Chrissiebee 6 week follow up--Hot Flashes!

[chrissiebee]

Hi ladies. sorry I haven't posted in a while(I'm the last one to get near the computer in my family)but youare all daily in my thoughts & prayers.
I had my f/u this week. I am blessed that even though the cysts were large & debris filled(grapefruit sized on the left & baseball sized on the right)&I had to lose both ovaries, everything came back benign.
BUT...since I had not been menopausal prior to this, boy am I now getting HOT FLASHES. I'm not a candidate for hrt @ this time because I still have a uterus(Hysterectomy needs to be done in the not too distant future). & I ahve markers in my chest. Any other suggestions or recomendations? Thanks.

[chrissiebee]

Thanks for all your support.My Gyn didn't do  a hysterectomy because I didn't officially consent to it(only informally).My original procedure was suppose to be a D&C. All of this came up in a pre-testing pelvic sono.He wasn't aware of how bad things were until he actually went to perform the surgery(the sono showed only the left cyst ).My cysts grewmuch larger than were estimated.It wasn't until I was in surgery that he realized thatmy uterus wasn't all that heathy either.
A friend recommended estrovent--an over the counter vitamin/herbal supplement withbalck cohorsh & soy. I started taking it but it's too soon to tell if it helps yet.
We have a couple of fans set up in the bedroom to keep the air moving at night.
Oh ..I discovered that anything withcaffiene or tannins in it(coffee or red wine)make it worse.
Love to all,CB

[Shari4444]

Congrats on the benign part. What a huge relief; isn't it? I can, definantly, relate on those hot flashes and night sweats, for that matter. Have you been lucky enough to experience the night sweats, yet? Nothing like being sweaty hot and cold, at the same time. I can't take HRT, either (had blood clots, previously), so I'm just "winging it" on my own, just like you. At work, I actually pull an ice pack out ofthe freezer and put it on my neck in the back. That really seems to help. I'm fortunate to have a refrigerator/freezer right near me. Of course, not everyone has that luxury, so maybe, just a cool wet cloth on the back of your neck. I also dress in layers.....and take clothes off and put them on as needed.  I think the worst thing, for me, are the night sweats. I kick my covers off and pull them back on many times a night. I drive my husband nuts!!!!!!!! It really sucks to be dripping wet with sweat, but then when I throw the covers off, to be freezing because I'm soaking wet. I. always, keep my hair up and off my neck at night....for some reason that makes me cooler, and my hair doesn't seem to get as soaked with sweat. Good luck with your own little personal battle. I can't wait to see how really hot weather effects this whole process!!!! I can't even begin to imagine...... If you ever need someone to just talk to about your symptoms, please feel free to write me anytime (I'm off and on the forum from time to time, but I'll do my best to get back to you). I'll be thinking of you (maybe, even, in the middle of the night). Take care!!!!

Hugs,
Shari

[cirella]

Hi chrissiebee,
I'm so glad to read that everything was benign!  That is wonderful news and a relief for you, I'm sure.  Those were some big puppies in there!

I agree with fungirl, Mary is a wonderful wealth of hormone information.  I hope she will be able to assist you.  I am 2 months out from a total hysterectomy.  I am on HRT, a very low dose bio-identical estrogen patch.  So far, it is doing a good job.  I get very few hot flashes, mostly at night, but I feel wonderful, emotionally.  I notice that if I do get one during the day, it passes rather quickly.  It's kind of tricky b/c I don't feel it coming on so, like fungirl said, it's hard to get to something that may help.  At night I just kick the covers off.  

I'm wondering why they didn't just go the hysterectomy at the same time?  My thought is why put you through another surgery?  That's hard on the body and another recovery period for you.  Then you could have at least gone with some type of HRT, too.  I'm sorry, I don't know what markers in your chest mean.

Well, I'm afraid my answer may not help you.  = )  Sorry.  Hope you are recovering well despite the hot flashes.

[Morrowville]

Chrissie,
If you look on the hystersisters website, they have this small sized chillow thingy, which is a little rectangle thing (just like a washcloth you would fold over) that you can put in the fridge.  Go to www.hystersisters.com, and you can get nice ideas.  If you put your surgery date in there, they will give you an idea of what you may be experiencing and sort of give you things to think about, and to talk to your doctor about.  I didn't even think about asking for a surgery/path report until I read you should, and I'm very glad I did.  It helped me understand why some other pains I was having hurt so much (they had used clamps on my belly of fat to get the fat out of the way, and one of the areas where the clamp was hurt for weeks afterward--still does, as a matter of fact!)
I know you didn't have your hyst yet, but go there anyway... it's a world of help and inspiration!

[fungirl1011]

Sorry you are going through this and without the help of HRT.  When I get hot flashes, I put a cool cloth on the back of my neck and it seems to help the hot flash end.  Unfortunately, that does not do you much good when you are out and about.  I wish I had more answers for you.  A great person to ask would be Mary 53.  She is a hormone expert.  Try doing a new post, but address it to Mary53.  She is a wealth of knowledge and she will probably have a good answer to your question.  Glad everything came back fine.

Hugs,
Kasie