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Menopause

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Original poster

What do your hot flushes feel like?

27 replies

ParisUSM · 15/05/2018 11:32

Mine have moved up a gear over the past couple of weeks (hurrah, I must be closer to the end!), probably having one every hour or so now, so not bad compared to others.

For ages, I've been regularly waking up every 90 minutes or so overnight with what feels like an adrenaline rush. Now when I wake up I immediately have a hot flush and was wondering if that's other people's experiences too?

Night sweats have gone, and I don't sweat during a hot flush (to be honest I very rarely sweat at all compared to other people, no idea why). My glasses do fog up though which is a new one on me, haha.

OP posts:

CheeseCakeSunflowers · 15/05/2018 11:50

I was being woken by hot flushes then they changed to just coming on immediately after I woke so what your experiencing does sound similar. After 5 years since they started they are now quite mild and manageable and I feel that I have come out the other side. The brain fog and irritation has gone too.

Crispbutty · 15/05/2018 16:02

"Mine have moved up a gear over the past couple of weeks (hurrah, I must be closer to the end!)"

dont be too sure... see my thread I posted today..

Original poster

ParisUSM · 15/05/2018 16:26

Well, every day brings me closer to the end, regardless 😊

OP posts:

DaftCat · 15/05/2018 16:52

When I had them during a drug induced artificial menopause they felt like someone pouring hot water over my head, the heat would kind of make its way down my body and then vanish. My face got incredibly hot and red. It was horrible. Now I know what’s going to happen I’m dreading the ‘real’ menopause

lljkk · 15/05/2018 20:41

Menopause matters thread (interesting).
As usual with all the menop things, I've had versions of this since I was a teenager.

IJustHadToNameChange · 15/05/2018 20:47

I feel very warm and restless, as if I'm at the end of the worlds' busiest, stuffiest party and I haven't enjoyed myself all night, whilst turning a tremendous shade of tomato red.

I have hyperhidrosis normally, so apart from the redness, the rest of the symptoms are manageable.

Original poster

ParisUSM · 15/05/2018 21:00

Thanks for that thread lljkk, recognise so much there, including the triangle flush and the lightheaded disorientated feeling. I had drenching nightsweats early on like some on there (though only around my chest), and am really thankful I don't have daytime sweats - really hope that continues.

Right now I feel like I did when I lived in Canada during the summer - it's that kind of humid feeling.

All so much easier to cope with when I now it's all typical so thanks.

OP posts:

AwkwardSquad · 15/05/2018 21:21

In their most recent manifestation, it feels like sunburn. Had the night sweats, mostly chest area too, but not getting them at the moment. All fun and games...

Original poster

ParisUSM · 16/05/2018 11:46

Does anyone have moments when they have all the feelings of an impending hot flush, but then just have a period of intense irritation? Or am I just becoming an old crab on top of everything else?

OP posts:

jimijack · 16/05/2018 11:53

I sweat profusely, feel like I am trapped in a hot room with a furnace in front of me.
Strip off, then feel yuck, horrible, dirty and like I smell.
It's worse when I enter a building or shop, glasses steam up, I feel very uncomfortable.

It's shite being a girl.

AwkwardSquad · 16/05/2018 19:40

I have plenty of periods of intense irritation but I haven’t noticed anything else happening just before or at the same time. The irritation is definitely a symptom in its own right!

Original poster

ParisUSM · 03/06/2018 19:03

Can I ask if those with hot flushes have the same intensity every day for the duration, or if they still come and go after your final period? Having them every 30 minutes on the dot now, which is a bit of a bind.

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NickyNora · 03/06/2018 20:50

My hot flushes got much worse in every respect when my periods stopped.

Emerald13 · 03/06/2018 21:05

And when hot flashes stop, the worse and more dangerous symptoms will start. The hot flashes are an indication that there is still an amount of estrogen in the body.

lljkk · 03/06/2018 21:35

dangerous??

Emerald13 · 04/06/2018 05:32

Menopause isn’t just hot flashes, it is about longterm consequences for our health.
When we lose all our estrogen our body starts to deteriorate, our bones, brain, skin and our internal organs will age faster and our overall health will be affected.
That’s what I mean saying dangerous symptoms.

ragged · 04/06/2018 05:37

Should ageing men take estrogen supplements, too?

Emerald13 · 04/06/2018 06:00

They use testosterone but they don’t lose their hormones as quickly and sharply as we do.

MrsSchadenfreude · 04/06/2018 06:17

Well this is cheery...

user546425732 · 04/06/2018 06:31

Mine start in my chest and spread outwards, I feel hot and clammy and sick which makes me worry but I know it's just a hot flash as it's been thoroughly investigated. I've been getting them for 10 years now.

ragged · 04/06/2018 07:51

So it's the sudden loss that makes estrogen loss a problem? Therefore one could taper down estrogen supplements (from premenopause to nothing) and be fine? Over how many months or years? Seems like 2 yrs ought to be long enough.

Women tend to age more healthily than men, overall.

Original poster

ParisUSM · 04/06/2018 07:52

I don't think scare mongering is very helpful, I know many women post menopause who are doing very well.

I am now having alternating hot flushes and chills with nausea every 30 minutes so here's hoping this doesn't last ten years

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ferrier · 04/06/2018 07:59

Don't worry unduly. I had an artificial menopause with similar symptoms. I now seem to be in the real thing and the hot flushes are (so far) quite mild being really just a brief cold sweat sort of chill that lasts say half a minute and are not obvious to anyone except me.

FuelledByButter · 04/06/2018 08:05

I haven't had a period in ten months and I'm going through quite a bad phase of hot flushes and night sweats.
For me I think it's like my body is over sensitive to heat. Hot flushes feel like I'm sweating but skin is usually actually dry. I do go red but not too badly. I always think it feels as if my skeleton is glowing red hot and one of those heat sensitive cameras would have me lit up like a beacon.
I think I had a huge oestrogen drop off a few months ago as some menopause symptoms got scarily worse.

LittleCandle · 04/06/2018 08:19

If it was a flush, that would be fine, but I am suddenly radiating heat like I have been dropped in boiling water! I go bright red and sweat pops out all over the place! I have deodorant at work so that I can top up during the day (my work place is very hot) and I am planning on stocking up on Magicool so I can spray myself when necessary. My sleep is disturbed as I am too hot and my lovely memory foam mattress retains the heat and blasts it back at me. Don't suggest I change it, because a) I can't afford to and b) the rest of the time I suffer from the cold and it helps to keep me warm. I cannot take HRT and it made my already high blood pressure much worse. I have thyroid issues as well, which are currently being ignored as all my thyroid symptoms are 'my age'. Funny how when I upped my dose dramatically, without telling the doctor, the non-menopause symptoms disappeared.

I am only in the first months of this and there are times when I get so hot I think I am going to pass out or puke on the floor. I absolutely hate it and try not to think that this could last for years and years yet.

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