of the live chats one night and one of the experts on here told me that even tho we are not officially menopausal, we can still suffer some of the symptoms.
I get the sweats especially waking me up from my sleep, and it seems to mostly emanate from my head. I wake up all night long, flicking my pillows over to the cold side and even though have very little hair (just growing back from chemo) it doesn’t seem to make any difference. I have had 5 x FEC and 2 x Taxotere, finished 4 weeks ago.
Also I get hot during the day mostly from the head and want to whip my cap or wig off in public but resist doing so!
I think at 47 and due to the chemo I am now menopausal but I have no other symptoms aside from the sweating.
I have not had a full nights sleep since I started treatment, it’s hard alright!
I too sometimes get too hot during the day and just want to whip my headgear off - but have managed to resist - mostly for my own sake - but would love to see the shock on some faces!!
Just the same night sweats wet pillow (it also smells metallic!!! so I have to wash my pillowcase every morning!!).
Periods stopped between surgery in June. Started Tamoxifen between surgery and chemo starting in Aug, but no hormone tabs since.
is menopause a side effect of your treatment?
I’m on taxol, and I know it can cause menopause, and I’m getting the night sweats too, where I have to flick the pillow every now and then as it gets really hot, I’m not on anyy hormonal treatments but lots of chemos have the same effect on fertility, unfortunately.
I have added a link to a Breast Cancer Care publication Menopausal symptoms and breast cancer, that you may find helpful. The publication can either be downloaded via the link or ordered from the helpline on freephone 0808 800 6000 the lines being open Monday to Friday 9am - 5pm and Saturdays 9am - 2pm.
I had terrible night sweats about 3 years ago, aged 33, and they would come on 3-4 days before my period. My gynaecologist said this could happen as hormone levels dropped before the period, and that it can be associated with weight loss (I had dropped a size).
I’ve been on tamoxifen for about four months and I’ve had hardly any side effects. When I started taking it, I switched from coffee to green tea and cut down on alcohol. Recently I increased both caffeine and alcohol and the effects were immediate, with both hot flushes and night sweats (though not nearly as bad as they used to be before I even had BC).
I have had night sweats since my chemo (which finished in June of this year) and my last period was two days after starting chemo. I don’t know how old you are - I am now 51, so it is unlikely that they will return and hence my night sweats are down to the change, I presume.
To all you ladies who get hot in your wigs, take them off and be cool. I started off with three wigs (what a complete waste of money they were - oops sorry hubby, I know I said it would be the end if I didn’t have ‘decent’ hair!) then I progressed to scarves. However, one day when driving to work after having had chemo a couple of days before, I was so hot and bothered I decided to abandon my headwear and go nude. The way I looked at it was, it’s me that has cancer, so why should I worry what other people think. The girls I work with were absolutely great - I got a few comments, mostly how brave I was - which I wasn’t, just practical. Guess what - i felt completely and utterly liberated.
It could well be menopausal hot flushes, even if you’re not on hormonal treatment. Chemo stops your ovaries from working properly so it’s not unusual to get menopausal symptoms.