Does anyone have a magic answer to coping with hot flushes? I have had a mastectomy with a TRAM recon just over 3 years ago for recurrent DCIS. I have been taking sage tablets as I thought they helped with my hot flushes - but it seems what I was getting was just a taster of the real thing! I am sure that sometimes I am on the verge of spontaneous combustion!!! Does anyone have any suggestions??
My flushes were first caused by Tamoxifen, and I would flush horrendoulsy and then shiver with damp cold, and was mostly a soggy mess. Spent last summer finding excuses to go for a drive so I could be in the car with the ac on!
I found that acupuncture really helped me, after the first session the number of hot flushes I had decreased considerably, and continued to virtually nothing for a while. They’ve just started up again, so I am hoping that it will work again! But for some women acupuncture unfortunately doesn’t work- so it may or may not be worth a go.
I also tried evening primrose- nothing!
Mindfulness meditation - at least would stop me getting upset about it!
I could only wear silk, bamboo and cotton, every other material would make the flushes worse. I wouldnt mind if I could wear silk everyday!!
Cooler scarves, ice packs under pillows, fans, drinking lots and lots of water - they all helped a bit
I cant remember anything else I tried, but I too would love to hear any other suggestions
My hot flushes started in Fec 2 and were horrendous meaning that I never slept for more than 90 minutes. Was prescribed Venlafaxine and then swapped to Mirtazapine - both with some temporary success.
I have had some success with acupuncture. But a recent change of brand from Redon to Generic has made things very much worse, so I plan to ask Pharmacist to get Redon brand for me in future. Personally, I haven’t found that cooling my environment has any impact on my flushes - I can feel red hot from within but also cold on my skin.
I too would love to hear what others have tried and succeeded with.
I keep a copious amount of refreshers ice lollies in my freezer to eat certainly helps (am also hooked on them) lol!!
You don’t say whether the problem also occurs at night. I have found that having a ‘Chillow’ next to me in bed to roll onto when I have a night sweat does help to cool me down. I bought mine via Amazon I think.