Still Flashing After All These Years

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partridge
partridge Member Posts: 5
edited June 2014 in Life After Breast Cancer

I am 5 years cancer free (lumpectomy and rads).  Took tamoxifen for 2 years and switched to arimidex for 3 years.  I just quit taking arimidex last month.  I still take effexor xr 75 mg and clonidine for bp.  I'm 58 yo and had my last period at age 45.  So when will these horrible hot flashes finally go away?  They have changed in nature over the years and now they last about 5 minutes and I'm flushed and soaked.  I have one every 2 hours or so.  Any thoughts anyone?

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  • saluki
    saluki Member Posts: 2,287
    edited June 2008

    Partridge-  I am also 58 and just at the tail end of my 5 years of Femara.-

    I was having drenching hot flashes every half hour until last June.  I was also put on a Catapress patch to help with my sympathetic nervous system because I have Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy (RSD) as well as one of the medications to control my High blood pressure.

     The Catapress seemed to incidentally decrease the frequency of the hot flashes to every few hours.

     I had a scare with my Liver Enzymes last year (mine normally run high but this was high in multiples and alarmed my Oncologist .

    Thinking that it might have been a toxic drug reaction I eliminated the potential problematic medications incuding Effexor of which I was taking 225 mg daily.--------My hot flashes decreased tremendously to one or two a day.

    Turned out I was having a paradoxical reaction to the Effexor XR--Unusual but apparently, it can happen to some.  ----Also, some pain meds can cause sweats.  

    I still get hot flashes---and they are worse in the summer----I don't know what I'd do without ceiling fans, but nowhere near the severity of the ones I dealt with for four years------And I kept blaming it on Femara-----Sometimes the culprit can be your other meds.

    Don't give up looking for solutions---Sometimes you just have to be a detective.

    There are other things it may be worth trying like Gabapentin, megestrol acetate, or Bellergal. You have to weigh the benefit vs the SE's like in all things.

    I know there is relief out there for you.

    Take care,

    Susie 

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

    I second the above mentioned meds.  Megace, especially, works quickly.  Neurontin (Gabapentin) is a good one, too.

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  • WhiteRockGirl
    WhiteRockGirl Member Posts: 41
    edited June 2008

    Any chance your body could still be adjusting to being off the Arimidex? Seems like after a month it would, but you never know.

    I so look forward to being done with Aromasin (Nov 2009). I also still get lots of hot flashes, since May 2004 when chemopause started at age 45. I have some hope that they might lessen when I am off the Aromasin.

    Good luck finding a solution. And please share when you do!! These hot flashes ROT! 

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  • TenderIsOurMight
    TenderIsOurMight Member Posts: 4,493
    edited June 2008

    I'm going on my 5th month of Femara now, and just of late I'm noticing regular hourly hot flashes.
     
    I'm almost constantly covered with some degree of sweat now, sometimes drenched enough to need a shower, and I have noticed a mild change in underarm odor: musk-like, similar to that male smell you notice when ironing DH's shirt (something I did years ago, so no need to get going) for those who did similarly.
     
    Other not so subtle changes too like increasing vulvar dryness, bottom dryness, urinary discomfort, etc..Unpleasant, painful changes requiring some real concentrated management on my part. So out comes a new private Crisco blue and white, just for me and my bedroom for a while, plus mindfulness to ensure no infection, and let the area breath. On went my cotton summer skirts, this time no undies. Really, who tells you all the changes coming your way when you swallow that little AI pill, and what if you don't know how to personally manage them, have bad surgical side arm pain, or are too feeble in general?
     
    While effective for keeping breast cancer at bay or in check, AI's add years to your womanly timeclock..What a price we pay with this beast.
     
    Not tender me in general. Who is this woman? Like Jeff Goldblum in "The Fly" (1986), I think I'm morphing more into a man with this drug. My testosterone must be running high.Surprised
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  • LisaSDCA
    LisaSDCA Member Posts: 2,230
    edited June 2008

    Tender -

    Crisco? Does that help? Really?!?

    Lisa

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  • TenderIsOurMight
    TenderIsOurMight Member Posts: 4,493
    edited June 2008

    Well, right now I have Desitin on one end (Desitin is a "unique formula of Norweigian cod liver oil, rich in natural Vitamins A&D, plus lanolin, petrolatum, talc (bumma) and more zinc oxide than zinc oxide has". This from the back of the jar, with a good amount slathered on to protect and coat a mild 1mm deep skin fissure.
     
    Then there's Aquaphor, active ingredient 41% petrolatum, as skin protectant, slathered on more close to the wahoo area to protect it from what ever ill-effect the urine is having on the estrogen lacking skin.
     
    And now my Crisco, which I heard (and wrote) about from a fellow poster, whose gynecologist had advised it nightly to the vulva and perineum. I'm drawn to it because it is Soy derived, a phytoestrogen, weaker than true exogenous estrogens, and hence I wonder if it might not sooth my aching ER receptors some, hopefully without stimulating them sufficiently to cause systemic increase in estrogens. I like the idea the Crisco dissolves easily too. I've been meaning to write Mark Clemons, oncologist at Princess Margaret Hospital in Toronto Ontario about starting a Vulvar Study of Crisco in ER+ women on AI's, to see if it helps lessen the thinness of the vulva, vagina, perineum, rectal skin. He and a colleague recently wrote of the need of more therapies to vulva/vaginal dryness due to hormonals, I believe.The goal too would be to definitely check blood estradiols, to ensure no increments occur with its regular use. Regrettably, the E-string and Vagifem tabs have been found to variably increase estrogen values, with individual variation on how long etc.. 
     
    So, I'll keep you posted. I'm pretty desperate at this point, so it's me treating me, or them. 
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  • iodine
    iodine Member Posts: 4,289
    edited June 2008

    Just a suggestion re: going "comando" without panties.  I've found that using a light days pad(with panties, of course)  is great in the summer to keep me dry and non irritated.

    I am off tamox. and even 2 years later, my body's thermostat is WAY off--- I don't flash now, but just stay HOT.  And when working outside I have to take breaks to prevent heat stroke.  I went thru a period last summer where I had to go outside to Warm UP!!!  It only lasted a month tho.

    Good luck with your needs and please let us know how it goes.

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  • LisaSDCA
    LisaSDCA Member Posts: 2,230
    edited June 2008

    Tender, thanks for the details. I have used pure almond oil, emu oil,A&D ointment, etc. but had never heard of the Crisco Cure. Adding it to my shopping list...

    I'm sure the cost will be more reasonable that some I've tried, too.Wink

    I may be fortunate not to have the brutal, sudden, complete loss of estrogens on AIs, but the relatively sudden and severe chemopause/onset of menopause has certainly challenged the delicate tissues of my tender parts.

    Lisa

    p.s. - skin fissure - owie! Hope that's healed and gone right quick!

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