Right before Christmas I went off hormone replacement therapy. After ten years I decided I’d had enough and I quit. If it weren’t for the hot flashes I’d say everything was going pretty smoothly. Turns out, that’s a pretty big “if”. Unfortunately the hot flashes are getting more and more numerous with each passing week.
I’ve spent most of my life being cold. I know where the spare jackets are in every one of my friend’s houses because I always need to borrow one. I hate being cold and I always am. Well not anymore! Now I’m building big fires and then having to open all the windows. I dress in layers so I can shed and re-dress constantly throughout the evening. Have you been there? You know what I’m talking about.
I have a good girlfriend back in Texas who was forever having evening games parties on her screened-in patio late in the year. She loved it but I was always freezing to death, bundled up in a parka and praying for it to be time to go home. Those evenings were tough for me but now I see why she loved them. I think I’d be out there in a t-shirt these days.
Now my thermostat is set at 64 degrees during the day and 50 at night. That’s two degrees lower than I had it set 3 months ago. Who knew that menopause would turn out to be so environmentally and financially friendly? Hot flashes are no fun but at least I can take comfort in knowing that I’m saving money and reducing my carbon footprint while I suffer through them.
How’s that for finding a silver lining?!
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6 comments:
heh heh heh heh heh!!!! How true it is.
I leave the heat off altogether in the winter and STILL wake up fricaseeing at 4:00 every morning. Sure does save a lot on power.
Keeps the butter fresh when you leave the butter dish out on the kitchen counter, too. :-D
Have you ever wondered if dogs got hot flashes after they've been spayed? I'm afraid my poor little pooch must get cold living in a refrigerator.
I hear ya about being cold all the time. I've been dealing with that for so many years.
Now I'm easing off the hormones, (I'm on a quarter dose), and I'm not having the hot flashes very often. I might wake up about once a week with one. ...but I'm still cold all the time.
It will be interesting to see if I "heat up" once I get entirely off them.
I prefer to think of them as "power surges!"
Take heart, it will pass. Once your body adjusts to the lower level of estrogen, they'll stop. Hang in there!
@funny - hmmm...since I've got a boy dog I've never thought about it. Curious question!
@Shirley - I was like you with only the occasional hot flash until I went off my hormones. I went off cold turkey and the hot flashes increased slowly but surely until the present high frequency! Good luck making the transition!
@Jill - My sister also told me to hang on and they would get better. Wonder if I'll miss the added heat?
Hola amiga, I have been on HRT for over 10 years and have tried number of times to switch over to alternative methods. Unfortunately, nothing I tried worked out. The major reason I got back onto HRT was, that I got sleep deprived from the night sweats and consequently felt very unballanced. I went back again on HRT (the lowest doses) and feel fine. Your amiga Barbel
I went on HRT because I had to get some sleep before I killed somebody. The night sweats were horrible.
Of course, I'm on a very low dose; just enough to keep me human. In a few years I'll probably go off. Don't want to have to deal with this all over again though.
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