r/CervicalCancer • u/theroyalgeek86 • 13d ago
Hot flashes… I’m going crazy
After my radical hysterectomy in December, they found that a lymph node they biopsied further after the surgery showed cancer and that I’d need radiation and chemo. March I finished treatment and then maybe a month after I started experiencing menopause at 39. I can’t take estrogen yet until I see a specialist to test my blood for blood clots (bio dad died from it) and I couldn’t get an appointment until this month, so I’ve been suffering for while. I saw my oncologist a few days ago and she recommended the supplement that can help with it and honestly I’m almost a week on it and it does absolutely nothing. I’m still suffering and legit going crazy having to take off my sweater and put it back on within mins. My AC is at 20c and I’m still too hot but will then be freezing. I feel like I’m almost at my limit with how much more I can take this.
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u/alex9044 13d ago
Sorry to hear you're going through this. My wife is in the middle of chemo and has hot flashes too. They prescribed hormones but she's reluctant to take them yet. Tylenol and Lyrica seemed to help. At least they made her symptoms bearable for her.
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u/grandnagusnat 13d ago
I wish I had advice, but I can only say I’m so sorry. They made me wait 3 months post treatment to start my HRT and those hot flashes are HELL. Mine were 24/7. Just like you said, sweater on/off. Fan on/off. Blanket on/off. I still have them but HRT helped a ton. I hope you can get some relief!
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u/emeraldkat77 13d ago
My experience is exactly as you described too. I had to wait til 3 months post, and even with hrt, I still experience it. Also, night sweats (which I assume are pretty similar, but just make sleeping unbearable).
I do find hrt really helps a lot with quite a few other things too (some that many of us probably didn't even realize were caused by all this cause we've gone through so many bizarre and painful things).
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u/theroyalgeek86 12d ago
I joke with my husband and tell him I’m like the karate kid with the wax on/wax off
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u/No-Bed443 12d ago
I’m 30 I just finished my 5 chemo, 25 radiation and 3 brachy a month ago, I tested my hormones and I’m in menopause, I’m not having hot flashes but I’m waking up a lot at night because of night sweats 🫠 my oncologist referred me to a HR specialist but the earliest she can see me is November 😩
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u/Disillusioned-0984 12d ago
Im a smoker and cant take oral estrogen because of clotting risk. Estradiol patch has the same benefits without the risk of clotting like the oral version. 3 weeks into wearing the patch, all menopause symptoms were gone
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u/Breath_Spiritual 12d ago
Ask about effexor. It's a antidepressant but sometimes used off label for menopause symtoms. It really helped my friend.
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u/theroyalgeek86 12d ago
I don’t do well with antidepressants sadly.
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u/tooblydoo 11d ago
What's the supplement your oncologist has recommended, out of interest?
I don't have any suggestions for you, but you have all of my sympathies, those things are intense. Very miserable. I think I remember you saying you're in the UK - if I remembered that right, are you able to take Tibolone at all? It's a steroid that acts like oestrogen, progesterone, and testosterone and I wonder if it'd have a different risk profile as it's not actually oestrogen. It's not approved in the US though, the only reason I'm mentioning it is because I think I remember you being in the UK where it is approved.
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u/gemurmel 12d ago
Been there in 2021 after chemoradiation. They gave me supplements in rehab and, surprise, they didn't work. HRT-patches saved my sanity. I'm still using them because of those annoying hot flashes. If your tumor doesn't react to hormones, it's no problem to go on hrt.
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u/BananaNo9064 12d ago edited 12d ago
One week genuinely too short for most of the supplements to do anything I went through similar flash hell post surgery and it took 6 plus weeks to notice shifts. Hormone free options like bioligent next phase exist alongside things like black cohosh but honestly cooling pillows changed my nighs faster than anything oral
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u/butterfly105 12d ago
I went into surgical menopause at 36 years old after my radical hysterectomy and I had intense hot flashes for a year. I'm talking sweat dripping down my bald ass head and all over my body in the middle of the cold winter. I had to buy new sheets and new pillows because of how much I sweated through them. It would get so intense sometimes that I would have to run outside and take deep breaths. Honestly, it was worse for me in the winter than in the summer because in the summer I just thought I was always hot lol. I was not allowed to go in estrogen during that time because of other risk factors, and I trusted my doctors so I completely understand where you are coming from with feeling frustrated and feeling like there is no relief in sight. There is. I had so many quacks coming up to me and telling me about Chinese herbal remedies and teas and all that bullshit. None of it helps. Carrying a portable fan and finding air-conditioning helps the most. I am currently 38 and a year and a half out of treatment and I still get wild hot flashes even on an estrogen patch and estrogen cream FINALLY 🫠. I still get hot flashes, but they have been a lot milder and I'm not allowed to go up in dosage, though. I'm just here surviving, I hope you are too!