Hot Flushes

You might already think I'm a little strange, so this may remove all doubt for you! At the risk of sounding very weird I thought I would post about this subject and what I think has worked for me just in case it works or helps someone else! First let me be clear that i have only had what I think of as fairly mild hot flushes (no redness or perspiration dripping). Now for the strange bit. I have always been a person who feels the cold. My hot flushes began while I was having chemo in winter last year. From that very first one I have actually associated the feeling of warmth spreading through my body as a good thing (told you I was weird!). Maybe this has had an affect on how my body responds physically to the hot flush. I kind of relax and feel positive about it rather than resisting or getting annoyed by the flush. Just the same I am getting one right now in response to the anxiety of what you will think of this post! I have never viewed my hot flushes as a problem. I have never kept count (but i know i slept all night without being disturbed by any last night) or got upset by them. I have viewed them as a positive sign that the treatment (chemo and now tamoxifen) is working and stopping the estrogen that fed my cancer cells. From a practical point I do try to dress in layers so I can remove them during a flush. I wear a lot of natural fabrics that 'breathe'. I have layers on my bed too so that I can just kick off a blanket without disturbing my sleep (or my husband) too much. Well, maybe I've just been lucky to not have too bad a time so far with the flushes but maybe it does have something to do with how I have responded to them from the beginning. I feel the flush and almost welcome it as something comforting (like walking up to a warm, relaxing fire place), my breathing slows and I relax into it. The next thing it is gone. So I guess what I do is associate the feeling of warmth with experiences I've had where being warm was a good thing (warm relaxing bath, sitting by a campfire etc). Feel free to dismiss this as utter rubbish but if it works for anyone else then I'll feel it was worth writing about. Take care and good luck with the hot flushes! Deanne xxx