Michelle King Robson: Night sweats and hot flashes—how my hormone imbalance led to night after night of drenched sheets
Have you ever heard the expression “men sweat, but women glow?”
Obviously, whoever coined that phrase wasn’t a woman dealing with menopause and night sweats.
Looking back, my night sweats were clearly part of my going through perimenopause in my early 40s. But at the time, neither my physician nor I were making that connection. He believed that it was a side effect of the medications I was taking for irritable bowel syndrome, also known as IBS.
That sounded reasonable to me, so I didn’t push it. Frankly, I was too tired from all of that bed linen and pajama changing all night long to challenge his diagnosis.
Seriously—I was waking up at least 3 times a night, every single night, drenched in sweat. My pajamas were soaked, as was my pillow case and my sheets. I was sweating so much, the moisture was going all the way through the pad to the mattress.
This happened so often, I actually got pretty good at dealing with it. I began keeping a stack of fresh linens next to my bed, and some spare changes of nightgowns. When I woke up, sweaty and freezing, I could change both myself and the bed without disturbing my husband or leaving the room.
Add A New CommentWe value and respect the experiences of all of our HerWriters, but everyone is different. Many of our writers are speaking from personal experience, and what's worked for them may not work for you. Their articles are not a substitute for medical advice although we hope you can gain knowledge from their insight.
Add A New CommentComments
There are no comments yet. Be the first to get the conversation started.
I also had a hysterectomy. I was perimenopausal but had minimal signs/symptoms. Within a few days of the hysterectomy (due to severe hemorrhaging secondary to a very large fibroid) and bilateral ovary removal (one enlarged cystic ovary and the other was "abnormal in appearance but functional"), I was started on an estrogen patch. All was well for about 10 days...then I developed a pulmonary embolism and that was the end of the estrogen replacement therapy. Instant menopause with serious hot flashes, night sweats/chills, and insomnia. Will be on coumadin for 3 more months for the blood thinning/clot treatment. Most meds interact with coumadin, so finding therapy for relief of symptoms is difficult. I will be on coumadin therapy for at least 3 more months, so need to be careful with medications and herbal/natural supplements. Any suggestions?
Have you heard of Lorna Vanderhaeghe? Go to her web site, will give her email address you can email her with all symptoms and meds that you are on. She will answer takes time, im on her natural supplements for hotflashes swear they work,
i really need help i have tried anti depressants for sleeping, estrogen pills, black cohosh and estroven pm everything i take make my hot flashes more intense. i am now taking benadryl to sleep. i change my clothes a couple times a night, last night was really it. i tried the black cohosh made my heart race and had twice as many hot flashes from the night before. i even had to blow dry my hair. i have never been depressed but today i am i can't take it anymore. no one has answers for me to why when i take something the flashes become worse. HELP!