Night Seats, flushing, hot flashes

Jean T. Szabo

When seeing Onc. yesterday walked in with wet hair. It's that bad. Being drenched and looking like I just came out from the rain. Now night sweats get pj's, bedding soaked. Drinking lots of liquids. Anyone else have this profuse sweating?

CypressCynthia

I had severe night sweats
I had severe night sweats and daytime flushing.

Are you having continuous sweating? Not to frighten you, but that can be a cardiac symtom--especially if you are experiencing fatigue, shortness of breath, any chest pain (women may or may not have chest pain)or nausea. If you are having the heart symptoms along with the flushing, I would call my primary right away.

A Heart Attack may cause some or all of these symptoms:

Pain, pressure, fullness, discomfort or squeezing in the center of the chest

Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing

Stabbing chest pain

Radiating pain to shoulder(s), neck, back, arm(s) or jaw

Pounding heartbeats (palpitations) or feeling extra heartbeats

Upper abdominal pain

Nausea, vomiting or severe indigestion

Sweating for no apparent reason

Dizziness with weakness

Sudden extreme fatigue

Panic with feeling of impending doom

From: http://www.womensheart.org/content/HeartAttack/heart_attack_symptoms_risks.asp

Lighthouse_7

CypressCynthia said:

I had severe night sweats
I had severe night sweats and daytime flushing.

Are you having continuous sweating? Not to frighten you, but that can be a cardiac symtom--especially if you are experiencing fatigue, shortness of breath, any chest pain (women may or may not have chest pain)or nausea. If you are having the heart symptoms along with the flushing, I would call my primary right away.

A Heart Attack may cause some or all of these symptoms:

Pain, pressure, fullness, discomfort or squeezing in the center of the chest

Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing

Stabbing chest pain

Radiating pain to shoulder(s), neck, back, arm(s) or jaw

Pounding heartbeats (palpitations) or feeling extra heartbeats

Upper abdominal pain

Nausea, vomiting or severe indigestion

Sweating for no apparent reason

Dizziness with weakness

Sudden extreme fatigue

Panic with feeling of impending doom

From: http://www.womensheart.org/content/HeartAttack/heart_attack_symptoms_risks.asp

Jean, I have had severe
Jean, I have had severe night sweats for a while now. Completely soak my pillow and have to buy new ones frequently. The daytime ones have slowed down considerably ( thank God for small favors). These wonders of nature started years ago but have gotten worse in recent years. I just keep hoping menopause will finally go away. Sorry that you are having these but they are normal for some of us.
If you are taking Aromatase inhibitors, they even get worse.
Wishing you cooler nights!
Hugs,
W

Rague

I haven't had any night
I haven't had any night sweats or hot flashes but then I never had any when I went through menopause 19 yrs ago. Been in Femara for 8 months.

The only problem (well sort of problem) is leg craps at night when my potassium (K) gets too low. I started having problems keep enough potasium shortly after I went on Taxol. So now now I take it daily but I have to take extra for a few days when legs cramps start happening again and for a few days after they are gone. Then back to just one daily for a few/several weeks.

seof

It's common
Your experience is common for several types of chemo, I think. If you are not on chemo and not menopausal, then I might suspect heart problems, but if you are on chemo I would suspect that first. You can look on chemocare.com to see if that is one of the side effects of your particular drug or drug combo. Ask your chemo nurses for tips on how to be more comfortable. I expect you will get some tips on this site from those who have shared the experience. I did not have night sweats, but I did go from too hot to too cold and back all day and night when I was on chemo. I used wet scarves to try to cool down in the daytime, and carried sweaters. At night I just spent the whole time pulling up covers or throwing them off. Just think... if it caused by chemo it is only temporary.

Hope this helps, seof

VickiSam

seof said:

It's common
Your experience is common for several types of chemo, I think. If you are not on chemo and not menopausal, then I might suspect heart problems, but if you are on chemo I would suspect that first. You can look on chemocare.com to see if that is one of the side effects of your particular drug or drug combo. Ask your chemo nurses for tips on how to be more comfortable. I expect you will get some tips on this site from those who have shared the experience. I did not have night sweats, but I did go from too hot to too cold and back all day and night when I was on chemo. I used wet scarves to try to cool down in the daytime, and carried sweaters. At night I just spent the whole time pulling up covers or throwing them off. Just think... if it caused by chemo it is only temporary.

Hope this helps, seof

I SWEAR .. I am still experiencing these symptoms and more,
however, the frequency of them is lessen by the passing months. I just layer the clothing on .. kept the fan and a/c going all autumn and winter -- let's not mention my purfuse sweating during the summer months .. U G L Y ..LOL

Layering of clothing and lot's of ice chips and ice water!

Best of luck ..

Vicki Sam

Heatherbelle

Hi Jean,
I get BAD hot
Hi Jean,
I get BAD hot flashes & face flushing during the day still, and i'm 2 weeks post my last chemo. I've had the night sweats since my first chemo & those aren't letting up either. I sleep in just a pair of shorts, sometimes a lightweight tank top (loose fitting keeps me much cooler) sometimes no top, and i have a sheet and my comforter, so if i get cold i can use both blankets, i get hot i can use nothing or just the sheet. My husband got me a small fan to go on my bedside table that i CAN'T be without! I'll wake up sweaty in the middle of the night, turn the fan on if it's not on already, flip the pillow, and go back to sleep.
*hugs*
Heather

winsomebulldog

In a word... YES!!!
I was having just a little bit of an issue with night sweats & hot flashes even before I started the chemo, but they are vastly worse now. When I still had hair, it would be soaked like you described. Now that I'm bald, my head just gets wet. They inevitably strike when I'm in a store somewhere, too, leaving my head feeling like a radiator and my bandanna or scarf soaking wet. Same thing at night. My sister did offer one suggestion. She said when she went through menopause, she got tired of waking up in the middle of the night to change the sheets so she finally started laying down her beach towels. LOL I haven't broken out the beach towels, yet, but I did start covering my pillow with a good sized hand towel. It does make it nice that I don't have to flip my pillow all the time and/or change the pillow case every night. It seems that my night sweats mostly involve the back of my neck & head, so this has worked well for me.

Like Heather, I sleep with fans. Yeah, fanS. The ceiling fan is usually on high, plus there's an oscillating fan on the floor, & if it gets really bad, I have a big fan in my window that I turn on. We're in Indiana, so the nights are starting to be pretty cool. Poor hubby is usually buried under the covers.

cahjah75

Jean
I've been postmenopausal since 1999. Hot flashes have been a nightmare! I was shopping one day and my hair was dripping so much the store clerk asked if I was ok. No, I wasn't but this too shall pass! lol I am always warm. I haven't experienced true night sweats enough that I had to change pjs. I'm 61 and wonder if the hot flashes are ever going to stop!
{{hugs}} Char