AIBU to say no one told me how bad hot flashes/night sweats are?

[FeatheredHope]

Apologies for using AIBU but I honestly wasn’t quite sure where to post this.
So I have suspected for a while now that I am in perimenopause and then last night I had a hot flash/night sweat which is my last symptom ticked.

The reason for posting is that I was completely shocked by how awful it was. It’s taken me until the morning to realise what it was because at the time, in the middle of the night, I thought something horrific was happening to me. I feel so stupid for not realising how this must really impact people’s lives.

HRT is a lifesaver. There is no need to suffer like this
^this ^

Brutal, aren't they! At one point I thought Extinction Rebellion were going to protest outside my house because my body temperature was so high it was contributing to global warming.🥵

HRT sorted me right out.😄

Brutal, aren't they! At one point I thought Extinction Rebellion were going to protest outside my house because my body temperature was so high it was contributing to global warming

Thank you @TooBigForMyBoots that has made me laugh out loud

I started elleste - by day 3 my mood was better and by day 6/7 I was able to sleep a whole night, no hot flushes, palpitations were gone. I’m a month in now, I’d forgotten how ‘normal’ felt!

I had extreme hot flushes, face and chest only day and night worse 7 to 7.
Never had hrt , all over now

I'm now on HRT and I feel like myself again.

But I started peri/menopause with the hot flushes. Worse than anything was what I called a feeling of impending doom. I would wake in the night with this feeling of utter dread and then the flush would start and I'd be boiling hot, pouring with sweat, shaking and then would find myself lying there with pounding heart realising they had gone again.

Cue, attempt to get back to sleep (after changing nightwear, etc) and finally drop off again - only to wake an hour later with the same feeling of dread and doom...and it would start all over again.

If you don't want HRT my GP originally prescribed something called Catapres. I think it was for high blood pressure - but he said they'd discovered in trials when they gave it to menopausal women it stopped the hot flushes.

It worked for me.

I've started having night sweats once a month when I'm due on my period. I'm 40. Is this a peri thing?

I'm going to the the lone voice saying I think YABU. Not everyone gets terrible night sweats or hot flushes (although obviously lots of women do, as this thread testifies). I didn't have anything that kicking the duvet off for 2 minutes couldn't resolve. Nor did I have brain fog. The worst I had was a couple of unexpected floods. Embarrassing and messy , but they didn't ruin my life - or even my jeans. At times I doubted that I actually was peri-menopausal because it wasn't the hell so often talked about here and in the media.

I get annoyed when people bang on as if a difficult menopause is inevitable when it absolutely isn't. To my mind that's scaremongering. Just like periods and childbirth every woman's experience will be the same and yet absolutely different. You can't and shouldn't expect to warn everyone about everything because no two women will have the same experience.

@Confusedandshaken you are lucky then!

It's not scaremongering to talk about something that's stressful & impacting on your life in a negative way. Don't be daft.

I’m 3 years post menopause and that symptom is not going away. They’re fucking awful and send me into a blind panic as they make my heart rate increase so much. At night we have a ceiling fan on full all night even in winter.

I’ve not tried HRT hoping they’ll ease eventually.

To be fair though I didn’t realise I was menopausal until my periods stopped and the flushes and night sweats have been my on,y symptom so I got off lightly compared to some!

A feeling of intense heat radiating from head to toe. So hot that you would happily roll naked in the snow.Then 5 minutes later you are cold.

Yep - that's it. I'm 57 and hot flushes are A LOT better than they were, but definitely have them on waking early in the morning especially after having had a glass of wine with dinner. I'm on meds for a chronic condition, so don't want to add HRT to the mix. So basically suck it up. It ain't fun, but it's doable.

If anyone could recommend a good supplement, maybe I could that?

@Confusedandshaken

No one is "scaremongering." They are just writing about their experience which they have every right to do, and that's not "banging on" about it. HTH

HRT, with the advantage of minimising osteoporosis, is the solution. My mother has had 2 vertebral collapses and is in constant pain in her eighties, and had a miserable menopause . Why would you put yourself through that?

They do vary in severity, OP. And not every woman finds them a nuisance - I welcomed them!
Living north of the central belt in Scotland, where winters can reach minus 18C, I used to wait for a hot flush before getting out of bed in the morning. It kept me toasty until I could get my dressing gown on and reach the kitchen for my coffee and porridge!
I also liked them at work - shivering in thin cotton scrubs, under a freezing cold sterile air flow in the operating theatre, was rendered bearable by a nice hot flush.
However, if yours are bothering you, see your GP for HRT as suggested by PPs.

Has anyone used a bed fan or cooling mattress or something that can help?
Bamboo sheets??

The breast cancer link is debunked now.

You don't "go through" menopause. Once you stop producing those vital hormones many women suffer debilitating symptoms unnecessarily.

@leafygarden42

A feeling of intense heat radiating from head to toe. So hot that you would happily roll naked in the snow.Then 5 minutes later you are cold.

Yep - that's it. I'm 57 and hot flushes are A LOT better than they were, but definitely have them on waking early in the morning especially after having had a glass of wine with dinner. I'm on meds for a chronic condition, so don't want to add HRT to the mix. So basically suck it up. It ain't fun, but it's doable.

If anyone could recommend a good supplement, maybe I could that?

Sage complex.

@Babdoc

They do vary in severity, OP. And not every woman finds them a nuisance - I welcomed them! Living north of the central belt in Scotland, where winters can reach minus 18C, I used to wait for a hot flush before getting out of bed in the morning. It kept me toasty until I could get my dressing gown on and reach the kitchen for my coffee and porridge! I also liked them at work - shivering in thin cotton scrubs, under a freezing cold sterile air flow in the operating theatre, was rendered bearable by a nice hot flush. However, if yours are bothering you, see your GP for HRT as suggested by PPs.

I used to wait for a hot flush too to get out of bed in the morning 😁

I don't want HRT due to family history or breast cancer and stroke. My GP agrees.

Anything else that helps?

HRT...go and have a chat with your GP OP. Just consider it a hormone deficiency that needs addressing. If your thyroid was deficient, you'd take thyroxin; well this is the same. You'll likely be prescribed estriogel and utrogestane and your symptoms will disappear. I'm 2 weeks in and it's really helping.

@Willyoujustbequiet the NICE guidelines are that people with your history should ask to be referred to a menopause specialist clinic. Contact your GO and insist you're referred. Then you'll be armed with all the facts. Good luck 🍀

*GP

OP, have you had a hot flush during the day yet? If not, you’re experiencing night sweats. While yes, they do happen with peri-menopause and menopause, they also happen with a lot of other conditions. If you start to experience hot flushes during the day as well, great (well, not GREAT), but if it continues to only be night sweats, you might want to tell your doctor and get things such as your thyroid checked.

On a side note, my grandmother got extremely hot from her hot flushes but didn’t suffer nausea or any other discomfort. She did have to pull over to the side of the road once, though, because I looked over at her (she was driving) and her glasses were all fogged up from the hot flush.