It was winter and the entire family was gathered in my in-laws house for the holidays. My father-in-law has a built-in insert in the fireplace that could crank out heat like a volcano. It was so hot that I felt like my skin might melt.
“Is it hot in here?” I asked those around me.
Nope, it was just me.
I went outside and stood in the snow. If I thought I could get away with it, I would have stripped naked and rolled around in the cold, wet snow.
My internal temperature went whack when I woke up after a full hysterectomy at 32. I was diagnosed with estrogen-supported breast cancer, and surgery was part of my treatment, as well as tamoxifin. It was a double-whammy that this barely 30-year old saw coming.
Battling cancer as a young mom and wife and person was huge. The common age for menopause is 51. But at 32, menopause became my biggest challenge. In the beginning I had up to 70 hot flashes a day (yep, I counted them). I never knew if it was normal hot where everyone feels it or if it was Suzie hot.
I flipped the sheets and covers off like Flipper at night. I once loved to lie close with Richard, but his body felt too warm next to mine. I couldn’t sleep, and the next day I slugged to work, and then came home to take care of my children and family. I wouldn’t take my high heels off because I knew if I did, I’d crash.
It was a hard time. A tough introduction to menopause.
Doctors said the hot flashes were so severe because menopause was surgery-induced. All I knew is that I was no sissy, but hot flashes were kicking my hiney.
I started on a journey to find help. My first step was to start taking a daily dose of Vitamin E (D-alphatocopherol is preferred over synthetic vitamin E, according to many menopause sites) and a daily vitamin. The response was immediate, at least for me. The hot flashes didn’t go away, but they did ebb. (More is not better with Vitamin E — it can be harmful if you take more than what is suggested.)
I also eliminated caffeine from my diet completely. Again, a little more relief.
I changed my diet from processed foods to more whole foods. I started walking every day. I started drinking bottled water throughout the day. All of these brought my hot flashes down to a more liveable number.
Would they have gone away anyway? Perhaps. But I needed relief NOW. I knew that others said that they barely registered the coming and going of menopause, but for me it would be like ignoring a freight train roaring through my body.
I look back at that time and I remember how tired I was in the beginning of menopause. One day I was walking up a trail in a park. Normally I would have skipped up the rocks, but I lagged behind. I was exhausted. I was hot. My face was red. My body was tired. I sat down on the rocks and cried like a baby.
I felt like I had lost me. Part of it was that I was too young to be going through menopause. The other part is what many women feel, no matter how old they are when they go throught he Big M.
But I kept going, and over the next several months I found normalcy. Yes, I was menopausal, but I was healthier due to my diet, my daily vitamins, my water, my walking, and my body began to adjust.
The other day I was speaking to a group of teens in Kansas City at the Edge conference. I asked the usual question:
“Is it hot in here?”
All the teens shook their head. (Here is a pic of me and the other speaker, Jeremy Kingsley, with one of the youth groups who flew in to attend Edge – aren’t they awesome?)
Okay, it was Suzie hot–again. I just smiled at them and kept teaching, taking a quick sip from the bottle of water by my side. It was one of my two or three hot flashes I have a week now.
Let’s talk “help” for hot flashes. What methods or tips or treatment did you take (or are taking) for hot flashes? Is it soy, or hormone treatments, or progesterone, or something alternative? Though these were not an option for me due to my diagnosis with cancer, I’m grateful to read what works for you! Share links to great sites (not commercial sites selling stuff, but informative sites that give great advice or connections with others who are peri-pre-or-post menopausal).
We all would love to hear what worked, and what did not, or perhaps just want to have one big group hug as we celebrate–and commiserate –the Big M.
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I too, went into instant menopause…I had my ovaries removed at age 40 as part of my treatment for “estrogen dependent” cancer (ER/PR positive), and took tamoxifen for five years, but kept my uterus! (Long story!)
In the beginning I felt instant relief (I was off the chart PMS’ing). Later, I wondered just how many major decisions I had made under the influcence of estrogen. Scary, huh?
The hot flashes came in waves on a scale of 7-10 in intensity. I used natural remedies like Vit. E (the expensive one–that’s the main difference!) 400 IU, and tofu (I ate it by the block!).
Until…three years later, my oncologist said, “Whaaaaaaaaat? You can’t do that…you’re giving your tumor snacks!” I was horrified! Estrogen dependent tumors can’t have any estrogen (synthetic, natural, organic–nada!).
So I weaned myself off tofu and it was awful…the hot flashes came back in full-strength doses. I learned to layer my clothes, taking off, and putting back on what was needed. I switched my wardrobe to breathable fabrics: 100% cotton, linen, anything that comes from a plant (not machine!). I got those “breakable ice packs”–instant ice, no refrigeration and had them at my desk at work and threw one down my bra and at the nape of my neck.
My fan was my constant companion–with and without batteries–and I drank ice water by the gallons.
I switched our sheets to 100% breathable cotton (absolutely no covers!). Since I would drench through every nightgown…I had several cotton ones by the nightstand ready for a change.
I was an exercise fanatic, so I continued what I was doing–running every day and working out.
Today–11 years later–I’m hot flash free. None–not one! When my peers, ages 51-55, are experiencing their first hot flash, I smile, give advice, and think, “Been there, done that!”
I entered menopause the way I delivered…au naturale, baby!
Oh, I almost forgot: I do have memory loss!
For more info, check out: http://www.menopause.org/default.htm
I have to stay away from soy or anything like that, as well, because my cancer was estrogen receptive too.
Now I have to be careful and informed on bone density since I’ve been menopausal since my baby years. : )
Last night I took off most of my clothes and ran around in my backyard in the pouring rain. A good way to cool down. It was about 95 degrees and we have been desperate for rain. I felt like Glen Close in Skylark during the Dust Bowl. We live in the country, no one can see our backyard, or what goes on in it. I was home alone. It began to rain and I looked out the patio door, from inside my cool air conditioned home, and remembered how my sister, brother and I would love to run and play outside in the rain as kids. When suddenly I realized that nothing was stopping me from doing that now. I took off my overblouse, leaving only a tank top on, slipped off my capris, leaving on a tasteful pair of briefs, and slid open the patio door and went running around the backyard in the rain. It felt fabulous! And I felt wickedly young and fearless. That said, my thoughts about hot flashes? Run outside in the rain or turn on the sprinkler and pretend you’re ten again.
Ah, I wear wicking wear sleepwear most nights. I also am on a very low dose of the birth control pill which really helps with the hot flashes and moods. I only have hot flashes on the last couple days of taking the blank pills. I also ntice that by the end of the blank pills, my mood changes. I become more fearful and less confident. While I know being on the pill may not be the absolute best thing for me, I am in to quality of life!