Found a cure for my hot flashes!

Txblueeyes

Okay Ladies...I had to share this with you! I will be 50 in May and was diagnosed Oct. 10, 2011. Chemo threw me into menopause, and I had the worst hot flashes/night sweats! They continued through radiation, and became worse after starting Tamoxifen. I couldn't sleep through the night! I would wake up at least 3-4 times during the night raging with heat and sweat...even with the A/C set around 70 and the ceiling fan going at full blast. During the day, I had many more hot flashes. If I went shopping, they seemed to always hit at the checkout, with sweat dripping down my face and back.



In December, I took a wonderful trip to New York City, but came home with "the crud"...coughing, sore throat, etc. When I had a cough during chemo, my oncologist suggested that I should take Mucinex DM, so when I got sick in December, I went and bought some. One month later, I still have a lingering cough (it's cedar season in Central Texas!), but I have not had a single hot flash since starting the Mucinex DM!!! For me, this has changed my life! Getting a full night's sleep, is amazing! I'm not sure if this will work for anyone else, but I had to share my "cure" in case it can help someone else!

Anonymous

Just wanted to tell you to be sure it doesn't have any benedryl in it...benedryl and tamoxifen are contraindicated together (benedryl decreases effectiveness of tamox).  You might want to google the two (mucinex and tamox) and make sure they're compatible.

But if they're okay, congrats for stumbling on a cure for yourself!  I take effexor (75 mg) for my tamox, chemo-pause, hot flashes. So far they are more "warm" flashes, so I can deal with them as they only last a minute or so.

Claire

Txblueeyes

I shared this with my oncologist this past week during my check up. His only remark was to try lowering the dosage (I'm currently taking 2 regular strength twice a day) once the cough disappears and see if it's still effective on my hot flashes.

Justsayyes

A friend of mine takes mucinex daily as prescribed by her ENT.  I can't recall it's benefit, but I think it helps prevent her vertigo episodes. She also has hearing loss from a virus and wears a hearing aid.

The DM ingredient, dextromethorphan, is being studied as a treatment for MS.  Here is a link to an article about that:

http://www.the-scientist.com/?articles.view/articleNo/30888/title/Cough-Syrup-Treats-MS-/

I recently stopped taking Estroven for hot flash prevention, and if my hot flashes ramp up I will certainly try Mucinex DM.  Thanks for the tip!

GtownTx

I've had extreme hot flashes for a couple of years now and can't sleep through the night. Wake up, throw the covers off, cool off, cover back up, repeat several times a night. I had hot flashes many times during the day that just make me feel bad and interrupt my teaching. This allergy season in central Texas has affected me severely and I started taking Mucinex to unclog my sinuses. I have had to take it for three weeks. Last weekend I realized I hadn't had hot flashes in a while, although I couldn't put my finger on the exact day they stopped. I hadn't changed anything I normally do. The only difference was that I was taking Mucinex...not even the DM kind. I wondered if it could be possible that the guaifenesin could possibly be causing this relief. decided to Google it and found your post. I believe as you do that the Mucinex is affecting the hot flashes. As soon as my head is clear I'm going to stop taking it to see if the hot flashes return. If they do I'm going to take Mucinex daily for the rest of my life. It is so wonderful to have relief from such bothersome hot flashes! Thank you for posting. I think we're onto something here.

Moderators

Hi GtownTx,

Welcome to our Community! It would be very interesting to see if Mucinex is related to a reduction in hot flashes! In case you need or want other suggestions, you could read here: Managing Hot Flashes

Thinking of you All!

The Mods