Hi KatieZ

Sorry to bother you..but you replied to my post about sweats and flushes. You mentioned that you are taking venlafaxine 37.5mg daily before bed.

I was prescribed the same drug and doseage last Friday but i'm just wondering how long it actually takes to start working and how effective you've found it ?

I know i've only been taking it for a few days but i feel like a zombie and i just want to have a good nights sleep. I really would appreciate any advice. Thanks in advance :-)

Thank you so much for your prompt response. My GP did say that it could take a few weeks before i feel any benefit from taking the venlafaxine. I just wish it was quicker at working. I've never felt so tired in my life..and because i'm not sleeping..it's having a negative effect on my general health. 

Like you, i still have my summer duvet on my bed and i don't wear nightclothes..plus..my bedroom window is always open..even in the middle of winter.

I never realised just how badly sweats and flushes can effect a person. At least i can see light at the end of the tunnel now though and hopefully in another week or 2 i might start sleeping through the night again. Thanks again for your kind advice. I hope you are well xx

Hi KatieZ

Sorry for the late response. I haven't tried anything to help me sleep yet. Is that a herbal remedy ? I'm willing to give anything a go now. As you say..i also think it's just about the worst side effect you can get. Things are so much better after a good nights sleep !! Hope you are well xxx

Hi K

i hope you're well. I remember my GP saying that she was starting me on the lowest dose of venlafaxine. I have an appt to see her again a week tomorrow so i will definitely see if she will raise the doseage for me.

Take care

P xxx

Hello there you guys, 

I finished my chemo about a year ago and my last 'acute' treatment was having my ovaries taken out in May. I've been on Tamoxifen since February.

Eek! Hot flushes/sweats are quite something aren't they? I haven't heard of the drug you mentioned but I'm on Citalopram, I recently upped my dosage and it definitely helps with the severity of my flushes.

Something I've noticed is that the regularity and the severity of them CHANGES ALL THE TIME... This makes them easier to stand because if I'm going through a particularly bad patch of them I know it will pass and I'll get it a bit easier for a while. I was really anxious and down about the affect they were having on my sleep for the first few months... I also needed to pee everytimeI had a flush in the night so I was up and down every hour getting more and more fed up and depressed as the night wore on. Nowadays my sleep pattern is still a bit odd and changeable but somehow much easier to manage (she says typing away at 1.20am!!!). 

I might have missed this if you've already mentioned it (sorry if so)... I use a CHILLOW! It really helped during the summer months, I bought mine on Amazon. If you're interested I can send you a link to the brand and type that I bought. My mum and I both use one now!!

I also do a wee bit of 'mindfulness' to help keep me calm and less flustered/upset by the whole shenanagins. It does sort of help, especially if I'm on a bus or somewhere it's impossible to strip off, I tell myself that it will pass and try to breathe a bit deeply. There are times that doesn't work and I feel enraged (and usually end up shouting at my poor husband who will by then be shivering as I've flung every available door or window open!). 

Layers are definitiely helpful,  I also have fans all over the place, a variety depending on where in the house or on me I have them. I can send you links to the ones I use if you're interested. 

I'm trying to walk to places for fighting the weight gain (I really have gained quite a lot of weight very quickly), it's great exercise but unfortunately it does bring on the flushes. Weirdly it's when I stop moving that the VERY SWEATY bit hits and so as I arrive at my destination I drip as though I'm melting wax for the frst 15 minutes or so!! Then I'm freezing because I'm all wet but the heat has gone!! Sometimes I can see whoever I'm with looking at me with fascination and confusion!!! I was tutoring the other day and a big drop of sweat hit my pupil's jotter before I could catch it sliding off my nose!

I'm in my 30's and I feel like I have much better understanding now of what my older friemds have been going through with their menopauses. It at least means I have something new in common with a new age group of women, I feel like I get to be in their gang a wee bit and I appreciate being able to let it all hang out and laugh about the bloody things with them.

Good luck and take care, 

Abbey x

P.S. Sorry! Feel like I highjacked your conversations a bit. I found all the stuff you'd all written helpful and just wanted to add a bit. I had a mastecomy, chemo, radio etc but I didn't work through it all, I have no idea how I would have coped if I'd had to, I take my hat off to anyone who works their way through treatment, well done! 

Hi K

So sorry to hear you're having further problems. I hope you get it sorted out quickly. I know everything we are going through is beneficial to us at the end of the day..but sometimes its hard to understand all of the other issues that we "pick up" along the way.

To be honest i've heard of neuropathy before..but i'm going to google it later. In my case i've developed an infection under my breast..nasty..but nowhere near as bad as what you have by the sounds of it !!

I'm actually seeing my oncologist tomorrow. I've been taking Venlafaxine now for 3 weeks and don't find that it's been much help. I know i'm on the lowest dose though..so fingers crossed i may be able to take a larger dose.

I can't fault the treatment and care that i've received but i feel a bit let down over this issue. A good nights sleep makes you feel so much better..mentally and physically. I really wanted to go into treatment as strong and as well as possible..but i've just been an absolute wreck !!! Only 3 more sessions to go now though .

Take care and lots of love

P xxx

Hi Abbey

Please don't apologise for hijacking the post. It's so reassuring to know that other people are working through similar issues to me..i feel less "alone" now somehow.

Sweats and flushes are truly awful..i'm having 1 now as i type. My specs steam up so i can't see what i'm doing !! Hahaha !!

Can i ask you..what exactly is a chillow ? I know that it's some kind of pillow..but is it 1 of those that you chill in the freezer for a couple of hours before bedtime ? I got given something similar from a friend to try. However..it's not full pillow sized. I think it was originally meant to help people with neck problems. I tend to put it round my neck..and it does help but it dosn't stay chilled for very long.

I'm the same as you re: going to the loo through the night tending to bring on sweats/flushes. Infact..i find that anything where you have to exert yourself..hoovering etc is guaranteed to turn me into a sweaty..dripping heap..definitely not a good look !!

I've actually become a bit of a recluse. I don't wear make-up anymore as it just slides off my face within 30min's of applying it.

I hope you're doing well and take care.

P xxx

Hey girls, xx So, a chillow doesn't need to go in the freezer or fridge or anything like that. There are a variety. Mine is plasticky on both sides (the company do one that is flocked on one side), it's dimensions are a bit smaller than a pillow, it's fairly flat. When you first use it you need to activate/prepare it by following the instructions which mainly entail filling it up with water (sort of). It become almost spongy but relatively firm. You slip it into your pillowcase and it stays cool. By the time I've had a few flushes on it, it does start the lose its coldness so I have two, I just turn my pillow over (I have a chillow on both sides of my own pillow). You don't have to refill or do anything to cool them down, they cool thenselves down. Xxx

Oh P! Make- up is a joke isn't it? I've got a couple of spots at the moment and I painstakingly cover them up before I leave the house, like a fool!! 

I'm sorry you feel like you've become a recluse, that's a horrible feeling. How do your days generally pan out? 

Ooh, I can feel a hot one coming on, it's weird the way it starts with an almost imperceptible feeling... I feel like I should be able to outwit it when I first feel it, but nope, once it starts I can't stop it. Phew, the sweat it dripping already! 

Xxxx

Well, well done for carrying on! Xx 

thanks for the website tip. 

I've been thinking about doing something with my hair... But I'll avoid the veggie dye! Thanks!!