Help me - hot flashes

I was on Gabapentin before, so lucky. Adding a low dose of Prozac or another SSRI can help. There's a few studies that say SSRIs can increase cancer risk, so try Gabapentin first. I take 1200 - 1800 a day. It helps with pain too, but gives you brain fog. There's never a perfect answer with cancer treatment

I took Effexor for a while. My DH is being treated for ca too, he has horrible sweats. The Effexor is helping him too.

My hot flashes were also much much worse at night than during the day. I didn't have hot flashes or sleep disruption even after having my ovaries out until I started the anti-hormonals. I still wonder if I hadn't started them if I would have had flashes at all since I hadn't really had them. Tried two different ones, with each having side effects that were worse than the last. I finally gave up and came off. Quality of life was more important. Although the flashes were not as incinerating, they remained pretty bad but I would say have lightened up in the last two or three months. I maybe now have one a day and although I still have maybe two a night it's nothing like it was. Very light. It's been about a year since stopping the last anti-hormonal. So hopefully it will slowly lighten up. I still struggle with sleepleness but have learned to accept it and just work with it. Theirs hope. Just hang in there!

My hot flashes are crazy too even with 75mg of Effexor. Covers on/covers off all night long. My kids got me an acupuncture gift certificate for Christmas so I'm going to see if that help. I go next week.

Yes, the temperature regulation is an issue. I don't have hot flashes as regularly at bedtime as you, but often enough. Along with my Arimidex, I've been taking a Xanax about half an hour before bedtime. Even though it's a low dose (.5 mg), taking it makes me sleepy and I usually have no problem falling asleep. I sometimes do wake up with a hot flash during the night, but then I get up and go to the bathroom, which cools me off, and having the Xanax in my system seems to make me able to go back to sleep afterward. And if I can't get right back to sleep, at least I'm not lying there awake rigid with anxiety.

BTW, I don't take the Xanax at any other time.

CAMommy, I've heard about the addiction possibility with Xanax too, but I figured that during this very stressful time, good sleep was absolutely essential for my body to heal and keep my immune system as strong as possible, so anything that would help me get it was worth it. Since I still don't feel any desire/need to take the meds during the day, I'm not overly worried about addiction. But I'll cross that bridge when I come to it.

I did two other things (pre-cancer diagnosis, just for menopausal hot flashes.) One was to buy a pretty Japanese silk hand-held fan (got it on Amazon). Since it's fabric, I made a case for it so it wouldn't get beat up inside my purse. When I get a flash during waking hours, I whip it out. That won't do you any good for nighttime, but if you get daytime flashes, it could be helpful.

The other thing is a remote-controlled ceiling fan. We installed one in our bedroom a couple years ago and it is WONDERFUL to be able to just roll over and hit that button to turn it on high when necessary. Again, not necessarily helpful for falling asleep, but potentially useful. I also find that having it constantly running it on low sort of helps "even out" the ambient temperature my body is perceiving so that I don't get as many flashes in the first place. Does that make sense? That might actually help you avoid the going-to-bed flashes you're getting.

Farmerlucy is right that a sleep mask is a good idea, at least if you are at all sensitive to light in the bedroom. I have added a blackout one to my bedtime routine and it has definitely helped.

Good luck and sweet dreams!!

I had my first acupuncture session yesterday. I had her work on anxiety and hot flashes. I was so relaxed afterwards. It was awesome. I wish I had known about it when I was first dx. I may not have fallen off the emotional cliff. HF seems about the same but I'll probably try itagain.

Please do let us know if the trazodone keeps working!

CAmommy...Yes the exact same thing happens to me every night. There must be something about the beginning of the sleep cycle that triggers hot flashes. I take Relizen. its an OTC supplement that is non hormonal. I think it really helps. For those of you who are using Xanax for sleep, please be careful. Its very addicting and very hard to come off of. It should be used sparingly in short term situations only. There are many other meds that help with sleep that are not as addicting. Good luck to all of us!

I got this cooling mat on Amazon and it helped me sooooooooooo much at night. It really sucks the heat of you and then you set it aside and it works again in a few minutes. This may and a glass of ice water on my night stand really helped me through the worst!

I also found Effexor, yoga/exercise, and accupuncture to help. Before I got the flashes under better control the mat made all the difference!