Aaaaargh Hot Flashes

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seawolfe
seawolfe Member Posts: 21
edited June 2014 in Life After Breast Cancer

Bleah!!



Hi all, I'm hoping there is some advice out there for me.



I'm 43 years old and a little over 5 years out from Stage 1 Her2+ er-/pr- diagnosis, and had chemo (Carboplatin, Taoxtere and Herceptin), left mast and DIEP recon. This board saved my sanity at that time.



Went through chemopause and HATED it. Things kind of got back to normal with my reproductive bits though I did have some trouble with a benign polyp in my uterus and a recent "lets wait and check it again" cyst on my ovary. I had been on birth control forever before my diagnosis and quit that, but after chemo I never seemed to get on a normal cycle - too much, and very painful, or not at all.



Just recently the hot flashes have come back! Its not as vicious as the chemopause in the crazy melt-Tupperware-from-10-feet-away flashes, but Im ALWAYS hot and break into a sweat (while doing nothing) about 5-6 times per day. My Gyno so far hasn't believed that I was in perimenopause, but after these hot flashes - she will!



Now here is the thing. I'm a marine technician - and some of my projects have me doing work on equipment in ships engine rooms for a 2-3 week transit through the tropics. They get up to about 120 deg F down there, and Im probably down there for about 4-8 hours per day. UGH! I cant imagine doing that through a hot flash!



So whats new and exciting in the world of getting through menopause and hot flashes? Since I'm ER/PR negative, hormones are an option, but one that I would rather not take.

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  • gsg
    gsg Member Posts: 3,386
    edited September 2008

    I have no advice for you, but wanted to post because misery loves company.  I get terrible hot flashes especially in the morning while getting ready for work...even standing in front of a fan.  They're horrible.  Have even had a hot flash hit while swimming in a cool pool...very strange and uncomfortable feeling.  Can't imagine having a hot flash in 120-degree heat.  Can you take a flexible ice pack with you to the engine room to put on the back of your neck while you're working?  I'm assuming you're drinking cool water while working in there.

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  • NaughtybyNature
    NaughtybyNature Member Posts: 1,448
    edited September 2008

    Hi seawolf... gee long time no seeing you. 

    My advice is gsg's advice... a little lunch box w/ lots of little ice packs.

    Good luck.

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  • seawolfe
    seawolfe Member Posts: 21
    edited September 2008

    Hey gsg - thanks! Especially for the misery company.

    Hola Naughty! Good to see you again!

     Icepacks - hmm, I can IF they give me a cabin with a mini-fridge. Otherwise Im stuck explaining to the cook or steward that Im speshul and need access to the freezer even though the 10 other guys in the engineering department dont get ice and NO Im not explaining to a bunch of Ukranian sailors why I'm hot all the time....

    Aaaarrrgh!! This is SO unfair Yell  Cant I just eat soybeans or flax seeds or something? Acupuncture! has anyone tried that? I'd drink myself silly but THAT gives me hot flashes! Grrrrr.

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  • yellowrose
    yellowrose Member Posts: 886
    edited April 2009

    What about neck koolers?  I made a bunch to send to Iraq and the soldiers wore them both around the neck and under their helmets to cool the head.  They are really easy to make but if you don't sew, they can be found online.  I have also seen them at our local Ace Hardware and Lowes.  I hope that this suggestion helps some.  They helped me during the summer. 

    Camo Neck Cooler-Blue Camouflage

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  • iodine
    iodine Member Posts: 4,289
    edited September 2008

    Hey Girl!  Wow, blast from the past!

    Medication suggestions:

    -megace

    -belladonna (bellergal)

    -effexor xl

    -Vit E

    -I know there are more and hopefully others will be here to add to the list.

    I love the neck wraps and wore them as cooling head bands to work out.

    I agree about the cold packs, too.  You CAN buy them where all you have to do is bang them on the floor.  Not sure how expensive that would be tho.  If you wanted you could get the gel packs and rotate them thru the ice box in the kitchen.  To hell with explaining--- just tell them that you get seizures if over heated.   LOL---and you carry a gun!!!

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  • junie
    junie Member Posts: 1,216
    edited September 2008

    hugs, seawolfe--way, way long time no sea!!!    After my chemo threw me into meno, the onc nurse suggested mega doses of Vitamin E--something like 4  500 mg tabs  a day.    So, I did that until I read that excess Vit E might affect how my body absorbed the Tamoxifen I was then taking......so I quit the Vit E--but have been fortunate that my hot flashes have been few and far between--and, hate to admit to getting old, but think they are now behind me.... hoping someone comes along with a perfect solution for you--but, just remember---this too, shall pass!!!

    good to see you again!!!

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  • seawolfe
    seawolfe Member Posts: 21
    edited September 2008

    Iodine and Junie! {{HUGS}} to the both of you!  Blast from the past indeed.

    Wow  - some good ideas to try! I'll try to find a neck cooler - water is easy to get on a ship even if ice isnt.

     Iodine - you brought it back dredged out of my memory. My first onc did put me on Effexor. Boy I hated that now that I remember. Im sure it helped with the whole chemo lunacy, but I felt like a zombie.

     But vitamin E? Im not on Tamoxifen, and I am ER/PR negative. That might be worth a shot. The megace and belladona bear investigating as well.

     Thanks!!

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  • DragonladyTina
    DragonladyTina Member Posts: 371
    edited September 2008

    I have been relatively hot flash and drenching sweats free since I started taking Effexor 37.5mg a day, it has only been 3 days but I have been having the most debilitating sweats and hot flashes for almost 4 years now. I was desperate to try anything. I am taking tamoxifen and I am sure that just compounds the flashes even more.

    I have tried a few things before effexor, I really was afraid to take it but felt so desperate that I finally gave in. It  worked like a charm and with relatively no side effects except for decrease in appetite.

    Hopefully it keeps working this way, I still get hot flashes but the intensity has decreased like crazy.

    Tina

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  • Raye99
    Raye99 Member Posts: 1,350
    edited September 2008

    Thanks for all of the suggestions. A little misery loves company here as well. I went through chemo in 2006 at age 39 - my periods stopped and I had hot flashes and the other things that go along with chemopause.

    Six months later, my period returned (heavy and painful as well, as I had been on the pill for years, which made my periods light and almost non existent) and my hot flashes were gone.

    I am now 41. Saturday I noticed I was getting hot during the day.Didn't think much of it. Hot yesterday as well and then last night  I awoke to night sweats and have been having hot flashes on and off all day today. The hot flashes seem to be back for me as well. Strange. Embarassed

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  • seawolfe
    seawolfe Member Posts: 21
    edited October 2008

    Strange indeed - thanks for the company I brought chocolate Tongue out

     If all Effexor did was cause me to loose my appetite, I'd be all for it. But last time I was on it I lost my "inner bitch" and I need her to do my job well Cool

    Ive started on Vit E 400 IU per day, and keep a frozen washcloth on hand. Looking into black cohosh as well. 

     I got kind of excited about Gabapentin for hot flashes because it works on migraines as well (another issue I have):

    http://www.aphroditewomenshealth.com/news/20030123223706_health_news.shtml 

     but its also a seizure med and I dont know....

     /me wanders off to slap another frozen washcloth on her neck

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  • Harborwitch
    Harborwitch Member Posts: 124
    edited October 2008

    I know it's not much help - but when we were moving onto our boat it was in the hundreds outside.  I found the only nice thing I could say about working my tail off in the heat was that it was impossible to tell when I was having a hot flash - and I am more prone to "nuclear meltdowns" - not flashes!

    The Effexor XR helps, not perfect - but it helps.  Lots and lots of water really seems to help.  The days I drink the most water are the days I have the fewest flashes.   

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  • Raye99
    Raye99 Member Posts: 1,350
    edited October 2008

    Hey Ladies -

    Seawolfe - I Googled the Gabapentin (aka Neurontin) - and it is also used for anxiety disorders, SOOO, I'd think the Gabapentin would take your inner bitch away as well, although I don't see any evidence of her on this thread. Wink

    Strangely enough, my hotflashes haven't returned since Monday - curiouser and curiouser. I hope they stay away until I am ugh 55? 60? 

    Raye 

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  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Member Posts: 1,376
    edited October 2008

    Hey Carrie,

    WOW, long time no hear from you. They are right a BLAST FROM THE PAST!

    Sorry about the hotflashes. I also have them and take 20mg of Cymbalta and it has been the best med I have taken for flashing. I wanted to take a med that doesn't have any withdrawl effects when getting off it. I was able to get off Cymbalta very easily.

    Effexor, I know, from some other women and they had a very difficult time with withdrawal effects.

    Hugs,

    Pepper 

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  • iodine
    iodine Member Posts: 4,289
    edited October 2008

    Oh, I forgot about Neurontin!  Really good stuff and more and more uses have been found for it, like pain control. 

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