Has anyone else been having hot flushes at night that isn’t on hormone therapy yet?
Every night for the past couple of weeks I’ve found it hard to get to sleep as I’m boiling hot, throw covers off, then get too cold, then back under covers, boiling hot. My pillow is boiling hot under my head too. I have tried sleeping on top of the bed with cotton thin nightie, too cold.
I finished chemo on the 2nd. Wondering if this is a pre-periods coming back thing? I used to have bad heavy periods due to poly cystic ovaries, so I’d have hot =flushes before and during those. But I had 2 periods on chemo a few months apart and no hot flushes, they were really heavy though.
Hi El Kat,
Did you get flushes with the chemo? I had flushes all through FEC and Tax and then the five weeks wait to surgery and then of course ever since dear old leprechaun Tam O’Xifen came into my life.
For a while I found I was getting period pain but no periods (I’m a decade older than you… ancient… but family hisotry suggests a decade off natural menopause) as well as flushes.
I tried the naked under a thin duvet for a while (bet not many vicars tell you that!!!) and often ended up with arms and legs stuck out at right angles looking like an oversized pink dog.
Have you tried a fan? I can’t stand the whirring, keeps me awake but others find it helps
A lot of women complain about night flushes during chemo, presumably because of the hormone disturbances. I had some following the birth of my first child as well as terrible night sweats during menopause. Some of us seem either to have bigger hormone fluctuations or to react more strongly to hormone fluctuations throughout our lives.
There is something called a Chillow which some people find helps. You could also try layering your bed coverings–an old-fashioned sheet and blanket, or an empty duvet cover with a blanket, fleece, eiderdown or something not too heavy on top. The idea is that you through the top layer off or pull it back on without getting too chilled in between. I fear there is no ideal solution, though.
Yes me too, they do seem to have improved slightly but my feet are always boiling hot in bed so I sleep with them stuck out the side. I put it down to yet another tax side effect. I am not due to start tamoxifen til after surgery I really really hope it doesn’t get worse then, am so tired and fed up with interrupted sleep!
I’ve just started getting the hot flushes and have my last chemo next week. Maybe it’s menopausal symptoms from your chemo? Your ovaries can kick back in, but it can take a while.
Horrible isn’t it? I’ve kicked OH out of the bedroom for now as I’m tossing and turning all night. Wake up BOILING, throw the duvet off, cool down and go back to sleep and then wake up FREEZING and pull the duvet back on etc etc. I’ve been having really horrible dreams too - I think because I’m frantically pulling the duvet on and off all night.
Is it going to be like this for the next 5 years on Tamoxifen? It’s going to drive me bonkers!
Chillow - yes, I am a fan. I have two now as they are a bit smaller than a real pillow and by having the two I have a larger area of cooler head rest. By morning the chillow is often quite hot to the touch but I sleep better with it.
Just re-read your post El Kat. I too had a couple of mega periods during chemo - evidently they are mega because of the way the chemo effects the blood or somesuch (I asked the stand-in onc cos I had the worst ever period pain but his manner wasn’t great - was so glad when my consultant came back and as he predicted I had no more).
Sandytoes, yes I get weird dreams, though less so now than during chemo etc. I assumed it was just stress working its way out through dreams… hope they soon pass for you.
(Sorry about typos - anyone else find their spelling is worse now?!)
My typing went out the window during chemo–it was partly shaky hands from the steroids, but also I found I was making odd mistakes like typing a different word than the one I intended, as well as more typos generally.
Disturbed sleep and tiredness also seem to play a part.
It might be worth asking for something to help with sleep. I believe there are treatments now which aren’t habit-forming. I had so much trouble with night sweats and sleepless nights when I went through menopause that I had to go on HRT–which may have contributed to my BC.
Typos were a part of every chemo cycle for me - eventually learned not to write important emails till the first few days had gone by!
Re hot flushes, I had horrendous flushes with an early menopause, helped by HRT, never quite so bad again when I eventually came off it.
They increased when I developed a lung problem before breast cancer and continue episodically now. Not hormone dependent so perhaps HRT did not contribute, can’t be helped, I could not have continued without HRT at that time.
My only practical solution to hot flushes now is wearing natural fabrics and layers easily whipped on and off. At least now I don’t have a wig to whip off as well.
3 weeks after last chemo and on the nights i dont have a sleeping pill(gp says only every other night)i spend half the night awake deciding whether or not i want to be in the bed or on it!.. I’m not getting sweats or flushes just really restless, not had a period for 7 years as i was having the contraseptive injection , so wouldnt know where i am hormonally!
Thanks all - I’m not the only one getting flushes without being on Tamoxifen then - was getting a little concerned. I’ll mention it to my BCN next time we speak.
I’ve got a chillow anyway but finding it way too cold on my baldy head - whereas when i used it when I had hair and had hormonal flushes on my period, it used to cool me down enough to help me sleep. But then hair is a buffer. I’ve tried using the chillow with a sleep cap, the effects arent the same. Can’t win can we? ha ha.
I really want to ask my OH to move back onto the mattress on the floor but I feel way too mean. Id have thought with all the tossing and turning and covers going on and off, pillow being flipped would have driven him out but no. One night he cuddled up to me and then exclaimed “god you’re really really boiling hot aren’t you” and I said “yep, I’m not exaggerating”
El K - in my baldy phase I put my chillow inside the pillow case on top of my pillow as it I too suffered from ‘eek that’s way too cold’ when I had no hair. It seemed to help me. It’s not the way I’d have chosen to learn the function of hair as a layer of insulation, but hey ho! The weirdest thing was the first time it rained onto my scarf cover bald pate and I thought ‘ouch rain is hard’!
I too have had hot flushes on Tax, due to start Tamoxifen in 4 weeks, got the pillow flipping down to a fine art now and getting a little fed up with the duvet and turban on/off game all night - boiling/freezing and back to boiling - worst of the heat seems to be from my head I think.
Will look into trying a chillow though, I remember someone had suggested this to me previously, but I must’ve forgot - do it now before idea escapes fuddled brain.