Gransnet forums

Menopause

Looking guilty with hot sweats

(57 Posts)
Winniewit Wed 02-Jan-19 11:22:49

This has happened to me heaps of times
I start to have a hot flush in a shop or public place,,My head sweats so much its dripping off the ends of my hair,,and I look positively shifty.
I keep thinking that I looks so embarrassed and guilty that store detectives may think Im upto no good,,And what if it happened at the airport,,? Getting stopped while passing through the green channel....all because of hormones,,
Has it ever happened to anyone?

Jane10 Wed 02-Jan-19 12:04:57

Sorry Winniewit I think I'm just one of the lucky ones who sailed through it all.

EllanVannin Wed 02-Jan-19 12:21:05

Didn't perspire-----just suffered 10 years of migraines ! Which disappeared as quickly as they'd appeared, no headaches before and none since, just so weird but chronic while they lasted. I could willingly have cut my throat at the time.

FlexibleFriend Wed 02-Jan-19 12:37:59

My auto immune condition causes me to sweat so badly that I drip but no I've never been accused of anything and having my hair cut very short and spikey has helped hugely.

fairisle Wed 02-Jan-19 14:30:56

Winniewit My menopause is over(so thankful) like you i used to drip with sweat,it would trickle down my neck,i was talking to a neighbour once when it happened and she looked at me and asked if i was going through the menopause.I used to carry kitchen paper towel everywhere with me,it happened quite a few times in the supermarket,i felt embarrassed but all i could do was wipe my face and neck and carry on pushing the trolley

Esspee Wed 02-Jan-19 15:47:50

I'm so glad I decided to opt out of the menopause.
It is caused by oestrogen deficiency and medical advances mean you can replace the oestrogen and live life to the full.

Lynne59 Wed 02-Jan-19 17:29:55

That's happened to me on 3 occasions....the first time was in a pub, for an evening out. I looked and felt terrible, and had to dry my hair under one of those hand dryers in the toilets. At 59, I haven't gone through the menopause yet (in fact I was having periods up to a year ago)

BlueBelle Thu 03-Jan-19 05:33:59

Jane10 me too never knew I d had a menopause, absolutely no symptoms whatsoever, never had a hot flush in my life sounds dead lucky

Winniewit Thu 03-Jan-19 05:49:28

Jane and BlueBelle,,you are so lucky..Im 63 now and seem to have been going through it for about 5 years,
My daughters cant understand why you cant go into the menopause and it all be over and done with in 6 months...
I just think to myself...'you wait' lol

BradfordLass72 Thu 03-Jan-19 07:15:07

I'm told Sage helps, either as a tea or capsules.

I was lucky not to have hot flushes ( my doctor calls them power surges!) but I did suffer very badly with depression.

One thing I have noticed and doc confirms, for some women there are always cyclical symptoms, in other words, you can by 90+ and still have some, albeit slight, menopausal symptoms.
I still find my arthritis plays up a certain times of the month.

Charly Thu 03-Jan-19 10:02:05

Yesyesyesyes! It still happens to me regularly, usually public place. I'm 58 and five years into the meno. Hating my hair nowadays anywhere near my face, just makes everything worse. Big sympathy!

lovebeigecardigans1955 Thu 03-Jan-19 10:23:24

I used to get hot flushes which I found embarrassing as it made me look (I felt) red as a beacon. Plus you only need one loud-mouth to say, "You've got a red face!" or "You're blushing!" to make you want to hide under a stone. Not sweating too much but uncomfortable all the same. Its only saving grace is that mostly it doesn't last. I'm 64 next week and it happens very rarely now. Men don't know they're born, do they?

BStP Thu 03-Jan-19 10:27:35

I came off synthetic HRT 3 years ago but since I hit 60 in July my menopausal symptons are back with a vengeance, I am always tired, v irritable, sweat profusely at odd times and feel so low..has anybody gone back on HRT after a gap and if so did it make a difference? Thanks

Urmstongran Thu 03-Jan-19 11:02:11

I’m another lucky bod. No hot sweats for me. Sailed through it at 47y. I’m 64y now and cannot believe 20y have flown by.

Theoddbird Thu 03-Jan-19 11:06:51

A friend takes sage....eliminated her 30 plus a day hot flushes....

Ashcombe Thu 03-Jan-19 11:07:56

BStP:
I reduced my HRT to alternate days, but in 2015 one GP at our practice insisted I should stop completely after enjoying 15 years of being free of menopause symptoms. It was a disaster! The worst of it was a very dry vagina, which was horrid, especially as I’d recently remarried!
Eventually, I negotiated a compromise with a different GP (incidentally she’s married to the other one!!) whereby I take a low dose (0.3g) on alternate days and use a hormone cream internally twice a week. I'm 68 and I feel more like my old self in terms of libido, energy and my mental capacity.
I do hope you can find a sympathetic doctor to help you.

Annaram1 Thu 03-Jan-19 11:21:51

I am sorry for the poor sufferers on here. I never really had a menopause as my doctor put me on HRT because the older females in my family all had weak bones and kept breaking them. I have now been on HRT for about 18 years. About 3 years ag my son, who is a doctor, told me to stop taking it as he thought it was a breast cancer risk. But as you get older you can die of broken bones anyway. My own doctor keeps giving me HRT and I don't speak to him about it in case he stops prescribing it.

Willow10 Thu 03-Jan-19 11:43:59

BStS - I'm 72 and have been on HRT since I was about 46. I tried coming off it a couple of times but all the symptoms came back with a vengeance. One (male) doctor refused to prescribe it any more a couple of years ago. After a couple of months I was seeing the practice nurse about something unrelated and mentioned to her how awful I was feeling. She told me that she would sign a 'disclaimer' if hers was stopped, so that the doctor wouldn't have to be concerned about being sued and advised me to see the female doctor. When I did, her response was ' Oh - men! How do they think the Queen would manage the way she does without it! You can take it for the rest of your life as far as I'm concerned!' Oh, the relief!

For me it is the difference between leading a normal life feeling well, rather than a depressed, sweaty, tired and sleepless one. Quality of life is more important to me than worrying about possible side effects.

Lupatria Thu 03-Jan-19 11:53:42

i'm 71 now and have been on hrt since i was 47! i had a complete hysterectomy because i had ovarian cancer. i asked my gp if it was ok for me to keep taking hrt as i was concerned about breast cancer but i decided i'd stay on the hrt as i could check myself for breast cancer but not for osteoporosis (not without dexia scans). i intend staying on hrt for as long as i can as i feel it keeps me young! my skin is definately all the better for it!

MissAdventure Thu 03-Jan-19 11:55:07

I think I would have signed a disclaimer, my sweats were so bad.
I cried when the doctor told me I couldn't have HRT.

Now though, I wonder if it would have just 'put off' the menopause?
At least I went through mine, eventually!

lizzypopbottle Thu 03-Jan-19 11:57:12

My mother had a hot flush, decided she didn't like it and vowed to have no more. She had no more! I told myself that if positive thinking worked for my mother, it would work for me and it did! I had no menopausal symptoms other than suddenly developing regular periods like clockwork (previously unheard of for me) and a gradual cessation of same. That was fifteen years ago.

To all those women who have suffered, or are still suffering, I admit my story is rather tongue-in-cheek. My mother and I were just extremely lucky, as we're a few other posters on this thread.

Wishes Thu 03-Jan-19 12:19:33

One thing I have noticed and doc confirms, for some women there are always cyclical symptoms, in other words, you can by 90+ and still have some, albeit slight, menopausal symptoms.

Sailed through here but I still get the munchies! cupcake

MissAdventure Thu 03-Jan-19 12:26:42

I was chatting to a lady in her 80s about the menopause, and she was telling me that she still felt she got pmt.
Her granddaughter kept interrupting her and she really got angry with her, which I had never seen before.
"See what I mean?", she said. grin

knspol Thu 03-Jan-19 12:37:21

I used to drip all over the place, so embarrassing especially at work in the middle of a meeting. Sweat would drip down my ears and back, all over my face, my hair would be wet - absolutely dreadful and the panicky feeling that went with it was pretty debilitating too. Tried HRT but the medical opinion then was that 2 yrs max and that was that. What nobody told me was that symptoms could last so long. At 68 still have maybe 3-4 hot flushes a day but nowhere near as intense thank goodness.

grandMattie Thu 03-Jan-19 12:38:08

I'm one of your permanently cyclical women. I'm 70 and well over the [horrible] menpause, but have hot flushes quite a lot - still! Not fair!!!