I'm either freezing or sweating?

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LISAinTN
LISAinTN Member Posts: 143
in Kidney Cancer #1
Hello Everyone,

I'm new here and have had a nagging problem I need help with.

I had a partial left nephrectomy on July 22nd. So I am almost 3 weeks post-op. I have had a continued problem since, that is driving me crazy. Around 4 or 5 times an hour, I will within seconds, feel myself get hot and then I break out in a clothing drenching sweat. I'm talking it's running down my face, through my hair and all over my body. I can just feel it coming over me in seconds. It lasts for about 1-2 minutes and then I switch to being freezing cold and I get the chills. At first I thought it was a side effect of the hydrocodone, but I've been off of it for 1 1/2 weeks now. I did have this problem just twice in the months before I was diagnosed, but thought it was because I was stressed out and eating a lot of sugar. When I switched to low-carb, it went away. That's not working this time. It was originally happening around the clock when I first got home, but not so much now during the day. Just a couple of times, but at night! Oh my word, I get no sleep for the constant throwing my covers off and then snatching them back. It's constant and around the clock at night.

I had a hysterectomy in 2000 and they left me one ovary, but I didn't have this problem even after that. Is anyone else experiencing this? I don't know if the surgery messed up my hormones or if it's unrelated to hormones and the surgery messed up my bodies temperature regulator? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

Lisa

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  • donna_lee
    donna_lee Member Posts: 1,042 Member
    #2
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    hot/cold flashes
    I would suggest you contact either/or both your oncologist and your primary care physicians to discuss what is going on. Your surgery was fairly recent, and your body has not gotten over the effects of surgery and anesthesia and abdominal tubes and catheters, etc.

    I had a total abdominal hysterectomy and oopherectomy in 1987, and had been on Premarin to control hot flashes until 2006. At that time, my PC told me to stop the Premarin because I had had the metastatic RCC surgery in June 2006. It took several months to adjust, but do OK now. But every since the first cancer surgery, my thermostat/body temperature control has been more sensitive to being cold or hot. I have learned to dress in layers. We don't live in AC territory, but use a circulating fan for evenings in the bedroom, which seems to help.

    Hope this gives you a place to start.
    donna_lee in Oregon

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