Perpetual Hot Flash

hopeful in tally
hopeful in tally Member Posts: 56
in Breast Cancer #1
Advice please ... I am one year out & cancer free (I hope). After 9 years of hormone replacement, DCIS was detected, cancer cells removed, radiation and the perpetual hot flash started and has not left! I have tried every herbal remedy with no success. Obviously hormone replacement came to a grinding halt with the diagnosis which I assume put me straight into menopause. I do not experience hot flashes ... I just experience all day sweats (not at night...just the day). Can anyone shed some light on this dilemma? I have to work and deal with customers and it is terribly embarrassing to have the sweat beading up for no reason at all! Has anyone experienced this and does anyone have advice? I will be anxiously awaiting a response ... as I wipe my brow and uncurl my hair!!

Comments

  • Kat11
    Kat11 Member Posts: 1,931 Member
    #2
    I am sorry I don't have any
    I am sorry I don't have any advice, I don't know if you live in a warm weather climate. I get a winter break from the sweats. Summer is Hell. I found using ice on my wrist helps a bit. I always wear ( even in the winter ) sleeveless shirts. I use a fan at night. Sorry I can't help more.
    Kathy
  • DianeBC
    DianeBC Member Posts: 3,881 Member
    #3
    Kat11 said:

    I am sorry I don't have any
    I am sorry I don't have any advice, I don't know if you live in a warm weather climate. I get a winter break from the sweats. Summer is Hell. I found using ice on my wrist helps a bit. I always wear ( even in the winter ) sleeveless shirts. I use a fan at night. Sorry I can't help more.
    Kathy

    I'm sorry this is happening
    I'm sorry this is happening to you. Have you talked to your oncologist about it? I thought I remembered some of the pink sisters here taking some meds for the hot flashes. I hope they will post to you.

    Hugs, Diane
  • crselby
    crselby Member Posts: 441 Member
    #4
    Oh, Hopeful, I know exactly what you are talking about. The other day I was in a lapidary shop with my 88 year old father and started to perspire more than usual. He thought I was having a heart attack! I felt so bad to have scared him so much with something that happens to me all the time.

    After my active treatments were over, the Tamoxifen I started made my post-menopausal hot flashes (for the prior 12 years) even worse. Disrupting my life. Like you, I did the hormone replacement thing, but for 5 years. Then I was scared by that study that said HRT increases chances of breast cancer, so I stopped. Too late. Anyway, I deal with people a lot in my job, too, and it is so disturbing to them to see me all beaded up and wiping my lip, brow, eyelids and neck. So my gynecologist prescribed Effexor. It helped, but didn't eliminate the flashes. Started at lowest dose of 37.5 mg and moved up to 75mg almost immediately. That was over a year ago and now the flashes are back to being pretty bad.

    But many women have reported here on these boards that Effexor (Venlafaxine = generic) helps.

    Good luck.
    ~~Connie~~
  • sparky51
    sparky51 Member Posts: 37
    #5
    crselby said:

    Oh, Hopeful, I know exactly what you are talking about. The other day I was in a lapidary shop with my 88 year old father and started to perspire more than usual. He thought I was having a heart attack! I felt so bad to have scared him so much with something that happens to me all the time.

    After my active treatments were over, the Tamoxifen I started made my post-menopausal hot flashes (for the prior 12 years) even worse. Disrupting my life. Like you, I did the hormone replacement thing, but for 5 years. Then I was scared by that study that said HRT increases chances of breast cancer, so I stopped. Too late. Anyway, I deal with people a lot in my job, too, and it is so disturbing to them to see me all beaded up and wiping my lip, brow, eyelids and neck. So my gynecologist prescribed Effexor. It helped, but didn't eliminate the flashes. Started at lowest dose of 37.5 mg and moved up to 75mg almost immediately. That was over a year ago and now the flashes are back to being pretty bad.

    But many women have reported here on these boards that Effexor (Venlafaxine = generic) helps.

    Good luck.
    ~~Connie~~

    I have the hot flashes
    I have the hot flashes bad.....they come day or night as well as at the worst times. I've never had HRT since the breast cancer I had was triple negative. I asked my family dr and he said I would have to learn to live with it....some help. Wish I knew what to do....I really feel for anyone going through this....
  • disneyfan2008
    disneyfan2008 Member Posts: 6,583 Member
    #6
    so sorry you have to go through this
    MY hot flashes are what i think are mild...but I DO HAVE night sweats..bit time.

    I HOPE IT gets better for you...

    Denise
  • crselby
    crselby Member Posts: 441 Member
    #7
    raise my hopes, dash my hopes
    I think you'll appreciate this. Yesterday I went to my rad onc. His 'student doctor' came in first, did the exam, asked questions, etc. When he asked if the hot flashes affected my quality of life, I said yes. He brightened up and said, "you only had DCIS, you can stop taking Tamoxifen if you want, you know." I started getting excited about that idea. He left the room, and the real rad onc came in. I brought it up to him and he explained that the Tamoxifen will also help protect my OTHER breast from cancer. My gut feeling is that is important, so I will stay on it, if my med onc, who I see next week, says I should (and I probably will).
    ~~Connie~~
  • crselby
    crselby Member Posts: 441 Member
    #8
    sparky51 said:

    I have the hot flashes
    I have the hot flashes bad.....they come day or night as well as at the worst times. I've never had HRT since the breast cancer I had was triple negative. I asked my family dr and he said I would have to learn to live with it....some help. Wish I knew what to do....I really feel for anyone going through this....

    DOCTOR, PLEASE TAKE MY COMPLAINTS SERIOUSLY ! ! !
    I just want one, just ONE, doctor to take my problems seriously, maybe commiserate with me about the symptoms. My female gynocologist is the only doc I have who might possibly be old enough to have had a hot flash. The male doctors, well, I can only wish they had to live with them for a year. I've had them for 12 years. Awakening from sleep every 45 minutes will drive you crazy. Having hair go flat and makeup melt off during the sweats is depressing. Just feeling that my body is out of control for this long is making me sad. And the doctors say, "learn to live with it"???? OK, hot flashes are not going to kill me, but they are dramatically affecting my life and relationships. I want a healthcare provider to acknowledge the major disappointment I feel because I DID learn to live with my menopausal symptoms over the last 12 years, then I have to take a medicine that makes them WORSE! Does anyone else feel this way? Is this just me?

    Sorry for the rant/vent and capital letters. Maybe I need to up my Effexor..... :(
    ~~Connie~~
  • hopeful in tally
    hopeful in tally Member Posts: 56
    #9
    crselby said:

    raise my hopes, dash my hopes
    I think you'll appreciate this. Yesterday I went to my rad onc. His 'student doctor' came in first, did the exam, asked questions, etc. When he asked if the hot flashes affected my quality of life, I said yes. He brightened up and said, "you only had DCIS, you can stop taking Tamoxifen if you want, you know." I started getting excited about that idea. He left the room, and the real rad onc came in. I brought it up to him and he explained that the Tamoxifen will also help protect my OTHER breast from cancer. My gut feeling is that is important, so I will stay on it, if my med onc, who I see next week, says I should (and I probably will).
    ~~Connie~~

    hot flashes
    Connie ... you know everyone is different but I do need to share that I am not taking the Tamoxifin ... never did ... but I still suffer with this unbearable continuous hot flash. I am on Effexor and it is not helping. Seemed to work somewhat better when I first started it ... but not anymore. I wish you luck but don't want you to get your hopes up on the hot flashes stopping after the meds. I hope they do! Thanks for all the feedback from everyone ... and I will continue to pray for a good solution!
  • cahjah75
    cahjah75 Member Posts: 2,631
    #10
    Dear Perpetual Hotflash
    I started having hot flashes during natural perimenopause. At age 50 I went through menopause and my hot flashes were just like you described. I suffered for a couple of years and knowing I had 2 sisters with bc I told my gyn I couldn't live like this any more. He put me on low dose FEM HRT. I stopped taking it in 2009 and took a natural hormone replacement until I was dx with bc in May 2010. My hot flashes came back with a vengeance after starting Arimidex in January. My gyn tried me on Savella but it made them worse! I told my onc and he said I might not be able to tolerate the Arimidex but didn't suggest I stop. My gyn has put me on Prozac and within days I had fewer hot flashes and no dripping! I've noticed that if I get stressed I'm more apt to have a hot flash. I do have them waking in the morning too. When I told my family and friends I was cancer free, I also said I wished my gyn would come up with a cure for hot flashes. At least the Prozac has made them bearable.

    PS: I once had a store clerk ask me if I was ok as my hair was dripping and my face was sweating. I told him I would be ok in a few minutes! I don't wear makeup as I feel it's a waste of time but I don't like my sunscreen/moisturizer running in my eyes!
    {{hugs}} Char

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