Hot and cold flashes at the same time!?

[Tree Frog]

Please someone help me! I'm at that age when perimenopause is about finished. Now I might have hot flashes on my arms, but the core of my body is cold. Or my arms or wrists are cold, but if I put on a light covering, the rest of me is too hot. I've also had cold skin, cool to the touch, but inside I'm really hot. Dh tries to give me a hug or warm up my arms, but he gives off too much heat. My skin might be warming up, but the rest of me is overheating. This is a problem especially when I sleep because if I cover my cold arms, the rest of me is too hot, so I can't sleep. Or I have cold arms, which also keeps me awake. I've tried sleeping in lightweight long sleeve shirts, a cami with a lightweight sweater, and t shirts. My next thing to try is just the sweater so my core isn't as covered, but my arms are warmed.

I take supplements (C, D, B complex, evening primrose oil, fish oil, magnesium, glucosamine/chondroitin, NAC) and allergy meds (Zyrtec, Flonase, Sudafed as needed, Mucinex D as needed, Benadryl as needed.) I took ashwagandha every other day for a couple of weeks, which at first was great for sleep, but over time, it didn't help and my mucous and urine turned pumpkin orange, so I stopped. 

Am I the only one with these weird symptoms? It's really annoying to have randomly cold parts of my body. (It's very strange to have to warm up my eyeball!) Any ideas I can try? It's making me crazy!

[Bambam]

I'm past menopause, but I still have times (mostly night) where one part of my body is cold, another part is just right, and another part is dying because it is too hot. It doesn't last that long, so it isn't intolerable, but it is not pleasant to wake up to in the middle of the night. So, I'm watching to see if anyone has any good suggestions. 

[Storygirl]

Nope. Not alone. I have this issue. Just to look on the bright side 🙃, my doctor said that these symptoms only last about 8 years on average.

I'm against using hormone replacement therapy, due to my mother's experiences with it. My doctor is now having me try a low dose of Effexor, which she says can help some people with hot flashes. We shall see if it makes any difference. I have hot and cold flashes (sometimes different parts of me will be hot while others are cold) on and off all day, but it's especially miserable at night, because it has a terrible effect on my sleep.

[Selkie]

Eating a diet rich in soy, vegetables, and fruits and low in fat has been shown to eliminate or greatly reduce hot flashes.

Here are a couple of the studies:

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34260478/

The Women's Study for the Alleviation of Vasomotor Symptoms (WAVS): a randomized, controlled trial of a plant-based diet and whole soybeans for postmenopausal women

"Conclusions: The combination of a low-fat, vegan diet and whole soybeans was associated with reduced frequency and severity of hot flashes and improved quality of life in vasomotor, psychosocial, physical, and sexual domains in postmenopausal women. During the 12-week study period, the majority of intervention-group participants became free of moderate-to-severe hot flashes."

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3428489/

Effects of a dietary intervention and weight change on vasomotor symptoms in the Women’s Health Initiative

"Conclusion

In summary, women who lost weight during participation in a dietary modification trial designed to reduce fat and increase fruit, vegetable, and fiber intake reported a reduction or elimination of VMS over one year. The dietary intervention appeared to ameliorate symptoms over and above the effect of weight change. These results support the use of weight loss and healthy dietary change as alternative approaches to hormone therapy for the relief of vasomotor symptoms."

 

 

[KungFuPanda]

Would a dance shrug help?

https://us.movedancewear.com/move-dance-giovanna-knit-shrug/?sku=MO Z0718GML75&gclid=Cj0KCQjw166aBhDEARIsAMEyZh4RAd-Lv5cIokT2WszkgIXcuu0H6qMwDfVmpZqt2V0YdP5OEmGLwuUaAn3jEALw_wcB

 

[Katy]

IDK, I've only felt like that when I simultaneously have a fever and a migraine.  I'm so sorry.

[Tree Frog]

On 10/16/2022 at 3:33 PM, Selkie said:

Eating a diet rich in soy, vegetables, and fruits and low in fat has been shown to eliminate or greatly reduce hot flashes.

Here are a couple of the studies:

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34260478/

The Women's Study for the Alleviation of Vasomotor Symptoms (WAVS): a randomized, controlled trial of a plant-based diet and whole soybeans for postmenopausal women

"Conclusions: The combination of a low-fat, vegan diet and whole soybeans was associated with reduced frequency and severity of hot flashes and improved quality of life in vasomotor, psychosocial, physical, and sexual domains in postmenopausal women. During the 12-week study period, the majority of intervention-group participants became free of moderate-to-severe hot flashes."

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3428489/

Effects of a dietary intervention and weight change on vasomotor symptoms in the Women’s Health Initiative

"Conclusion

In summary, women who lost weight during participation in a dietary modification trial designed to reduce fat and increase fruit, vegetable, and fiber intake reported a reduction or elimination of VMS over one year. The dietary intervention appeared to ameliorate symptoms over and above the effect of weight change. These results support the use of weight loss and healthy dietary change as alternative approaches to hormone therapy for the relief of vasomotor symptoms."

 

 

That's interesting. Does the soy offset the decreasing estrogen? Dh is changing his diet. Looks like I need to change mine, too. 

[Tree Frog]

23 hours ago, KungFuPanda said:

Would a dance shrug help?

https://us.movedancewear.com/move-dance-giovanna-knit-shrug/?sku=MO Z0718GML75&gclid=Cj0KCQjw166aBhDEARIsAMEyZh4RAd-Lv5cIokT2WszkgIXcuu0H6qMwDfVmpZqt2V0YdP5OEmGLwuUaAn3jEALw_wcB

 

I think that looks nearly perfect!! If I sleep in it, do you know if it will it stay on? 

[Tree Frog]

On 10/16/2022 at 3:06 PM, Storygirl said:

Nope. Not alone. I have this issue. Just to look on the bright side 🙃, my doctor said that these symptoms only last about 8 years on average.

I'm against using hormone replacement therapy, due to my mother's experiences with it. My doctor is now having me try a low dose of Effexor, which she says can help some people with hot flashes. We shall see if it makes any difference. I have hot and cold flashes (sometimes different parts of me will be hot while others are cold) on and off all day, but it's especially miserable at night, because it has a terrible effect on my sleep.

I'm so glad I'm not alone! I'd always heard of hot flashes, but never heard of hot and cold flashes simultaneously. I thought I was an anomaly. Mine is worse at night, too. It helps if I keep the room cold because all of me is cold then, but rarely do I justify running the a/c all night. 

I have breast cancer on my maternal side of the family and my sister had ovarian cancer. I'm not a good candidate for hrt. 

ETA I didn't read your post thoroughly. Let me know how the effexor works for you. 

Edited October 18, 2022 by Tree Frog

[KungFuPanda]

1 minute ago, Tree Frog said:

I think that looks nearly perfect!! If I sleep in it, do you know if it will it stay on? 

It stays on through a dance class. How much could you possibly move sleeping? In the winter I sometimes wear it through a whole class because I have really chilly arms even when the rest of me is moving full out. 

[Tree Frog]

2 minutes ago, KungFuPanda said:

It stays on through a dance class. How much could you possibly move sleeping? In the winter I sometimes wear it through a whole class because I have really chilly arms even when the rest of me is moving full out. 

Sleeping means I'm rubbing against the sheets and blankets. It's worth a try, though. I would've bought one a long time ago because it's exactly what I was needing. 

[KungFuPanda]

5 minutes ago, Tree Frog said:

Sleeping means I'm rubbing against the sheets and blankets. It's worth a try, though. I would've bought one a long time ago because it's exactly what I was needing. 

That’s true, but it’s a full sleeve. It would be hard to wiggle it off. 

[Selkie]

21 minutes ago, Tree Frog said:

That's interesting. Does the soy offset the decreasing estrogen? Dh is changing his diet. Looks like I need to change mine, too. 

Here's a quick explanation of how researchers believe soy reduces hot flashes:

https://www.pcrm.org/clinical-research/fighting-hot-flashes-with-diet

"The researchers theorize that the effect may be a result of soy products containing isoflavones, which can be metabolized by gut bacteria into equol—a nonsteroidal compound that has been shown in some studies to reduce the incidence and severity of hot flashes. Previous studies have also shown that those following vegetarian or vegan diets produce higher levels of equol."

 

My own personal experience lines up with the study results. I am 53, eat a vegan diet loaded with soy, fruits and veggies, and have never had a single hot flash.

Soy has also been shown to be highly protective against breast cancer (I saw you mentioned a family history).