Hot woman

[equavel]

I seem to have increased sweating and hot flashes ... it is affecting my sleep

Has anyone found snything that reduces them

I have tried acuponcture, gabapentin an antidepressant and another med whose name I forget... none were effective

Any suggestions would be welcome

[nanda29]

I had it from tamoxifen (are you taking anything similar?) and it helped when I changed to take the pill in the morning instead of the evening. Now I have hot flashes at work, not in the middle of the night. Hope you find something that works for you 🙏🏼

[VStrong]

I take Tamoxifen in a.m and I still have horrible hit flashes at random.times, day or night and muscle cramping. I too would love another solution. It's horrible.

[Greengage59 in reply to VStrong]

I had very bad hot flushes and night sweats after beginning treatment. I was prescribed Gabapentin and told to start at 1 tablet per day and then increase by one more every three days until I reached the right dose for me ( eg my sweats and flushes reduced or disappeared. I didn’t have much faith, but they worked very well for me and after a couple of weeks I got up to four tablets a day two in the morning and two had night. I could finally sleep, and not have that red faced sweating every hour or so. I take thyroxine and anastrazole, no problem with interaction with gabapentin ( you have to space them out though)

Gabapentin is on of those drugs which is being used primarily for epilepsy ( I’m not) but they discovered it also helps with neuralgia pain and HOT FLUSHES!

I felt a little light headed first couple of days ( nothing drastic) then no side effects at all.

The doctor also offered me Citalopran which is an antidepressant ( I’m not depressed) which apparently also helps hot flushes. I had that a few years ago before going on HRT, for flushes, it helped but made me completely flat and a bit spaced out, hence going onto HRT which was fantastic for me, but I had to come off it when I got breast cancer.

I would personally highly recommend Gabapentin if you have flushes and night sweats. My GP knew about this drug, but not my cancer specialist surprisingly.

Hope you find something which helps.

[PJBinMI]

Something to keep in mind about this is that we are all different in how we respond to meds though some things are more likely to work than others, But just as we are each a unique individual, that is true when it come to cancer cells and how they respond, too. I have gotten good relief from med caused hot flashes with the anti-depressant Effexor ER 75 mg two to three times a day. I need the larger dose in hot weather. It is taken in lower doses for hot flashes than for depression. My new onc just suggested vitamin E, 400 to 800 units a day for hot flashes. I'd not heard that before but will look into it. For temporary relief, a cool damp wash cloth across the back of the neck can help alot, too. So much blood travels to our heads that the back of the neck is a great place for lowering or raising temps. A long time ago I bought a thing called a "neck buddy" that is basically a scarf like thing around a tube of things that absorb cold water when soaked in it, and holds that temp for a long time, and can be put across the back of the neck. I don't know if those are still sold. Ice cubes in a plastic bag and then wrapped in pretty cloth would probably do about the same though not for as long. Good luck--I hope you find something that works well for you.

[equavel]

Thanks for your comments