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Q. I read that women who have bad hot flashes may be less likely to get breast cancer. That's ridiculous.
I cannot imagine how hot flashes could be good for you. I experienced such debilitating hot flashes that I was barely able to function. I got no sleep and dreaded feeling as if I were about to burst into flames. I also had major brain fog and depression.
It turns out that my hot flashes were not simply due to menopause but were being aggravated by one of my hypertension drugs, timed-release diltiazem. Has anyone else experienced this?
A. A few other readers have reported severe hot flashes on timed-release diltiazem. We don't know how common this reaction might be, but it is easy to see how it could be confused with hot flashes from menopause.
The research showing a reduced risk of breast cancer among women with horrible hot flashes was published in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention (Feb., 2011). It is not clear why there seems to be a connection.
Women suffering from hot flashes during menopause may be given hormone replacement therapy to ease this symptom. Unfortunately, that treatment may increase the chance of developing breast cancer. We have summarized the data on this and offered recommendations for coping with hot flashes in our Guide to Menopause.
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It's not that hot flashes are "good for you"..... it's just a theory that if you have severe hot flashes, you may have less chance of getting breast cancer.... evening primrose oil and black cohosh work great for me.
I suddenly started suffering from extreme hot flashes where I would be just drenched in sweat. My doctor said I would just have to suffer through it but I was very concerned since I had already gone through menopause. In casual conversation with a friend, we discovered that we were both having the same problem.
When a third woman at the gym joined the conversation and said she was having the same problem, we did some logical investigation and discovered that we had all started using Splenda at about the same time we started experiencing hot flashes. Since then I have spoken to 6 other women and guess what? They were all Splenda users.
As soon as I stopped using Splenda, my hot flashes disappeared. One woman said her flashes started as soon as she awoke and were horrific until at least noon. Well, she had her coffee as soon as she got out of bed and drank coffee (with Splenda) till noon. Everyone's hot flashes stopped when they stopped using Splenda. I told my doctor about all this and he just shrugged his shoulders. So much for medical help. Oh, also be aware of how many products use Splenda as one of their ingredients.
Thanks LF! I don't have hot flashes nor do I use Splenda, but I will keep it in mind in case I hear of anyone with this problem. This is why I love, love, love this website!!!! Thanks People's Pharmacy!
Amazing how they post a picture of a beautiful woman in her 20's to demonstrate we who get hotflashes and are in our 50's! It never ends does it?
Anyway, I found my hotflashes were directly influenced by my diet.
I never had a hotflash. I did get horrible migraines while going through menopause and occasionally, particularly after eating a large dinner, felt very warm, but never a single hotflash. I did use Emerita, a progesterone cream and I figure that helped. This is the first time I have heard that not having hotflashes is a bad thing. You just can't win!
Early 60s-Slight stroke- Dr., took me off hormones 4 months ago. Severe flashes day and night. 25-35 in 24 hours. Totally miserable! On clonidine for blood pressure.
This is no way to live!!! Any information would be appreciated!!!!
Could you tell me some foods to avoid? What foods have you found that help? I recently took a hard fall and broke my wrist. I took talacen when I got home and within a couple of hours started having hot flashes. Quit the pain meds. Hot flashes do not seem to be as severe as with the pain meds but still pretty bad.. about 10 or more a day and my heart races with the hot flash.
Also had creatine levels blood work done when I broke my wrist. Everything was normal except something called CPK. It is suppose to be between 29-168 unit/L.Mine was 1158.They said it was probably due to trauma and to drink plenty of water to get it down. I'm wondering if that has something to do with it.
There are numerous medications that have hot flashes as a side effect but this is not often disclosed and you have to dig on the Internet for the information. Doctors are not aware of it either and if you are female over 30, your doctor often just brushes the hot flashes of as either pre-menopause or menopause related, which is what my doc did to me.
Several years ago my doctor put me on Paxil and I developed severe hot flashes immediately. Paxil is in a class of drugs called Serotonin Re-uptake inhibitors. As soon as I stopped this medication, the hot flashes went away - until I hit menopause 7 years later.
There are numerous foods that can trigger hot flashes, such as spices but also caffeine, sugar, alcohol and more. Hot flash triggers are highly individual and a "hot flash diary" is a great way to find out about your triggers. Just use a note pad and write down:
There are numerous non-hormonal natural remedies such as Evening Primrose, Licorice Root, Black Cohosh as well as some herbs that help regulate hormone levels.
I am in my forties and I have been having hot rushes for several years now, I have suffered very badly with maybe 4 an hour or so. Sleeping has been particularly bad. I am not keen on HRT but I have found that there is a direct relationship between the severity of my hot flushes and exercise. The more exercise I do the less hot flushes I get, I do not have to do a lot of exercise, a half hour walk a day will do it and it usually only takes two or three weeks to see the difference.