Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Chat

Join the discussion and chat with other Mumsnetters about everyday life, relationships and parenting.

Original poster

What do hot flushes actually feel like?

63 replies

evenflo3 · 03/10/2020 17:24

Just that really - for a few weeks now I've suddenly been getting very hot in the face as the early evening kicks in.

Naturally I thought Covid first but don't have an actual temp just a red hot face and eyes!

Could this be Peru menopause

OP posts:
BitOfFun · 03/10/2020 19:48

Chillows are great. Get one from B&M/Home Bargains marketed to pets as cooling mats though: LOADS cheaper for exactly the same technology.

BitOfFun · 03/10/2020 19:50

I'm in medical menopause as part of cancer treatment, so it hit very suddenly and unpleasantly. It's mostly over now, after two years though.

AnyFucker · 03/10/2020 20:19

My symptoms have clashed horribly with the Covid-19 pandemic but thankfully my absolute worst time was last summer

Imagine being in level 3 PPE on ICU for 12 hours a day in March, April and May. We had some lovely hot weather during that time.

I used to cry in the car on the way to work at the thought of it. My temp control was fucked. A lot of the time I couldn't actually see as the visor steamed up.

Please, please I don't get redeployed again. I don't think I could physically do it.

Interested in this thread?

Then you might like threads about these subjects:

Menopause Women's health
AnyFucker · 03/10/2020 20:21

Ah, BOF. I hope you too are on the other side x

mineofuselessinformation · 03/10/2020 20:28

At the start, a hot head, neck and chest, with glamorous sweating around my hairline.
It has now progressed to a full on 'being in the flames of Mount Doom' (from Lord of the Rings type feeling - thankfully not as often though.
Swings and roundabouts and all that...... Hmm

Inextremis · 03/10/2020 20:31

I've been having hot flushes for 12 years now (I'm 61). Honestly, the best thing I ever bought to help me with them is a hand held USB chargeable fan from Amazon. It was around £11, and I can use it anywhere for immediate relief. Highly recommended - chillows are good too, but the fan can go in a handbag for use during the day. I'm dowm to maybe 3 or 4 flushes a day now - and that's a massive improvement!

Aquamarine1029 · 03/10/2020 20:32

I had them before HRT, and they were unbelievable. It would start in my chest and then radiate up through my neck and down into my abdomen. I'm not joking when I say that there were several times when I honestly thought I was going to combust. My husband felt my back once during one and he wanted to take me to hospital. Grin

Thank Christ for HRT.

Aquamarine1029 · 03/10/2020 20:34

To add to what I said above...

I never swear during or after them, which I always found odd. It was just this incredible internal heat that lasted for about 20-30 seconds and then would stop.

Aquamarine1029 · 03/10/2020 20:35

*sweat, not swear. Haha.

TheNewLook · 03/10/2020 20:44

Horrendous that women have to go through this. For so long as well.

I’m not there yet but am wondering, how soon can you go on hrt once you have menopause symptoms?

Is it still considered risky? My aunt went on hrt about 20 years ago and was diagnosed with breast cancer six months later. Probably coincidence but she has always linked it to that.

TheOrigRights · 03/10/2020 20:53

Blimey. I haven't had these, but I have terrible night sweats - I'm literally wet and my bedding and mattress are soaked and cold. My neighbours must think I am a bit obsessed with washing my bed linen!
Periods are pretty regular still but def heavier (filling a mooncup in a couple of hrs).
I'm 50. I have a smear in a couple of weeks time so may mention it then.

Calabasa · 03/10/2020 21:06

i've had a couple of hot flashes.. and its like my whole body temperature comes up.. but when i take it, its normal.. 36.8ish .. but i suddenly feel like i can't cool down and the sweat just drips off me!

They last ages though.

Justmuddlingalong · 03/10/2020 21:13

Mine feels like when I've had a bath that's been too hot. When I get out and start to get dried I feel all clammy, woozy and shaky and have to try and cool down. That's what my hot flushes feel like. 🤪

ThatsHowItStarts · 03/10/2020 21:15

They've told me I can't have HRT as I've had blood clots in the past. Gp said the best thing was to keep my coil in.

ThatsHowItStarts · 03/10/2020 21:17

Chillows are great. Get one from B&M/Home Bargains marketed to pets as cooling mats though: LOADS cheaper for exactly the same technology.

I've just ordered one from Amazon. That'll teach me not to skim read! 😂

AfterSchoolWorry · 03/10/2020 21:19

For me a sudden feeling of heat, face flushed and dry, whole body drenched in sweat, palpitations, sometimes feeling faint.

At its worst it would happen 50 times in 24 hours. But as well as these episodes I also had a constant baseline feeling of heat and sweat.

I went on HRT. Much better now.

DramaAlpaca · 03/10/2020 21:24

I got off fairly lightly in that I didn't have flushes as such, just felt like my internal thermostat was turned up by several degrees so I never felt cold. I had occasional night sweats though, eurgh. I'm out the other side now, thank God.

RuffleCrow · 03/10/2020 21:25

What's the scientific reason for them, I wonder? I know it's hormonal but beyond that?

beenrumbled · 03/10/2020 21:41

I would recommend chillies. They do help.

chasingmytail4 · 03/10/2020 22:27

@DramaAlpaca

I got off fairly lightly in that I didn't have flushes as such, just felt like my internal thermostat was turned up by several degrees so I never felt cold. I had occasional night sweats though, eurgh. I'm out the other side now, thank God.
Same here re internal thermostat. I am always warm. Watching TV with hubby now, he’s in his jumper snuggled under a blanket and I’m sitting here in my vest!
Boiledeggandtoast · 03/10/2020 22:37

@Crocky

It feels like I imagine a kettle would feel. A sudden and rising boiling from inside. I don’t sweat during these but I have suffered badly with night sweats. These tailed off last year.
I'd not thought of it like that before, but it is a very good description!

Sadly mine are still going, six years in.

LizzieMacQueen · 03/10/2020 22:40

@RuffleCrow

What's the scientific reason for them, I wonder? I know it's hormonal but beyond that?

I wonder that too. For what reason could it be useful for our survival, for this to happen?

yeOldeTrout · 03/10/2020 23:28

I thought that menop hot blushes were something to do with an adrenaline rush (that has to do with hormone dips?). I'll post again if I can find a plain English explanation.

Aquamarine1029 · 04/10/2020 00:24

menop hot blushes

This is my most favourite typo ever. GrinGrinGrin

BensonStabler · 04/10/2020 05:37

Like the Devil has come to collect your soul 🤒😈

Please create an account

To comment on this thread you need to create a Mumsnet account.

Join Mumsnet Log In

This thread is closed and is no longer accepting replies. Click here to start a new thread.